Carlie & Duncan’s Classically Elegant Wedding

Carlie & Duncan

I love colour, all kinds of colour, I love quirk too but classic elegance? It gets me every time. The classic elegance wedding of Carlie and Duncan is simple and so beautiful in its simple white colour palette, bountiful white flowers and silver candlesticks. There is so much to love about this beautiful celebration captured by Karen Buckle.

Carlie tells the story of how they came to be. “We went to high school together. After being together for 14 years, we had already discussed weddings and had the location and dates etc picked out, so I knew it was coming. I just didn’t know when. We were having a beach day / picnic at Point Cartwright. It’s a spot we love to go to and something that was quite normal for us to do so it was a surprise when he got down on one knee and had packed champagne.”

The bride chose a sparkling white sequin gown by Karen Willis Holmes.

Carlie notes, “It was the best day of our lives. We have never felt so loved. Having everyone that matters most to us in one room was amazing. We couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. Thinking about it, just makes me smile and brings back the best of memories. In terms of our theme, we chose classic elegance, which suited our venue and our own personal pared back style.”

Carlie and Duncan chose Tiffany’s in Maleny  for their wedding, explaining, “We got married and had our reception in the one location – which made everything really easy. “Weddings at Tiffany’s” has a beautiful little chapel with glass windows looking out to the Glasshouse Mountains. There is a cute little courtyard area for canapés/drinks under maple trees and then the restaurant has a verandah with magnificent views. The venue was so stunning, we really didn’t need to do too much in terms of decorations.”

Bill Scully  performed the ceremony, Carlie noting, “We wrote our vows and exchanging of rings together, as this was really important for us.”

The couple chose a champagne toast, right after the ceremony. Carlie remembering, “Straight after the ceremony we went and had drinks and canapés with everyone in the courtyard area. And we got our speeches out of the way then, so that those making speeches could then relax and enjoy themselves. And then we went off for our photos at sunset.”

Carlie explains, “We chose not to have a bridal party. There were a few reasons for this… we have too many close friends that mean the world to us that it was too hard to chose, and it also meant they could relax on the day, and it also made our planning process easier, as there were no colour themes etc to stick to and less to organise. It was also really nice when we went to have our photos, as it was just the two of us, so we were only gone for a short time, but it meant we had some time just the two of us to take it all in.”

The reception continued with the classic elegance styling, Carlie explaining, “We chose white textured flowers, and really let Dez from Twig & Grace weave her magic. We made the flowers, crystal cut vases, and candelabras a real centrepiece for the chapel and tables to give a romantic feel and had beautiful white provincial furniture from Simply Style Co.”

Carlie notes, “I think the main thing was having all our family and friends there. It was so nice to stop and look around at everyone laughing and having a great time. In planning our wedding, we really tried to focus on the things that mattered most to us at other people’s weddings – having a relaxed vibe, great food, plenty of drinks, and music to get everyone up dancing to. Guests never really notice those small things you spend hours thinking about.”

“We had a lolly buffet for guests instead of bonbonnieres. We also decided to have a Polaroid guest book, so guests could take a picture of themselves and stick it in the book with their message. Duncan made a wooden backdrop for our guests to stand in front of.”

Of the first dance, Carlie notes, “We almost didn’t have our first dance… everyone was already up dancing!! It was only that the DJ made a point that he really liked our song choice, that we decided to stop everyone and have it. We had our first dance to “You’re the Best Thing” by Ray LaMontagne. We loved the words and the old school band sounds. We had had a practice the week before, but nothing rehearsed.”

The icing on the classically elegant cake – a wedding film, shot beautifully by BxcSmxth

Congratulations Carlie and Duncan! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Karen Buckle and Karen Willis Holmes for sharing today’s wedding with us!