Sky and Mat

While Polka Dot Bride is Australian and we celebrate every day the beauty that is Australian wedding, we also have a large contingent of international readers, particularly from the US! I love to show off international weddings because I feel like they give us even more inspiration- something that another culture, another country, another couple celebrated with.

Sky and Mat had such a beautiful wedding- it’s literally filled with homemade touches, not only by them, but by their family and well some amazing Etsy vendors! And the photos- oh they’re just breath taking too! So I couldn’t resist sharing this celebration with you this morning! Their story goes a little something like this (as told by their photographer!) “These two lovebirds met at a restaurant where Sky was a bartender. Mat came in, he says a few times, Sky says once, to get a Sierra Nevada. He was waiting to get his haircut down the way and stayed for a brew. He said he might come back. He did. After their first date, which consisted of Sky tasting sweetbreads for the first time and Mat not divulging what they were until after her first bite (she was hooked), he came to work for the same restaurant she worked in. He was a chef who sent special plates out and stole spicy glances from the expo line.”

Photos today are by Made U Look Photography. I almost feel to put words with the images today is a shame because the images really have a way of speaking for themselves. but alas, the polka dot way is to tell you all the stories from the day!

Sky wore a  beautiful gown, Dupioni Silk Custom (modeled after Lee Ann Belter’s creation) by Lana’s Bridal Studio and Bolero by TianaCHE on etsy. Her wedding day hair and makeup was styled by Kayci Stoots. She carried a bouquet made by Songs From The Garden.

The couple married at The Flower Barn in California. The photographers say, “The venue was the fourth and last serious place to be scoped, but it was actually the first on the list. Sky was a little afraid to see it because she knew it was the place, an answered prayer. It was everything Mat and Sky had dreamed up: farm setting minus the animals (except for the most adorable chickens ever created-The Gypsy Chicks-Chinese Silkies), indoor/outdoor facilities, majestic trees, cottages and a farmhouse for family to stay and celebrate the night and next morning in. Everything was perfect.”

The corsages were by Handi Craft Kate, The couple’s daughter Ella wore a tutu from Laurie’s Tutu Boutique and shoes by Ivory and Moss. (She insisted on wearing her mothers shoes right up until the ceremony began though!)

Mat and Sky designed and wrote the wedding invites. Mat is an artist (outside of the kitchen as well) and Sky is a writer. The two had a lot of creative freedom, and only a few arguments, in this project. RuffHouse Art was a wonderful find on Etsy.com. She helped with the colors and all of the production. They also DIThemselves with the save-the-dates,most of the desserts and all beverages, boutonnieres, sign-in table cards and set up, painted craft birdhouses and birdcages, favors, ceremony programs, reception decorations, escort cards, wedding party gifts and rehearsal dinner invites.

One significant theme in the wedding, besides the bird element and mild literary theme, is the relevance of the number 3. This is Sky’s favorite number. It is very special and intriguing. Many of the small details of their wedding have the number 3 strewn into them, if you look close enough! Her younger brother, best friend and man of honor (all the same guy!) was born at 3:33 p.m. and Mat proposed to Sky at approximately the same time. They set the wedding for 3:33 p.m.

Sky walked down the aisle to  Chris Tomlin’s ‘Amazing Love’. It was an instrumental by their amazing friends – Josh Bueno and Josh Guerrero who happen to be guitar gifted. Sky and Mat’s brothers stood beside them at the ceremony along with Sky’s bridesmaids dressed in gowns from Adrianna Papell and Old Navy.


There were some funny stories from the day. Sky says “just some of the usual – groom not having a room to get dressed in (he just roamed the grounds), our almost teenage son’s bloody nose right before the ceremony (along with locking himself out of his room 8 minutes before GO TIME and having have his necktie cut because it was too long)”

The cake, albeit beautiful, caused a few hassles! Sky recalls,”I have food allergies and had already had a small fiasco with it the morning of. I was unable to pick it up because they covered it in buttercream (I’m allergic to dairy and gluten). The cake came later than promised and so we were unable to decorate it! We’d had planned a gorgeous bendy grapevine twig to enhance it, along with a nest and two birds and two eggs (for our children) included. No go. Funny thing was, I had a vision of this months before. We still said, “Let Them Eat Cake”! I ended up with an allergic reaction (not necessarily the cake!) but it was quite a coincidence. Later found out it had eggs in it and I had requested it not to -VEGAN). All in all, a day for the books.”

The first dance was to Born Again by Third Day. The couple sang to one another (it helped and made it special there were both male and female vocals:). Everyone else faded into a blur.

A big thank you to Sky and Mat for sharing their wedding with us today on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Made U Look Photography for such scrummy images!

Photos by Made U Look Photography