Natalie & John’s Dreamy Milton Park Wedding

Natalie & John

There is a beautiful traditional feel to Natalie and John’s dreamy Milton Park wedding. The historic estate playing host to a day filled with classic touches, beautiful romance and magic moments thanks to photographer Hannah Blackmore.

Natalie tells their story. “John and I met when we were 16 years old at a mutual friend’s 16th backyard birthday party and the rest is history. On our 7 year anniversary John got the courage to get down on one knee and ask me to marry him, presenting me with my dream engagement ring and proposing at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo (which happens to be my favourite spot in our beautiful city). Our mutual friend who played cupid for us was our best man at our wedding last year and still brags about how we have him to thank for bringing us together.”

Natalie wore the Pronovias “Best” gown from Brides of Beecroft noting, “From the moment I tried it on at Brides of Beecroft with my mum, sister and bestie in tears I knew it was the one! It wasn’t what I had thought I would end up wearing on my wedding day but turns out it couldn’t have been more perfect for me.

The dress itself was a Pronovias design called “Best” and it truly lived up to its name. The lace 3/4 sleeves added just the right amount of lace and elegance, for what I was looking for. The layers of tulle made the dress puff out just enough to make me feel like a princess and still be able to be a functional bride. The dress had the wow factor that I had always dreamed of as it was so different to any brides I had seen, I wanted it to be timeless and classy as well as stand out from the other brides and this dress made it happen.”

Natalie and John chose a traditional ceremony at the beautiful St Judes Anglican Church Bowral. Natalie tells, “It was big enough to seat all our guests comfortably but still felt very intimate. The high ceiling and wooden beams on the roof just made it feel that little bit grand and special. It was exactly what I had imagined.  For the ceremony we decided we wanted an unplugged service which meant no phones or cameras during the ceremony.”

Natalie chose a classic piece for her walk down the aisle, explaining, “I wanted to keep the ceremony very traditional and a tad vintage so with that in mind I decided to go for an instrumental entrance. The song I chose was called “A river flows in you” by Yiruma. It’s a really beautiful piece of music that I thought suited the atmosphere, setting the mood for the rest of the wedding.”

“We wanted to keep with a traditional Anglican service featuring three readings from a member of each of our families and a special Bible reading from my sister’s boyfriend. The non religious readings we both chose where “The Art of Marriage”- By Wilfred A Peterson and a blessing that I found online which was anonymous but had such beautiful and meaningful words we really wanted to include it. The Bible reading that we chose was 1 Corinthians 13. It was a beautiful service that we will remember for the rest of our lives, everything was perfect.”

Natalie and John chose beautiful country estate Milton Park for their reception, explaining, “Milton Park was the stand out vendor for our wedding, they were amazing not only on the day and night of our wedding but also during the lead up as well. Any concerns or questions that we had were always answered and nothing was to hard to organise for us.

We along with our guests stayed the night of the wedding at Milton Park, which was great to wake up the next morning to join our guests for breakfast. The staff were fantastic during the reception and very accommodating to our needs and special requirements. I would highly recommend this stunning venue to any future brides looking for a fairy tale.”

“Something that was really important to me was including my grandparents who had passed away many years ago. It was something that I felt very strongly about and wanted to have them with me in some way even though they couldn’t be there. So I went looking for a large vintage locket which I found and had two photos of my grandparents placed inside, I had the locket attached to my bridal flower bouquet so even though they couldn’t be there on the day I still had them close to me all day.”

Of their photographer, Natalie tells, “Our photographer that we chose to use was Hannah Blackmore, we had decided early on in our wedding planning that we wanted a fantastic photographer that knew the venues and would be able to capture our wedding in a relaxed style. Hannah was amazing to work with both on the day and during the lead up to the wedding.

After meeting with her twice before the big day my groom and I felt so relaxed and excited to have Hannah as our photographer. Her knowledge of photography and both our church and reception venue was fantastic and with a large bridal party to photograph on the day Hannah and her assistant Monty were so adaptive to any situation and made the day that little bit easier. I would highly recommend Hannah Blackmore to any soon to be bride looking for a photographer with a wow factor and relaxed natural style.”

“For the wedding reception I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful gardens of Milton Park, my theme for the reception was “bringing the outside in”. My florist loved the idea and worked with me to create something truly special. I wanted to have green foliage hanging from the chandeliers and poles creating a very natural soft vibe.”

The first dance was truly special for the couple, Natalie remembering, “The first dance was something I, as new bride, was a little nervous about, I found it hard trying to decide between all the songs that had meaning to my groom and I to use for our first dance. Lucky for me, my groom saved the day as he was the one who picked our song ” The Wedding Song” (Live in Sydney) by Angus and Julia Stone who happen to be one of my favourite bands. As soon as he played me the song I cried and knew that was the song I wanted to dance to as husband and wife for the first time.

We were a little sneaky and didn’t tell anyone the name of the song before the wedding, so when it came time on the night for us to take the dance floor as Mr and Mrs, the whole dance marquee was lined by our guests and the marquee fell silent waiting for the song to begin. I remember not one person said a word the room was silent the whole way through the song, as guests just listened to the words. It wasn’t until after the dance that I had noticed there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. For the rest of the night and still now I have guests tell me what an amazing first dance it was. It was definitely worth keeping it a secret.”

Congratulations on your marriage Natalie and John! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Hannah Blackmore for sharing today’s wedding.