Romantic Wollombi Wedding - Polka Dot Wedding

Sarah & Lachlan

Sarah and Lachlan chose an amazing outdoor venue for their romantic Wollombi wedding. The magic space allowed them to marry in front of vineyards, and dine outside amongst the trees – just as the bride had always dreamed! It was magically captured by James Goff Photography.

Sarah and Lachlan delve into the story of how they came to be. “We met for the very first time at a beginning of 1st semester BBQ, although there were heaps of people there and Lachy doesn’t exactly remember meeting Sarah there, he does definitely however remember meeting her about a week later at the church she went to and he’d just started going to.

We hit it off pretty quickly and managed to spend a lot of time together when we ended up being in a class together at uni even though our degrees are totally different. Sarah would always arrive to class about 10 minutes late because she came straight from her job babysitting, and always found a seat next to Lachy where he saved her one, weekly, without fail.

We spent time together studying with friends as well as at the Bible study we both went to, we started spending more time together outside of these things too and about 6 months after we became friends, Lachy asked Sarah to date him!”

Sarah chose a Lisa Brown gown from Soul Sisters noting, “After heading to a bridal store with my mum and looking around a lot online, I decided I loved a lot of the dresses I’d tried on but really wanted something a bit different. I ended up deciding I wanted a wedding dress that wasn’t actually a wedding dress.

I found my Lisa Brown gown at Soul Sisters, a boutique in Fremantle, WA. The girls who helped me there were so wonderful and encouraging and even got me a veil to try on with the dress so that I could get a feel for what it would look like styled in a more bridal fashion. My mum and dad were both able to see the dress before I bought it, which was great, and I loved that they loved it too. The one thing I really wanted that was missing was a train, lucky for me I was able to find the same fabric and Lachy’s aunty is very talented and was able to make me a gorgeous detachable train to wear for the ceremony and photos. It was great to be able to take it off for the reception for dancing too. Between getting the dress and the wedding, I had a couple of doubts but I was so glad that it was the dress I went with and I was so comfortable on the day.”

Sarah walked down the aisle to “Bloom” by The Paper Kites.

“The moment we saw each other for the first time meant so much to both of us, and all the wedding nerves just disappeared. It was such an incredible moment knowing that soon we would be husband and wife and that that day was the start of our lives together. The whole ceremony was a wonderful celebration of love. Everything was just so much fun! We had a great time off with our bridal party having photos and with all our friends and family at the reception.”

Sarah and Lachlan chose Stonehurst Cedar Creek for their wedding, remarking, “Stonehurst was the second venue we visited together. Lachy had found it online and it just looked amazing. We toured the property with Maddy, the event coordinator and just fell in love with it. It’s such a stunning place, the vines, the cottages, and the incredible rows of trees at the spot we chose for our reception. It fitted everything we wanted. I’ve always dreamed of an outdoor ceremony and reception and Stonehurst was incredibly perfect for all of it.

We loved that we could have the whole wedding in one place, and that there was accommodation so that all our family could stay there for the wedding weekend. After we saw Stonehurst, we looked at a couple of other places but nothing came close so we decided to go for it and book our wedding there.”

Friend Reverend Danny Morris officiated the ceremony. “We’re Christians, and so we really wanted a day that wasn’t just about us and the love we have for each other but focused on the love God has for us and how we want to live our lives in response to that. At the ceremony we had some worship songs and a talk from the Bible, two of our siblings prayed for us as well which was really special. Saying our vows to each other was an incredibly special part of the ceremony, filled with so much excitement!

We had an outdoor ceremony which was beautiful, although it was a pretty hot day in the sun. It was wonderful to have all our family and friends there witnessing us make such a special commitment to each other. We had two readings from the Bible: My brother read for us 2 Corinthians 5:14-6:2. We also had Lachlan’s sister read Revelation 21:1-4.”

“One of the really special things for me was that I had a ring from each of my grandmothers on my necklace and that my train was made by Lachy’s aunty. We both love family so much and to have that incorporated into so many aspects of our wedding including what we wore was really special. Our family was so helpful and involved in lots of little details.”

“I loved the bridal party styling, picking different dresses for each of my bridesmaids was a great decision and they all loved their dresses. I definitely wanted flower crowns (which ended up being leaf crowns) the flowers and flower crowns suited the wedding styling perfectly and the groomsmen looked great. I also loved what I chose for my dress and accessories and Lachy’s suit being a different colour to the groomsmen’s pants. It was fun for everyone to be a bit different and it made us all most comfortable on the day.”

The outdoor reception had a relaxed vibe, Sarah explaining, “We’re also so so glad we went for an outdoor reception and hired Mrs Piggy’s Wheels , it meant the night we had was so much fun and chilled out. Mrs Piggy’s Wheels and Hello Naomi who catered the dinner and desert were also great in making sure to fit our vision for the day and delivered the most delicious food!

One of our favorite parts of wedding planning was each time we made a decision on something and it was exactly what we were looking for, especially when we found Mrs Piggys Wheels and booked the location, they were two stand out points when we felt like everything was coming together.”

“I decided to make the flower crowns for myself and the bridesmaids, as well as the bouquets which was great and I loved being able to have my touch on the floral arrangements. Lachy made the signs for the ceremony and reception from old pallets, which was great. We delegated some DIY projects to family and friends as well.”

Of their photographer, Sarah remembers, “Our photographer James was incredible, we couldn’t have asked for a better photography experience, we had so much fun with the photos and James made us incredibly relaxed and comfortable. The photos turned out beautifully and we couldn’t be happier. The first time we met up with James he showed us some of his past weddings which were all incredible, and chatted about the style in which he shoots. He does incredible candid work which we loved as it really captured our wedding as it was, not in a posed way.”

Of their first dance, Sarah remembers, “We danced to “Perth” by Bon Iver, which we chose not only because we love the song but because I (Sarah) moved to Newcastle from Perth to start uni. We loved our first dance as it was a special moment between us. I particularly enjoyed it because I love dancing but Lachy tends to shy away from it, so it was really special for me to have that first dance as husband and wife together knowing that he was mostly doing it for me because he knew how much I would love it. Although the more I manage to get him to dance the more he seems to enjoy it.”