Our wedding was on the 31st of July 2010 in Brisbane and we were surrounded by friends and family, which made it such a special day. We really could not have asked for more and feel so blessed to have had such a joyful and memorable wedding.

Tim and I saw each other before we were married as he had to come over to my house with his groomsmen for a tea ceremony with my family. Traditionally, the groom and his groomsmen have to endure several ‘door games’ and challenges before the bridesmaids allow them to enter the house.  This was a fun way to start the day as it included some off-tune singing and dancing!

My dress was a strapless silk-taffeta ivory gown from Carla Zampatti. I found it on the first day that I went dress shopping and when I tried it on, both my sister-in-law (also Maid of Honour) and my mum agreed that it was perfect. The floor-length veil that I wore was borrowed from a friend, which to date has been used in four separate weddings!

The ceremony was held at International City Church, Fortitude Valley. I walked down the aisle to “The Luckiest” by Ben Folds Five. One of the most memorable moments was when our flower girl stopped walking halfway down the aisle to say hi to someone… She then had to be led down the rest of the aisle!

Tim wore a suit and shirt from Oxford with a brown and beige plaid tie from French Connection UK. The bridesmaids’ dresses and sashes are from Portmans.

One of my favourite parts of the day was relaxing at a café with our bridal party during our photography session when we shared coffee and milkshakes and just enjoyed each other’s company – like we always do.

Our photographers captured these beautiful sunset shots at the Oxley Creek where we put our bridal party to the test by making them (and us!) climb through a barb-wire fence. We then had to make our way through knee-high grass where we opened a bottle of champagne in the middle of the field and had a toast (as you do…)

We wanted our wedding to have a simple, rustic theme and used some DIY ideas to accomplish this – from the picket fence sign to photos strung up on twine – these DIY details made our day even more special and personalized. In the months leading up to the wedding, we collected as many food cans from our friends as we could and my dad spray-painted them in white, ivory and taupe. My mum, sister-in-law and I then decorated these with fabric, printed paper, ribbon and lace. These were then filled with fresh flowers and used throughout our ceremony and reception and decoration.  We also searched Lifeline for fabric bound books and used these as table numbers, which our friends patiently traced and cut out for us.

A friend helped us with the floral arrangements and she did a stunning job with the bouquets – roses, stock and fluffy, ivory carnations. Other flowers that we used for decoration included puffs of baby’s breath, Easter daisies and snapdragons – which are my favourite.

The reception was held at Mirra in Fortitude Valley. We loved it because it was so unexpected – a beautiful converted warehouse in a very non-descript alley.

Our photographers – Cath and Rich from Vivid Photography. We chose to go with Vivid because their images are so vibrant and full of life. Cath and Rich made us feel so comfortable and at ease on our wedding day that they actually started to feel like part of the bridal party! They managed to capture our wedding as we remember it – full of joy and laughter.

Ms Polka Dot says: What a delightful wedding this is! So full of family love and tradition, yet dainty and modern at the same time. Congratulations Tim and Joanie on your wedding!

Photography by Vivid Photography