Sarah Jane & Daniel

There is always a lot to love about Spring and when Sarah Jane and Daniel chose a classic Spring inspired wedding to celebrate their nuptials, there was no doubt it would be a beautiful day. Captured by gm photographics Sarah Jane & Daniel wanted to make the most of the beautiful day – choosing a historic house garden for their vows, and another historic house overlooking the water to celebrate with their guests.

Sarah Jane sets the scene with the story of how they pair came to meet. “We met almost eight years before we got engaged, at a university fancy dress party – Daniel was dressed as a 70s disco dancer, complete with flared lycra pants, and I was dressed as a rowdy pirate. We instantly hit it off and have been inseparable since.”

The bride chose a gown from Karen Willis Holmes, noting “I had tried on so many dresses before I went to her store, but as soon as I saw the dress I fell in love with it instantly. It was just what I had been looking for the entire time. The intricate, hand-beaded bodice was like nothing I had seen before, and the flowing, organza A-line skirt was just what I wanted. I felt like a princess!”

The groom and groomsmen wore navy suits from Hugo Boss which were accessorised with a lilac tie.

Sarah Jane and Daniel decided upon Vaucluse House for their ceremony, the bride remarking “We loved the relaxed yet classic feel of getting married on the lawn outside of Vaucluse House, with the beautiful historic house in the background. My mother and uncle often used to visit Vaucluse House when they were young with my grandmother, and we thought it would be special to get married in such a beautiful garden, where my family already had so many happy memories.”

Sarah Jane walked down the aisle with her father to Pachelbel’s Canon in D played by Jasmine Strings.

Sarah Jane and Daniel were married by Melissa Soncini, the bride remembering “Our ceremony was personal and genuine – and very true to us. We wrote our own vows which made it really special, and allowed us to mention our beloved cat!
We had two readings at the ceremony, as we loved both of them and couldn’t choose just one. The first was an extract from Les Miserables which was read by a close school friend, and the second reading was 1 Corinthians 13 which was read by my Aunty. It was so special to be able to include them both in our ceremony.”

Guests enjoyed games in the sunshine. “We didn’t want our guests to be bored between the ceremony and the reception, so we arranged a soda stand for the lawn at Vaucluse House, and had retro games like croquet and giant Jenga for everyone to play.”

Of their photographers, Sarah Jane raves “Sarah and Joy were amazing. They were so friendly and made taking the location photos effortless. They made us feel relaxed and we had so much fun taking the photos. We love how they used the light to make the photos look really spectacular and yet natural.”

Sarah Jane notes “My sister and one of Daniel’s brothers were our bridal party. We wanted to keep our bridal party small so that we could spend time with our siblings on the day.”

Celebrations continued at Dunbar House “We chose to hold our reception at Dunbar House as we thought it perfectly complemented the ceremony venue (with both being historic houses). We loved that Dunbar House has a beautiful wrap around balcony overlooking the water, which was the perfect spot to hold our cocktail hour drinks and canapés.”

Floreat  styled the Spring inspired arrangements for the day, the bride telling “We chose flowers that were light, pretty colours, with some trailing greenery. We wanted natural, soft looking bouquets for myself and my bridesmaid. For the grooms and groomsman’s buttonhole, we chose, amongst other flowers, lavender, as it complemented the tie and suit perfectly.

We chose similar flowers for the reception tables, with low, but full arrangements on the tables so guests could talk to each other across the table.”

The cake was inspired by a royal wedding and created by Faye Cahill. Sarah Jane explains “We loved how our cake turned out, it was exactly how we imagined it. Together with our cake decorator, we designed a traditional Lambeth piping design on our three tiered cake inspired by Kate and William’s royal wedding cake.”

“The wedding was a dream come true, and we were so happy that so many of our friends and family from all over Australia and overseas could celebrate with us on the day. We will always remember the fun filled reception we had with so much dancing, our wonderful guests, the fantastic food, and, most importantly, becoming husband and wife.”

After personalised cocktails and music in the sunshine, guests were welcome inside with the tunes of The Baker Boys.

Continuing with the classic feel of the day, the couple chose an old favourite for their first dance, telling “Our first dance was to John Legend ‘All of me’. We were able to choreograph our entire dance in only two dance lessons, and then we practised a lot at home prior to our wedding. We think it was a great idea to get lessons as it allowed us to feel confident and have some fantastic moves.”

Congratulations on your marriage Sarah Jane & Daniel! Thank you for sharing your story with us! Thank you also to gm photographics for sharing today’s celebration!