Pip & Wade

There must be something in the air over in Western Australia because every wedding coming from the other side of the country seems to be full of understated glamour, natural elegance and very, very in love couples. Today’s wedding is no different- a beautiful garden ceremony and a fun, down to earth reception. Perfect for a Thursday!

Pip explains how she met Wade.  “Wade and I met at work – while setting up for a conference. The story goes that Wade woke up hungover at a friend’s place after a crazy party, couldn’t find proper clothes, or the keys to his car (his responsible friend Jos – who later did a reading at the wedding) had taken his keys, and his car home.  He managed to make his way to the convention centre where the conference was being held to boss six people around in setting up their booth.  I was also there, helping to organise the conference, and happened to catch Wade’s eye.

Little did Wade know that I worked with her mum – and he knew her director, so much secret squirrel whispering and gossiping ensued, until Wade finally sent a carefully composed email to me the day after the conference to ask me for a drink.  That first drink led to dinner, and we never looked back!”

Photographs today are by Photography By Emma Pointon. Emma’s ability to capture images in a soft, graceful way never fails to inspire me.

The floral arrangements were styled by a friend of Wade’s. Pip explains “The flowers were done by a lifelong friend of Wade, who lives overseas but was in Perth at the time of the wedding. They were amazing.  I don’t know much about flowers, but had a few pictures that I showed Nic (from Dalby of Flowers) and all the styling took shape from that.  My bouquet was based on an inspiration picture sourced from PolkaDot Bride, and I absolutely loved it!” Pip wore gold Jimmy Choo shoes with her gown.

Emma recalls “All the stationery was done by us. I had done a number of invitations for parents’ milestone birthdays and other parties, and didn’t want to be cutting and sticking multiple layers of paper (much as I like invitations of that style). For the wedding we wanted something simple yet stylish, that we could carry through all elements of the wedding.

On a holiday on the east coast 6 months before the wedding we came across some cool wooden stamps, and decided to use one of them, on textured white card, for all elements. We then used this for ceremony programs, placecards, the present table, and any other paper-based elements.”

Pip wore a Collette Dinnigan gown while her bridesmaids wore gowns made by Jealousy Bridal Design. Pip wore a Twigs & Honey hair flower in her hair which was styled by Lorna Marie Liddelow and her makeup by Lynette Nickell.

Pip walked down the aisle to ‘Saving Grace’ by Pete Murray. Pip admits she had been looking at wedding music for a very long time (perhaps even pre-engagement!) and eventually settled on this sweet tune as her favourite. After a few false starts, when they finally sat down to talk music, and she played it to Wade he agreed. The harmonica intro set a perfect tone for the simple, classy (but not traditional) ceremony, and the evening to come.

Pip says “My younger brothers walked me down the aisle, which was really special as they both really wanted to do it.” The groom and groomsmen wore suits from Ermenegildo Zegna.

Pip and Wade married on the grounds of The Caves House Hotel. Pip explains “We wanted a destination wedding, and when looking at weddings in the Margaret River region narrowed our search to locations that allowed us to have the ceremony and reception at the same place, as well as accommodation on site for guests to stay in. We wanted the reception to commence very quickly after the ceremony – we were certain we didn’t want our guests to wait around for us, so a location with a variety of options for photos – and quickly! – was also important.

The Caves House Hotel fit the bill perfectly – the gardens are stunning, the heritage-listed building has a beautiful feel to it, and it was all in the one place – perfect!”

The ceremony was a personal one. Pip remarks “Jennifer Etherington, our celebrant, was great. As soon as we met her we were keen to book her, and it turned out that Pip went to school with her daughter Kate. Heaps of our guests commented on how fantastic she was. She allowed us to create a ceremony that truly reflected us – nothing too soppy, but real, loving sentiment about how seriously we both take marriage, and how our thoughtful decisions had brought us to this special day.”

Family was one of Pip’s greatest memories – the strength, the love that they felt. She explains,  “Weddings can be amazing celebrations but they are also where family issues can come to a head. With plenty of potential for disaster our families ‘sucked it up’ for a day and chose to celebrate with us. They put their differences to one side and if the photos are anything to go by seemed to have a great day.”

Of their photographer, Pip remarks “We wanted photography to capture the day, not dictate the running of it, so it was really important for us to find a photographer with a photojournalistic style. We trawled through Perth and South West WA wedding photographers, trying to find what we were looking for, and came across Emma after quite a long search.  Pip met with one other photographer but didn’t come away with a good ‘vibe’, and after Emma came out to meet with us in our home, the minute we closed the door we knew we wanted to book her.

We also give her props for turning up to a client meeting after having no power in her house for a day or so!

After a slightly disastrous pre-wedding shoot (uncomfortable groom-to-be and some awkward moments) we’re sure Emma was nervous about how the day would turn out, but in the end we had a ball and think it went really well.”

The guest list was incredibly important to Pip and Wade. Pip explains “The main thing that made it special was having all the people who were most important to us in the same room at the same time.  We selected the guest list very carefully – including people who are a regular part of our lives, and were thrilled with the 80 people who were so delighted to share the day with us.”

 

After enjoying champagne post ceremony, guests headed straight to the hotel where they mingled on the terrace with drinks and canapes.

Pip says “Our wedding was a true reflection of us as a couple, with our closest friends and family in one place to laugh, talk and dance!”

Dinner was served in the Yallingup Room. Pip says “We went for simple and pretty over too many details. A few weeks out from the wedding I was forced to let a few intricate ideas go – I decided to prioritise my sanity over perfection, and in the end I think we had just the right amount of decoration.”

Pip’s special moment? I think it may become one of my favourite stories too. “We loved taking 10 minutes in the middle of the reception to head up to our hotel room (upstairs from the reception), debrief, and head back down to the reception. I’m sure people thought we were up to no good, but we genuinely just wanted to catch our breath, talk a little about the day so far, and amp ourselves up for the rest of the reception (we were having a great time, but were both pretty tired from the previous few days).  A few minutes together upstairs and we headed back down to hit the dance floor for the rest of the night.”

Pip loved “Not having a bridal table. We had three long banquet tables, and it was great to sit in the middle of our guests, allow our bridal party to sit next to their partners, and feel part of the day, and not ‘on show’.”

The group headed onto the terrace for Pip and Wade’s first dance. Pip recalls “We wanted something fairly classic for our first dance – not something that was the ‘song of the year’. Stand by Me (the original, by Ben E. King) was magic, such a beautiful melody and gorgeous words. We danced outside under the stars on the terrace – no choreography, but as Wade is quite a good dancer, we think we pulled off a pretty decent dance!”

DJ Darren Gittos kept guests on the dance floor all night. Pip says “I loved that we hired a DJ. We originally weren’t going to, but we’re really glad we went with a DJ over the iPod playlist option.  Our dance floor was pumping all night long, and that wouldn’t have happened without a DJ to read the crowd.”

Congratulations Pip & Wade! Thank you for sharing your wedding with us today! Thank you also to Photography By Emma Pointon for sharing today’s images!