Outdoor Garden Wedding - Polka Dot Wedding

Gill & Will

The laidback feel of the farm, juxtaposed with the glamour of a wedding is always a fun and wonderful way to spend a day and it is exactly how Gill & Will chose to celebrate their outdoor garden wedding. Matt Reed was there to capture it all!

Gill fills us in on how the couple met. “We met through mutual friends. Will was in Sydney as he was flying out for an overseas holiday the following day. I was living in Sydney and out with a friend of mine and Will was out with my friend’s housemate so it was pure luck that our paths crossed.”

Gill chose a design by Rachel Gilbert for her wedding gown, she explains, “I was incredibly lucky as I found my dress on the very first day I started looking. I had been to a few bridal stores throughout the morning with one of my bridesmaids. I have always loved Rachel Gilbert’s designs and so when we happened to walk past her store in Paddington we decided to stop in just to have a look. The dress stood out immediately – I loved the delicate lace sleeves, beaded neckline and front split and once I put it on I knew it was my dress. I wanted something simple and elegant without too much fuss. I loved every detail and it fit perfectly with no alterations required. Within two weeks it was hanging in my mum’s cupboard ready for the day.”

Primrose Playfair Makeup styled the bride and bridesmaid’s makeup for the day, the bride telling, “I could not have been happier with my makeup and the bridesmaid’s makeup on the day. I don’t wear a lot of makeup so I wanted a fresh and natural look while still looking like me. Prim did exactly that. She is incredibly talented and she is truly the best in the business. She is also a calm and fun presence on the morning of your wedding.”

St James’ Anglican Church, Cudal was chosen for the ceremony, the bride explaining, “We chose a lovely little weatherboard church only 10kms down the road from our home. We chose to be married in Cudal as Will grew up in the area and his family have been involved with the community and church for many years.”

Of the ceremony, Gill tells ,”We wanted the formality and tradition of being married in a church but still wanted the ceremony itself to be formal yet a little relaxed as well. It was such a lovely feeling to have our friends and family filling the tiny church. Our readings were read by Will’s two sisters which was a lovely way of including all our siblings in the wedding as my sister was a bridesmaid. We chose: – To Love is Not to Possess by James Kavanaugh – Corinthians 12.31-13.13.”

“We really wanted a relaxed and fun wedding with good food and good music. We really wanted to have our family and friends involved throughout and this made our day so much more relaxed and stress-free. It was great fun and such a lovely feeling to have everyone involved.”

Of their photographer, the bride remarks, “Our photographer Matt Reed was incredible. I had spent a lot of time researching photographers as we really wanted our photos to be candid and to capture moments throughout the day. I discovered Matt’s photos on a blog and loved them instantly. Matt was so friendly and lots of fun. Matt created such a fun and relaxed atmosphere for our photos with the bridal party. There were no awkward structured poses but rather a lot of laughing and fun with the bridal party even throwing autumn leaves on us (one of our favourite photos). Matt captured so many wonderful moments throughout our day and we are absolutely thrilled with our photos. I could not recommend him more highly!!”

The reception was held at home, the bride explaining, “We chose to have our reception in my parent’s garden on their property 9km out of Molong. We wanted our reception to be relaxed and outside under the stars plus their garden is beautiful with gorgeous views across the property. The weather could not have been more perfect and the autumn colours were stunning.”

The couple created much of the wedding decor themselves, the bride noting, “I didn’t want stark white tablecloths and was finding it difficult to source natural linen tablecloths. So we sourced the material from Spotlight and my lovely Mother-in-law kindly hemmed each of them. We grew and potted our own herbs in terracotta pots for the centrepieces of the tables. The flower arrangements in the church were created by a few wonderful family and friends. Our lovely friends and family kindly opened their gardens for us to collect flowers. It was such a nice way to have our friends and family involved. For our table seating chart, we collected empty wine bottles and removed their labels (thanks to my lovely and dedicated bridesmaids) and printed our table lists onto fresh wine labels. We then filled the wine bottles with water and added fresh flowers.”

“All 3 of the hire companies I used (Sarah Powell at Bespoke Country Weddings, Alicia McDonell at MacHire and Heidi at Millamolong Polo Club ) were incredibly friendly, helpful, and patient with my many questions and changes. This made the planning and set-up so fun and stress-free.”

Nick Rigby kept the music going all night long. “Our musician, Nick Rigby was incredible. He sang and played the guitar throughout our drinks/dinner and then DJ’d for the remainder of the night. His voice is amazing and his DJ skills fantastic. Our dance floor was the centre and highlight of our wedding reception. Our guests are still raving about him. He even went above and beyond his duty and dropped the bride and groom home.”

“Our catering company Eat Your Greens were wonderful. Jess and Ben are so relaxed and helpful and the food was just delicious (particularly the dessert buffet) – our guests raved about it for weeks.”