Sarah & Rob

There is something so beautiful about a  wedding where a bride wears colour, even if it’s a pale shade of pink like today’s bride Sarah. The whimsical beauty of the gown seems to translate out into the wedding itself. When guests are celebrating with champagne drunk out of antique champagne coupes, when the food is so good we get a dot point description? That’s a good day!

Sarah tells their story. “We met speed dating at the Port Office Hotel in Brisbane in 2006.  At that stage, Rob was living in Sydney while I was living in Brisbane, so for the first 5 months we had a long distance relationship.  Then I was offered a job in Madrid, Spain, and when I asked Rob if he would move there with me he said yes! We spent the next 3 years living in Spain and traveling all over Europe.  On our way back to Australia in 2010 we spent 6 months backpacking through South America, and when we reached Machu Picchu after hiking the Inca Trail for 4 days, Rob asked me to marry him, and gave me a beautiful emerald engagement ring he bought in Colombia.”

Photographs today are by Simon Peter Taylor who has captured dreamy, beautiful photographs for Sarah and Rob.

For her wedding gown, Sarah wore the Rose Quartz Fairytale Taffeta Dress by Carla Zampatti.

The bouquets and buttonholes were styled by  Daniella of Pink and Purple Petals.

Of their photographer, Sarah says “We loved Simon´s unobtrusive, photo journalistic style and the great ideas he had for some unusual shots on the day. We had most of our photos taken before our wedding ceremony which was a lot of fun, and meant we didn’t have to leave our guests after the ceremony.  Simon had a nice idea to do a ‘reveal’ on our balcony when we both saw each other for the first time – it was a very special moment. It was also Simon´s suggestion to go to a disused train yard in Hamilton where we got some interesting shots with graffiti-ed trains in the background, which involved me hitching up my dress and dodging muddy puddles!”

Sarah and Rob held their ceremony and reception at Newstead House. Sarah explains “Our original venue fell through 10 weeks before our wedding, which was pretty stressful at the time.  But in the end, we felt like our wedding was supposed to be at Newstead House – it suited us perfectly.  It is Brisbane´s oldest surviving historic homestead and is situated in a beautiful park on one of the loveliest stretches of the Brisbane River, and has lovely gardens and grounds.  We wanted a venue which would allow us to have both the ceremony and a cocktail-style reception all in one place, and we wanted to be able to bring our own wine and catering.  Immediately after the ceremony we had champagne and canapés in the sun filled courtyard, and by late afternoon we were up on the wide verandahs watching the approach of a dramatic tropical storm.”

Sarah walked down the aisle to ‘Candombito’ by Kevin Johansen, an Argentinean singer songwriter played by Dos Guitarras . Sarah explains “Music is very important to us, and given the 3 years we lived in Spain, it meant a lot having a Spanish guitar duo playing during our ceremony and reception.”

The weather turned on a beautiful show. Sarah notes “I had been avoiding the weather forecast in the days leading up to the wedding, but the day before I couldn’t help myself, and it didn’t look good at all.  We had a wet weather plan, but didn’t really want to use it.  The day of our wedding we woke up at 4am to the sound of a terrific storm – and by 8am the sun was out and shining, it really was the most stunning day.”

Sarah remarks “With the help of some friends we chose some beautiful wines, including a beautiful sparkling pinot noir from Ashton Hills vineyard in the Adelaide Hills, which we drank in pretty antique champagne coups.” The champagne coups, antique cups and saucers, and glass jars for flowers and candles were all hired from Kara Rosenlund.

For decor Sarah explains, “A friend bought beautiful flowers at the markets and arranged them, and big candles, in pretty glass jars tied with vintage lace.”

 

Sarah and Rob’s wedding was catered by PJ McMillan from Harveys Restaurant . Sarah raves “We both love food and wine with a passion, so it was very important to have really good food and wine at our wedding.  We could not have been happier with our caterer, PJ McMillan – all our friends are still raving about his food.

This is what we ate: Pitt Water Oysters served with chilled cucumber soup, battered in Guinness, and natural with soy and ginger, Zucchini and haloumi fritter wrapped in Serrano jamon, Crispy duck pancakes served with traditional shallot pancakes, cucumber, and hoisin, Pressed tomato terrine, goats curd and olive tapenade, Brandade croquettes with romesco sauce, Chicken and peanut Thai cakes with lime dressing, Asian fried barramundi, green papaya salad, tamarind and chilli dressing., Vodka cured salmon served with pea, spinach and mint risotto, Victorian slow cooked lamb, creamed potatoes, chard with raisins and pounded mint, Mini Wagyu beef Guinness pies.”

Sarah recalls “Our first dance was to ‘The Ship Song’ by Nick Cave.  It was very emotional for both of us.”

Congratulations on your marriage Sarah and Rob! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Simon Peter Taylor  for sharing today’s images!