Lewis and Mary

Lewis and I were together for just over a year when he, after asking for my father’s permission, proposed at our home in Brisbane. He had lit the house with fairy lights and candles, and had “our” music playing. He asked me to dance. He then asked me to marry him. It was simple, heart-felt and perfect. Our wedding was held at the home of my parents in Toowomba, QLD, on the 26th of November, 2011. Both the ceremony and reception were held there for convenience, and because straight away I could see how perfect a venue it would be for the type of wedding we wanted, which was a garden wedding, full of flowers.

The photos for our wedding were more than we ever expected. Our photographer, Bec from Bec Johnson Photography, is one of our dearest friends, and one of the most brilliant photographers. I had always wished that she would photograph my wedding, and having her be part of the day made everything perfect. She is one of the loveliest, most sincere people I know, and her talent, for me, is yet unsurpassed. I’m very excited to share her work, and our perfect day.

Our flowers were bunches of roses in pastel pink, yellow, cream and antique, as well as stems of blue hydrangeas, all supplied by Amanda at Deane’s Roses in Highfields. The morning of the wedding a few friends and I unwrapped all the flowers and started placing them in antique vases and jugs that my mother and I had collected for the tables. The effect of the pergola filled with flowers, and the thrown together arranging was divine, and exactly what I have envisioned for the day.

I wore a strapless, blue floral, silk dress and roses in my hair. The fabric for my dress was perfect, and the dress was made by a private dressmaker. Lydia Johnston of Peacocks and Lilies created my wedding make-up. Lydia is a friend, as well as an extremely talented make-up artist. My hair was teased and put into a voluminous up-style by Sami Foley, another very talented friend.

Lewis was exceedingly dapper in a french navy suit, a pale blue shirt, and a blue check bow tie.

After much consideration, we decided against having bridesmaids and groomsmen, for the simple fact that we could not choose between our siblings and friends. Instead, we took a page from the book of the royals and had our three nieces  – Margot, Clare and Sophie – as our flower girls, and only attendants. Each girl wore a long, cap sleeve dress, in blue with white floral. These dresses were made by Sam Aloquin at Sophie’s Lane.

The wedding was at noon, with family and a few close friends. The girls, my father and I walked down the aisle to an instrumental arrangement of “Moon River”. I held a bouquet of cream roses and blue hydrangeas, and the girls threw rose petals from white baskets. Having the girls be part of our wedding was one of the most magical, special parts for us. They were adorable – standing beside Lewis and I, holding our hands and wanting kisses from us both intermittently throughout the ceremony. They made everyone laugh, and gave the ceremony a relaxed, intimate feel.

Following the ceremony, we had a stockman’s lunch catered by Zannas (who also catered our gourmet buffet dinner), which flowed into having photos, and then our reception officially began with a self catered afternoon High Tea. Our garden was decorated with flowers and white market umbrellas, our guests drank champagne from 1920’s style saucers and sampled delicious macarons in an array of flavours.

As night fell, the party congregated in the marquee on the tennis court for speeches, dinner and dancing. The speeches were one of the highlights of our entire day. I have never felt so utterly surrounded by so much love, and Lewis and I felt so blessed to have so many supportive and incredible people in our lives. They were all hilarious and fabulous. Together, my siblings came up with a terrific, emotional speech that had me in tears.

Our bridal waltz was to City and Colour’s “We Found Each Other in the Dark”, and was choreographed by Lewis’ mother, Jane, especially for us. We both adore dancing, and this was such a beautiful moment for us, after much hard work to learn it!

I found it difficult to write about how Lewis and I came to be, and almost left it out completely. The short of it is, I knew him for about a year before we fell in love. Both of us were in the exact same place in life… but with other people. Normally I would leave that part out, but I think what our story says to people is that you can’t always plan your life exactly, nor ignore what is meant to be, no matter how hard you try. In the end, you have to trust yourself to know who and what is right for you. For me, Lewis was the type of person I always envisioned myself marrying, and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I am so grateful he married me, and for our beautiful day.

 Ms Gingham says: Hydrangeas always make me feel happy! Such a beautiful flower and the styling of Mary and Lewis’s wedding is so perfect to complement this theme.

Mary says: “Hi, I’m Mary and I live in Brisbane with my now husband, Lewis. I work in retail full time, study part time (ish) and blog constantly. Our wedding was so special and so ”us”. We had a most beautiful day. Our family and friends mean the world to us, and it was incredible to be surrounded by so much love and support. It made my heart hurt.”

You can have a look at Mary’s blog dear-to-me here!