Amanda and Matthew's Magical Forest Wedding

Amanda and Matt

Matt and I are high school sweethearts. I met him when I was 15, through my sister. We dated for six and a half years before getting engaged and nine months later we were married. We couldn’t imagine life without each other.

Even before we were engaged we both knew we wanted an outside, rustic, personalised wedding. One of Matt’s groomsmen helped us design our invitations – four separate cards each with their own design tied together into a paper package with a map on the back.

My bridesmaids and I got ready at one of my bridesmaids’ family’s dairy farms, surrounded by Australian bush.

I wore a custom dress from an Etsy seller and a flower crown at the reception. I tried to keep my look as natural as possible whilst still feeling like a princess.

One of my favourite gifts was a handmade garter made by my grandmother. She used lace that belonged to my other grandma who passed away a couple years ago; it’s small details like this that made our day so special and personalised.

My bouquet as well as my bridesmaids’ flowers were so pretty and colourful; the blooms were so beautifully large and I chose many colours and types, including gum leaves, hydrangeas and roses.

As my bridesmaids were all different heights and shapes they all wore different styles of dresses made from the same material which flattered their shapes.

When one of my bridesmaids showed Matt and me a paddock of forest owned by her friends, that was surrounded by Kuitpo Forest and filled with pine trees and old gum trees, we knew we had found the most magical ceremony location! Although at times a logistical nightmare, the forest created the most peaceful yet powerful setting and was a dream come true to get married under a big old tree!

The forest was decorated simply with mix match chairs, hay bails, tree stumps and a rainbow of flowers, it had a real, authentic feel.

To keep the individualised styling going, the boys all wore the same suits but different brown shoes; it looked so good and saved them some money if they had a pair already!

The air was filled with sweet acoustic tunes from five of our very talented musician friends, and an unexpected gathering of butterflies! We had a simple, mouth-watering afternoon tea after the ceremony featuring homemade lemonade and an array of our families signature sweets.

From here miracles kept happening! We found and fell in love with a cute winery in McLaren Vale, Coriole Vineyards, for our reception – it provided the perfect backdrop for our photographs too! Our photographers, Amanda June Photography and Lux Photography captured so many special moments!

Coriole Vineyards has the most beautiful garden and fitted perfectly with our rustic, vintage, outdoor theme. And it just so happened that my brother knew the owner! We had a cocktail wedding reception with 130 guests and a lot of food!

The colour palette of seafoam green and coral swept through our wedding from the bridesmaids’ dresses to the bunting and even the beer labels.

It was such a beautiful wedding full of colour and hessian. From decorating jars, choreographing a surprise bridal party dance for our guests, to painting wooden signs or stitching bunting, our wedding reflected our fun, adventurous and spontaneous personalities in every way.

I am a crafty, homemade person so I always knew I would have a lot of DIY features at our wedding. It was really important to us to involve our friends and family as much as possible – from our invitations, flowers, cars, cake, to the makeup, photographer, even the micro-brewed beer! This made everything so much more meaningful and cost-effective. It allows you to show those closest to you how much you love them!

We had homemade jam, five types of custom beer with custom labels and custom stubby holders, a photobooth, an icecream cart, a bible guest book, and the cutest page boy and flower girl you ever did see.

Our guests caught our joyful bug, sending us off through a tunnel of sparklers before encouraging an encore out of our amazing jazz band. It was the most perfect day!