Emma and Mathew

Emma and Mathew were certain of one thing when it came to their wedding plans – they wanted to weave their personalities, their special touch through every element of the wedding. Starting with the Yallingup location, a place where they had taken many trips together as a couple through to the custom gin bar, a nod towards their experience of a fantastic pop up gin bar in London, each element was carefully considered to be symbolic to their journey and resulted in a beautifully sophisticated country wedding captured by Natasja Kremers Photography.

The couple chose Cathrin D’Entremont Weddings to plan and execute the wedding, Cathrin also put together the couple’s wedding stationery. Emma remarking, “Cathrin, from CD Weddings brought our wedding to life. Her passion, creativity and energy was infectious and along with her years of experience and impeccable work ethic she made creating our perfect day look effortless. She became a dear friend and we could not speak more highly of the magic she creates for her clients.”

Emma chose a tulle ballgown from :e’lkemi with Scanlan Theodore shoes and jewels from Artistic Alloys and Rosendorff Diamond Jewellers.

Zinnia Floral Designs created the incredible floral arrangements for the day.

St Thomas More, Margaret River was chosen for the ceremony, Emma telling “We were married at the stunning St Thomas Moore Church in Margaret River. There is a sacredness about it; a tranquility and lightness that made the church feel warm and familiar. We loved the stone bricked walls and how the light fell in the chapel through stained glass windows.”

Emma remembers, “Our guests were seated to Beyonce’s Smash into you. My bridesmaid’s procession was to James Vincent McMorrow’s Higher Love and I walked down the aisle to The XX’s song Angels.”

“Our family and friends and the love they shared for us that day was just incredible and it was for this reason our wedding was an experience that will be treasured and held dear to our hearts for the rest of our days.”

Of their decision to marry in Yallingup, Emma remarks “Our wedding was in Yallingup, in Western Australia’s South West. We had taken many short trips there throughout our relationship and always felt there was something incredibly special about the region. It provided us the wedding backdrop of our dreams where all the country elements of luscious forests, amazing food and delicious wine with a beautifully relaxing and secluded atmosphere come together.”

Emma’s bridesmaids wore floor length gowns by Steph Audino.

Of their photographer, Emma notes, “Natasja Kremers’ photos have always taken our breath away. She captures lighting and life so perfectly with her candid and relaxed style of photography. We felt a connection with her as soon as we met her. When we received our photos it was like being able to relive the day all over again as she captured the most intimate and memorable moments.”

The couple served a custom designed gin cocktail menu to their guests for pre dinner drinks, Emma explains “When Mat and I were traveling in Europe we stumbled along a pop up gin bar in the middle of Hyde Park in London. We fell in love with the concept and wanted to share the experience with our guests. We set up our gin bar in the garden outside our marquee and personalised it with our own Gin inspired cocktail menu.”

“We had some quirky signs up around the reception venue, which portrayed our style. We really wanted our guests to come in relaxed and ready for a party. Our favourite was our Gin Bar drinks menu sign and “if you’re crashing this party, you better be funny”. We also used two rustic ladders to create a line for Polaroid photos to be taken by our guests with props and hung up for everyone to see.”

Chandeliers on Abbey was the ultimate location for Emma and Mathew’s sophisticated country wedding, Emma explaining, “Our reception was set over an acre at Chandelier’s On Abbey in Yallingyup. We fell in love with Chandelier’s sprawling the cottage garden as soon as we first set our eyes on it with lillypilly trees, camellias and luscious lawns it was the perfect setting. Amongst the garden was the farm’s original barn restored to its former beauty and provided the perfect backdrop for our pianist to play the first songs of the night while our guests enjoyed refreshments post the ceremony. As the sun set the garden came alive with chandeliers and fairy lights lining the trees. Our marquee complete with a stunning array of chandeliers overlooking the majestic garden and Gin Bar we had on display.”

Zinnia Floral Designs created breath taking floral arrangements along rectangular tables. “Our guests were treated to an enchanted evening dining amongst large unruly green floral that lined the long tables and danced the night away under a cascading garden of beautiful floral installed in the marquee. We adored the flower arrangements that lined the tables and bridal bouquets designed by Zinnia Floral. They were a talking point of the night!”

Emma notes, “It was so important to us to personalise our wedding. Every detail had a back story that was symbolic to our journey. From our Gin Bar, to midnight focaccias, table names, bomboniere’s and music choices they were all special to Mat and me and shared with our guests with love and purpose.”

A black and gold wedding cake was crafted by Edible Art.

Romano Rotelli (Fine Food of Margaret River) 08 9757 7555 catered the wedding, Emma telling, “We were able to source all our food and drinks from the South West which is renowned for its fresh produce and delicious wines. As self-proclaimed foodies it was a fantastic opportunity to show off the region we love so much and treat our guests to the finest of food by our Chef Romano Rotelli and vino from a number of the local wineries.”

There was one unexpected toast to the newlyweds, Emma explains “We were fortunate to have so many special stories from the day. But my sister as maid of honour takes the icing from the cake! Mat had proposed to me on an overseas holiday and one night we were celebrating with my sister at a beach bar in Portugal’s Algarve, we tricked her (after a few too many drinks) to try a traditional Portuguese liquor. Mat being Portuguese knew all too well how bad this one particular drink was going to go down – the thought of it alone makes me shiver. It is extremely unpleasant to drink. To our surprise she returned the favour during her speech and Mat was forced to drink a small glass of the same liquor in front of our family and friends. She had been planning her pay back since that very night in Portugal!”

The first dance was epic and included… lifts! Emma remembers “Anyone who knows us well would understand why we recruited a dear friend, a dancer, to help choreograph our wedding dance. Mat and I both have two dreadfully obvious left feet. We had practiced for months, laughing our way through the steps and technical lifts my over ambitious friend had set for us. We always saw the first dance as a way to get the dance floor open and party started. With that in mind we recruited the help of our bridal party.

Our waltz started without fault, it was the most amazing feeling to be with Mat at that time and to have our closest family and friends surround the dance floor and watch as we moved to Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love. To our amazement we were able to successfully dismount our second lift half way through the song at which we surprised our guests with a cut in the music.

Simultaneously, our groomsmen slide onto the dancefloor to an enactment of Tom Cruises Risky Business living room dance scene sporting tucked in pants in batman socks whilst waving their jackets in the air. Shortly after my bridesmaids interrupted twerking to Beyonce and JayZ’s Crazy In Love. It was one of the most memorable moments of the night and set off the dancing with a big bang!” The music that kept the dance floor alight was provided by DJ Goldbass Entertainment.

Congratulations on your marriage Emma and Mathew! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Natasja Kremers Photography and Cathrin D’Entremont Weddings for sharing today’s wedding with us!