Gülşen & Fergus Handmade Orchard Wedding

Gülşen & Fergus

There is a sense of utter romance to this handmade orchard wedding – the couple, deciding to marry at home worked hard to get their home into wedding worthy condition. From an orchard working bee, to making the napkins and sourcing the wine. They even made the dance floor. They chose Joseph Koprek  to capture their memories.

The newlyweds remember their proposal story. “Fergus proposed to Gülşen while they were living in Turkey. The engagement took place on an Island called Bozcada, while Fergus’ parents and Gulsen’s mother were visiting on holidays. He popped the question on a private balcony to their room before going to celebrate with their parents late into the evening.”

Gülşen wore the ‘Serafina’ gown by designer Maggie Sottero “I found the dress I liked by trying on a bunch of dresses at a number of Melbourne stores; from South Yarra to Sydney Road and all around the CBD too. I first had a little bit of a look on my own then pretty soon enlisted a couple of friends to come with me at different times. I looked at a pretty big range of dresses. I wanted something that I could wear all day and night and that I wouldn’t need to change out of for ‘the dance’ for example. Once I found the dress I liked. I looked for the best price for the dress online and had it sent to me.

Once it arrived I worked with the charming Gabrilelle Dosser –  Gab added a string of pearls to the back of my dress along the shoulder to make sure the dress (which has a low front and back) didn’t slip from my shoulders (esp for the dance) and she also added two bustle options one outside for a graceful drape and one under which was more sturdy for dancing and running around. She also added two soft ‘floating’ bra cups to give a little shape and extra cover and altered the dress length. Gab offered me some veil options which were beautiful, but in the ended I decided not to wear a veil.”

The bride, with the help of friends styled the floral arrangements for the day, the bride’s father creating cones filled with rose petals the night before.

The day was truly a handmade affair, starting with ensuring the orchard was in perfect shape for the wedding day. Gülşen noting, “We spent two weekends in the wintertime with a large group of friends and family pruning the orchard to get it looking good for the wedding (and so that it produces more fruit and is generally cared for).”  In the lead up to the day the couple planted flowers along the driveway and washed old terracotta pots to plant blooms in to decorate the ceremony area and made two arches to mark the entrances to the ceremony and to the orchard reception.

The couple met before the ceremony and entered together.

Kimba Griffiths performed the ceremony and Gülşen and Fergus wrote their own vows, Gülşen explaining, “It’s not for everyone, but writing your own vows can be amazing, so I am going to recommend it. The ceremony was a jewel and beating heart of everything about the wedding. When I would get overwhelmed at the production schedule in the lead up to the wedding – and even now, if I get caught up in the details of this and that when looking back, I just have to recall the ceremony and the meaning we put into it and any anxiety drops away.”

Edward Willoughby at Leos Fine Foods created  a “cheese”wedding cake topped with edible flowers. Gülşen telling, “We chose the cheese for the cake which meant we had a lot of fun tasting cheeses at home before we had made up our minds. Good food, good wine and good music were most important. ”

Even the seating had its handmade touch, the bride telling, “An old tree was cut down on the property before the wedding and so Fergus and his brother and friends cut the wood into sections and created the stump seats for the ceremony, covered with op shop brought cushions and curtain material and nailed in so that they look like mushrooms. And also made some wooded coffee tables from the wood pieces and discs and we put three of them in the ‘smoking area’ at the reception.”

Gülşen tells, “For us marriage is about the social announcement to our nearest and dearest that we have decided to hang out together for the rest of our days. It is really a celebration of that and the vows that we have made to each other. It’s about celebrating love!”

Gülşen and Fergus handmade and organised so many of the details themselves – from buying and stringing fairy lights, borrowing table cloths and napkins, sourcing cushions, votives and fabric from op shops to style their day – the groom even made the dance floor.

Their family pitched in too – a friend’s mother made homemade cordial, Fergus’ brother built a sink frame for the washing up area, Gülşen’s mother and sister made napkins, friends lent glassware and pots and helped organise the favors.

Guests received handmade pottery cups by local artist Juliet Widows as favors adorned with tags that said “For You” written by friends and family the night before the wedding. Tables were adorned with potted succulents arranged by the bride and her friends in second hand tea cups sourced from op shops. Guests enjoyed dinner catered by Digging for Fire BBQ Kitchen.

“Fergus built the wooded dance floor with a couple of friends using palates and a bunch of material he purchased from Bunnings. He’s very clever.”

Gülşen remembers one of the funnier stories of the lead up to the wedding. “Two days before our wedding day my dad flew into Melbourne from Istanbul where he currently lives. He told me a few days before we has due to arrive that his flight got in to Melbourne at 2am. If I was to pick him up it would be a 1.30min drive to get there, then there’s the parking, the waiting, the driving back home, the catching up… We would be up from 12am till 5am for sure. I was also suffering a bit of a cold and needed rest so pulling an ‘all nighter’ wasn’t really an option for multiple reasons. So dad obligingly said he would check into a airport hotel and I said I would pick him up at 10am or similar. I went to bed and turned my phone off.

In the morning I turned to Fergus and he said I wonder how your dad is going and I turned on my phone. Then I saw this message from dad. “Hi honey its 5.30am and could not get a room at the airport hotels nor in downtown. I am in Dandenong right now with taxi looking for a motel and no luck as they are all closed till 7am so making friends with cab driver and waiting for something to open ha ha I don’t believe this honey”. I felt terrible! Dad didn’t even have our address. He just thought that we lived near Dandenong (we actually live in the Dandenongs but it sounds similar right?). Dad thought it was a great adventure though. He is so amazing. I called him and gave him our address and in 20mins or so he’s at our place was here with a big smile on his dial.”

The bride’s favourite parts of the day? “Fergus’ vows and the ceremony for me was the most amazing part of the day but additionally, our dance, and everyone else’s dancing was very fun which is really also a great credit to the band! Also, some of our friends (the ones who stayed really late) created a circle around us and sang to us before we all went to bed – that was also very special… so much special, the list goes on…”

Sugar Fed Leopards performed all night leading to the couple’s favourite memories of the night- the dancing!

Congratulations on your marriage Gülşen and Fergus! Thank you for sharing your story with us and and a big thank you to Joseph Koprek  for sharing today’s wedding with us!