Shoreham Country Wedding - Polka Dot Bride

Rachel & Hugh

When the phrase “dance in the rain” is actually put to the test, it can sometimes be a little hard to stomach. Not for Rachel and Hugh’s Shoreham country wedding though. Not only did they dance in the rain, they even said their vows in it! All captured by Goldsmith & Co. photography.

On how they met, Rachel tells, “We met through mutual friends about 8 years ago.”

Rachel wore a Lover for David Jones gown, her bridesmaids in blue and white dresses from Bùl. She tells, “I really loved my dress. My mum, sister and I went to Sydney for the day and purchased it off the rack at the end of the day just before we had to leave for the airport! I also loved Hugh’s outfit and all the bridal party outfits, as they worked so well together & with the venue, and set the tone for a relaxed day.”

The couple married on a private property in Shoreham, the bride remarking, “The ceremony and reception were at my parents’ property in Shoreham. We’ve spent a lot of time there so it was pretty special to be able to get married there. Coincidentally the property is called “Hughenden”!”

The ceremony was officiated by David Edmonds, Rachel telling, “We wanted the ceremony to be relaxed and personal. Our celebrant Dave is such a chiller and really set this vibe, as did one of Hugh’s best mates Ed who talked about us as a couple.” Rachel chose Bright Eyes’ “First Day Of My Life” for her walk down the aisle.

Of their photographer, Rachel tells, “We met Goldy (Brett Goldsmith) and his wife Jane at Hugh’s brother’s wedding (they were the photographers there) and they were so fun and relaxed, and we loved their work. So when we started planning the day they were the first vendors we booked in. They were amazing to have there on the day – they made us & everyone very relaxed, and we had so much fun doing the bridal party photos in particular. We love our photos!!”

“The unplanned detail that you can see from the photos is that it rained during the ceremony. What you might not be able to tell is that this was very welcome rain – it was 40 degrees in the morning and the coastal showers dropped the temperature about 10 degrees. It also looked great in the photos!”

“As it was at home it felt like a lot of DIY as there was a lot of venue preparation to be done. But honestly mum and dad were amazing and bore the brunt of that work. The main things we made ourselves were the Blackboard table chart and place settings with tags, rosemary, string etc. I meant to be more organised but we ended up doing it the day before with a production line of bridesmaids and my sister-in-law and some Aperol spritz – much more fun! Thankfully one of the bridesmaids is a primary teacher and could fit all the names on the board.”

Cookes Food catered the wedding, the bride remarking, “Cookes Food were so professional, and Nicole did such a great job running the day. We had some interesting weather, which meant a change of location for drinks (rain), setting up another kitchen (heat), flying market umbrellas (wind) and much opening and closing of the marquee (wind and heat). These thing really could have impacted our day, but we didn’t have to worry for a minute – Cookes had everything under control.”

Anna Loughnan Flowers styled the flower arrangements for the day – using blooms in vibrant shades of pink. The bride remarking, “My gorgeous cousin Anna did the amazing flowers (including my flower crown) and helped mum and I with styling ideas and any wedding questions – it was so lovely having her be such a big part of our day.”

The couple chose a stack of cheese wheels as their wedding cake from Farmgate Cheese.

The first dance was upbeat and fun, Rachel remembering “We danced to Chuck Berry “you never can tell”…better known as the Jack Rabbit twist from Pulp Fiction. We wanted to do something fun and easy, but the first thing out dance instructor said is John Travolta might make the twist look easy, but it’s not. I think we nailed it! ”