Melissa and Lachlan’s Chic Sydney Polo Club Wedding

Melissa & Lachlan

Melissa and Lachlan chose a gorgeous rustic country venue for their wedding day – Sydney Polo Club setting the scene for a chic country celebration filled with what Melissa describes as the “best speech ever”, impromptu photos with the property’s horses and plenty of family and friends who flew in to celebrate their marriage. Their day, filled with all its moments was captured by James Goff Photography.

The newlyweds tell the tale of how they came to be. “We met when Mel moved to Lachlan’s school in year 2. We were in the same class from then until year 12 and had always been good friends. Although it was only just after school that we realised just how much we liked each other and started dating. Five years later we got married!”

Lachlan’ s brother Cameron Gage kicked off the celebrations with designing wooden invitations.

Melissa chose the “Paige” strapless gown from designer Karen Willis Holmes and paired it with  Tony Bianco shoes, Samantha Wills earrings and a hairpiece by Lisa Gowing.

Melissa’s bridesmaids wore floor length gowns from Truese. Melissa explaining, “I choose charcoal dresses for my bridesmaids as I wanted them to be contrasted with my ivory dress and then also with the lovely lush greenery of the polo club. I think this turned out even better in the photos then I had even imagined.”

Melissa and Lachlan chose St John’s Anglican, Wilberforce, telling, “We got married in a beautiful old sandstone church in Wilberforce; which made our ceremony really intimate and quite special.”

The ceremony was decorated by the bride’s maid of honour, Melissa remembering, “My maid of honour – Sarah – made the dried bunches of flowers that we hung from the pews. We also did little DIY touches here and there but I actually ended up doing a lot less than I thought I would because both our venues – ceremony and reception – had so much character we didn’t need to add as many details as I originally thought I would do for the wedding.”

Melissa walked down the aisle to Atlas Hands by Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

Of their photographer, the newlyweds tell, “We knew we wanted to use James Goff after seeing my sister’s engagement shoot photos. We loved having James there on the day. He was so nice and relaxed and just added to our great day. He was able to capture so much without us even knowing. Our wedding photos were something that we both really cared about and we have been so happy with what we ended up with.”

“During the photos a group of horses starting galloping around the paddock just next to us which was a great sight. They then came right up to the fence and we were able to get a few good photos next to them.”

The bride’s dream of a barn wedding came true with the choice of Sydney Polo Club as their wedding venue, Melissa remembering, “Our reception was in the Polo Barn at The Sydney Polo Club in Richmond. My dream was to have a barn wedding and we were lucky enough to find this place. The polo club has such beautiful grounds which made us excited to have our wedding there as it was a great place to have our wedding photos.”

Guests received hand poured candle favors from You Me & Paree.

PB Catering  ensured guests were well fed – the couple remarking, “The food was banquet style, so it really created a festive feel with everyone sharing food on the table.” Guests dined at long tables hired from Vintage Patina Home.

On what Melissa describes as the best speech ever, she tells “Our bridal party made the day so fun for us and it was so nice spending the entire day with such great friends. The maid-of-honour speech turned into a bridesmaid song. Best speech we have ever seen. They changed the lyrics to Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer, which was more of less Lachlan and I’s “song”.”

Of their first dance, Lachlan remembers, “Our first dance wasn’t as we had planned. Mel had kept the length of her dress a secret and that wasn’t factored into our practices which logistically makes things slightly harder but we still managed. The dance floor was definitely a highlight of the night. We had a lot of old school songs which made it really fun.”

Congratulations on your marriage Melissa and Lachlan! Thank you for sharing your stories with us! Thank you also to James Goff Photography for sharing today’s wedding.