Alex and Philippe's Austrian Winter Wedding

Alex and Phillippe

While the week has been filled with brides with bare shoulders and beautiful summer light, the reality is, it’s been a pretty darn cold week in Australia! So I thought, what better way to end a week of beautiful weddings than to feature one that happened in the dead of winter? So cold that the horses used to transport the bridal party in true horse and carriage style almost bolted, and it snowed!

Our couple today, are Australian, but chose Bad Aussee, Austria for their wedding. Alex explains how they met. “We met through a mutual friend whilst on a night out in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. After exchanging emails for a couple of weeks, feeling brave, I asked Philippe out on a date. The rest is history.”

Photographs are captured by Claire Morgan Photography who managed to captured the beauty of the snow laden countryside and the traditional elements Alex and Phillippe infused in their wedding day in a beautiful way.

Alex wore her Aunty Chrissy’s French lace wedding dress and cathedral length veil that were 35.5 years old! Alex says “The dress was timeless and elegant and yet also very much ‘a la mode’, with a nod to Catherine Middleton’s wedding dress.” Rita Reischenboeck styled the floral arrangements, a single white orchid in Alex’s hair, white roses for the bridal bouquet, baby’s breath for the bridesmaids’ bouquets and mixture of white flowers in the church and on the reception tables.

The groom had bespoke tails made by Philippe Perzi and wore the pocket watch from his great great uncle and his father’s cuff links, which carry the Western Australian Coat of Arms.

For their wedding ceremony, Alex and Philippe chose the town’s Catholic chapel. The chapel could only seat 40 which gave it an intimate atmosphere and shelter from the cold winter’s day. The bride and her bridesmaids arrived in a horse and carriage.

Alex walked down the aisle to ‘Prince of Denmark’s March’.

One of Alex’s favourite memories was, “The atmosphere of the choir singing in a little 14th century church in the middle of winter was made all the more special by the Priest, Edmund Muhrer, who was extremely friendly, patient and warm. He catered for all guests moving between both the English and German languages during the ceremony.”

Guests took shelter from the cold after the ceremony right across the street, Alex explains “A local Vinothek opposite the church invited us and all our guests to warm up with some “Glühwein” after the ceremony. Here we cut bread as a married couple, which was then dipped into salt and eaten by us and our guests (a local tradition for weddings we are told) and all the guests got to mingle in warm surroundings.”

The bridal party headed off in beautiful horse and carriages to the snowy landscape for photos. Alex recalls “The horses threatened to bolt – they were so cold and they just wanted to get moving. The bridal party had to get into the carts in a hurry otherwise the horses would have taken off without us.”

Of their photographer, Alex says “Claire Morgan is a very talented photographer and captured our day perfectly. She managed to get shots of all our guests laughing and having a good time and truly showed what an intimate affair the day was. She captured each moment in beautiful candor and integrated the landscape of the traditional Austrian village into the photos. Claire was a true professional and really listened to our story and the type of photos we wanted.”

The wedding has such a community spirit. Alex explains “All guests had to travel a great distance to attend the wedding, coming from Hong Kong, Australia, UK, Germany, and Switzerland. It was a great celebration and was also a reunion of sorts, many people not having seen each other in some time.”

Alex changed into a Carla Zampatti silk organza strapless dress for the reception.

Guests stayed and the reception was held at the Erzherzog Johann Hotel and Spa. The newlyweds chose the venue for it’s distinctive Austrian feel.

Alex describes the wedding as “National Lampoon’s European Wedding.”

The hotel designed the traditional wedding cakes and had them made by a local baker.

One of Alex’s fondest memories is of her brother’s speech. She explains, “My brother tried to use the airtime he was given for his speech to embarrass his sister by talking about past boyfriends, but failed when midway he appeared to become genuinely emotional about the day – being emotional, yet alone being lost for words, is a very rare sight in his case.”