Cherie & Shawn

Autumn is hands down my favourite season of the year and the romance of Cherie and Shawn’s Autumnal Marybrooke Manor wedding captured by Someday Somewhere Photography captured that beautiful fiery ambiance of the season – bouquets of zesty orange and marsala complemented by the scattering of autumn leaves and of course, all tied up with the most beautiful bow that is the love story of Cherie & Shawn.

The couple chose their favourite books and wove the Penguin Classics versions through every element of the day – beginning with the invitations.

Cherie chose an Anna Campbell  wedding gown noting “I wore Giselle, by Anna Campbell in latte. A week after getting engaged, I had seen this dress online and fell in love with it. I presumed that it would be a European or American designer and began her search to find something “similar to it” in Australia. It didn’t take long for me to find out that Anna Campbell was not only Australian, but she was in Melbourne! Whilst I tried on a few different dresses in similar styles, there was no trumping Giselle. It was perfect and the girls at Anna Campbell were friendly and professional throughout the entire experience.”

Family details were important to Cherie who tells “I wore my Mother’s garter and my Grandmother’s earrings which have been worn by all the women in my family at their respective weddings.”

Cherie and Shawn chose Marybrooke Manor for their wedding, remembering “Before anything else was planned for the wedding, we knew where we wanted our photos to be taken and at what time of year.

On a drive through the Mountains, Cherie turned into the driveway of Marybrooke Manor to do a U-turn and head back home. She audibly gasped when she saw the Tudor Mansion sitting so beautifully amongst manicured gardens and she knew this is where they would get married. The following weekend she took Shawn for a drive to see Marybrooke. She had told him no details about it, other than it might just be the right one for them. On turning into the driveway, through the large gates, Shawn had the exact same reaction Cherie had had the week before. They drove home and made an appointment to see the inside of the venue.

It was important to us that the guests of the wedding didn’t have to travel from venue-to-venue or “kill time” between the ceremony and the reception. The Chapel area of Marybrooke Manor is luminous with natural daylight and was able to seat the entirety of their guests during the ceremony. Then they lay eyes on PJ’s Restaurant, which looks like it has been picked up from England and placed amongst the gum trees of Sherbrooke. Roaring fire, comfortable chairs, exposed beams, exactly the place to have a drink and canapes after the ceremony on a Melbourne Autumn day.”

Cherie walked down the aisle to “One Day Like This” by Elbow.

Georgia Mills officiated the ceremony, the bride and groom remember. “We wanted their ceremony to be about us and our families. We wanted it to have laughter and a light-hearted feel, which would make everyone in the room feel as happy as we were. We met with Celebrant Georgia Mills and she was just the right fit for our big day. The first 15 minutes of their meeting was spent talking about our respective Dogs (Fur babies), and Georgia had such warmth and kindness about her that there was no need to meet with anyone else after we had found her. Her professionalism shone through, and she guided us through the entire process with such ease.”

“The only dry eyes throughout the ceremony were ours – we grinned like Cheshire Cats and laughed a lot.”

Of their photographer, the newlyweds tell “We have known Greg Briggs personally for a few years now. We have watched his natural talent for photography and an eye for detail, blossom over the years and knew we wanted him to shoot our wedding. In fact, we had chosen him to shoot our wedding before he was even told about it.”

Red Earth Flowers styled the autumnal toned floral arrangements for the day, the bride and groom telling “As well as some gorgeous flower centrepieces from Red Earth Flowers, we wanted an individual spin on the styling. Antique books in burgundy and burnt orange with the table names coming from the title of a Penguin Classic, which sat upon the antique books on each table. Some of the titles had special significance to the guests on that table and others contained tongue-in-cheek references such as “My Family and Other Animals”.

The bonbonniere were also handmade. We ordered organic Gluhwein Wine Spices from Germany, wrote a recipe and bundled them up for use in muslin cloth, presented in a kraft paper box and sealed with a seal of our own design. Instead of confetti or rose petals, we gathered up the Autumn leaves from the trees at Cherie’s parents’ home and filled cones made from the pages of antique books.”

A nod to the bride’s family’s Scottish heritage, a piper greeted guests before the ceremony and led the newly married couple into the reception.

One very special guest made a mammoth journey. “We were very lucky with all our  vendors. All were professional throughout the process and made it as stress free as possible. It would be difficult to highlight just the one. Not a vendor, but an important part of the day – the Master of Ceremonies was Cherie’s brother Jonathan and he flew in from London just for that evening to play this special role, and then headed back the very next day. 48hr round trip for less than 24hrs on the ground!”

Of their first dance, the newlyweds remember “I can dance and Shawn has rhythm, so that was a good place to start. The week before the wedding (after the music had been chosen), I taught Shawn how to waltz. After a few sore toes, a couple of steps in the wrong direction and a lot of laughter, he picked it up well and we danced this waltz on our wedding night to ‘The Ship Song’ by Nick Cave and the Badseeds.”

Congratulations on your marriage Cherie and Shawn! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Someday Somewhere Photography for sharing today’s celebration with us!