Eloise and Ben’s Romantic Polo Club Wedding

Eloise & Ben

There is a big sense of romance at Eloise and Ben’s romantic polo club wedding. The couple consciously decided on ways to make their day meaningful to them. From a smaller guest list that included their fur babies, the bride’s father MC’ing the reception and the couple hand making much of their reception decor. The couple chose Angus Porter and team to capture their day both in stills and in motion!

Eloise tells their story. “We both share a love for live music so it was fitting that we actually met at a live gig in the city. Ben was with with his friends and I was with mine, our groups mingled and we all started chatting. It wasn’t long before we discovered that even though we lived almost an hour apart, I was from the North Shore and Ben was from the Hawkesbury (where we both now live), we found by amazing coincidence that I spent a lot of time horse riding at a friend’s neighbouring property just over the back fence of Ben’s family property. We hit it off from there and have never looked back. It sounds corny but we certainly believe it was one of those ‘meant to be’ moments.

The beautiful bouquets of red and white were styled by Sweet Bride.

Eloise and Ben married at Sydney Polo Club, the bride remarking “The Sydney Polo Club was just beautiful with its rustic and romantic charm and green paddocks as far as the eye could see. The grounds are immaculate and the Polo Barn where we had our reception was breathtaking lit up at night. We chose to have our wedding at the end of winter so the cherry blossoms were starting to bloom. The photos speak for themselves, it was a beautiful location and as we both share a love for the outdoors and horses, it was the perfect venue for us.”

Eloise walked down the aisle to Sweet Disposition – The Temper Trap .

Eloise notes, “We kept numbers down to 80 of our nearest and dearest so it was lovely to be able to get around and see everyone. We even had our beloved fur-babies at the ceremony, our two dogs Pippa and Humphrey which made the ceremony even more special. To have family and friends helping us along the way also meant so much and we couldn’t have done it without them.”

The couple chose Robyn Pattison to perform their marriage ceremony, Eloise remarking, “Our celebrant Robyn Pattison was brilliant. She made the whole process in the lead up to the wedding a breeze and was so thorough in her research of getting to know us, she was able to include a lot of personal touches and stories in our ceremony which made it all the more special for us.”

Of their photographer, Eloise tells, “Dan and the team were just outstanding. We had known Dan for a few years and had been lucky enough to be a part of a couple of shoots with him before, so it was only natural that he be a part of our special day. We felt so comfortable in the team’s company and had many comments on the day of how attentive they were, yet seemed to blend into the background. Many guests were surprised to discover that there was even a cinematographer there at all, they were very discreet. Not only did they do a great job (we are so thrilled with the finished product), but we had a whole lot of fun with them which was great.”

The bride wore a dress from Anna Campbell, her bridesmaids in ivory and gold gowns from Forever New, the groom and groomsmen outfitted in RM Williams. Eloise remembers, “In terms of Ben and my attire, I just adored my Anna Campbell gown, the fabric and lace was so beautiful, I didn’t want to take it off! Ben and the groomsmen wore R.M.Williams not only to coincide with our relaxed country feel of the day, but because it was important to feel like ‘us’ on our day and Ben is so at home in that style of clothing (and looked so handsome in it).”

Plenty of details were handmade by the couple, the bride telling, “Our wedding was quite the DIY affair not just because of budget, but we are a crafty hands on couple so it was something we wanted to do and had a lot of fun doing. We made all the table decorations, invitations and bonbonniere (our hand made rocky road). A gum tree limb came down in a storm at home, so Ben sliced it up into disks with a chainsaw which we then stained and used as table centerpieces. We also collected a whole heap of jars and beer bottles as well, but our favourite pieces were horse shoes that Ben welded together and spray painted gold which we used to display the table numbers. We hadn’t seen anything else like it so we were really proud of our little creation. We feel that it made our day all the more special knowing that our heart soul was present in all our DIY features and that the day was really made with love.”

The reception celebrations continued in the barn of the Sydney Polo Club, the bride telling, “As we aren’t really the traditional types, we wanted the day to be all about relaxed fun and for people to remember it for having a good time. My dad was MC because we didn’t want a stranger who didn’t know us as a couple to be speak for the evening…this naturally lead to a few good hearted digs at the groom but everyone had a good laugh and it just emphasised how we wanted the day to be about friends and family, it was an intimate and personal day.”

“Craig Woodward & The Lonely Dogs were our band for the evening and they really rocked the barn. There were guests on the dance floor all night and we had a great time.”

“To keep with the theme of fun, we started the reception with a brief Trivia game involving questions relating to the bride and groom which was a lot of fun and a nice way for our guests to engage with one another on their tables. We also went against tradition with our bridal table and sat facing each other so we could interact with one another which was a highlight for us.”

Eloise remembers, “The most special thing for me as the bride, was definitely seeing Ben for the first time with the biggest smile on his face. I was so nervous and excited but it’s true what they say, as soon as he held my hand it felt like we were the only two in the room. The day absolutely flew, but when we were taken outside for a few night time photos, it was a lovely opportunity to sit back and go “wow, what a great day”.”

Angus Porter and his team also produced this video for the couple, I love the emotion and fun of it!

https://vimeo.com/113055782

A big thank you to Eloise and Ben for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Angus Porter and Robyn Pattison for sharing today’s wedding with us!