Sophie & Nathan

With the gorgeous Tasmanian countryside as their backdrop, Sophie and Nathan chose the beautiful country venue of Sandridge Estate for their beautiful Tasmania barn wedding. The couple choosing Look See. Photography by Naomi Fenton to capture the magic of their day.

Sophie tells the story of how she and Nathan met. “Not long after moving back to Tasmania from living in Sydney, I met Nathan’s cousin Jayde who was a work colleague. Nathan and I were both part of a group Jayde had gotten together to attend a concert, and everyone ended up back at my place afterwards for drinks. Not long after, Nathan befriended me on Facebook and the next catch up was arranged. After that, the rest is history! Everything was so easy, so effortless, we fell in love quite quickly and started making lots of plans and goals together for our future.”

The bride chose a gorgeous long sleeve gown by Rue de Seine from Bridal Salon: The Bridal Atelier. Her bridesmaids wore gowns in black from Sheike, Esther,  White Suede and Mossman. She tells “After a few visits to bridal shops locally in Tasmania, finding dresses I liked but wasn’t totally convinced by, I organised a trip to Melbourne with three of my bridesmaids.

There was a boutique I had been following on Instagram called The Bridal Atelier so made my first appointment with them of the day. Helped by their wonderful stylist Candy, I was instantly drawn to the beautiful gowns by New Zealand Designer Rue De Seine. When I tried on the beautiful Zeppelin gown, the decision was made with my bridesmaids that this was the one and basically our day of dress shopping would be over before it began – nothing else would possibly compare!  I wanted something that was elegant but still sexy, easy to wear and something that made a real statement!”

“We chose for the aisle song, Cavalier by James Vincent McMorrow. It is a beautiful song by an artist that Nathan & I discovered and have loved since they have been together. Some of the lyrics we loved were about someone being your ‘first love’ – since meeting one another both of our beliefs about what this means have changed.”

Allie House  officiated the wedding ceremony, the bride remembering “The ceremony was just about the most important part of the day for us. We wanted it to have a lot of meaning and be a true reflection of our relationship as well as the commitment we were making to each other. Our wonderful celebrant Allie House gave us the structure but we were very involved in getting it perfect.

We also included a special reflection and reading by my mother, Lucy which was planned and written over many months. This was such a special moment for us. It was also important to us that we had our own vows, not in a traditional vow sense but more a collection of special words and feelings of and to each other.

We wanted it to be a celebration of everything we love about each other! We had so many comments from people that it was one of the most beautiful ceremonies they had been witness to and definitely captured us as a couple. There were tears, there was laughter and it was just the most special time of the whole day, really setting the tone of the rest of evening and night.”

“Following the family photos, we snuck away with our bridal party for more photos and drinks. We stood in a circle laughing together for ages about ridiculous stories told by one of the groomsmen, the light was incredible, there was no one else around and it was just so fun.”

Life as a Bird by Emma Williams styled the florals, Sophie remarking “I left the flowers entirely up to my friend, bridesmaid, florist and stylist Emma Williams. Emma is a well-known florist from Launceston. The brief was unstructured, bright reds and pinks, lots of greenery and lots of floral features in the barn to offset the rustic setting. There was also a feature table of vases overflowing with beautiful blooms.”

“My bridesmaids were four of my closest friends, Julia, Emma, Alexandra and Sarah, all of whom I have known since high school, so coming up to 20 years of friendship. My flower girl was Nathan’s beautiful daughter Sienna, 7. Nathan’s groomsmen were some of his best mates, Duran, James and Shannon and his older brother, Brett. Nathan’s son Jesse, 13, was the ring bearer for the ceremony.”

The rustic beauty of Sandridge Estate tied perfectly into the weekend’s festivities, Sophie telling “Rather than just a day, the wedding was more of a celebration weekend. Since many people had to travel to the small beachside town of Boat Harbour, many groups rented beach houses together and made a weekend of it.

We rented two properties for the bridal parties, The Summer House and Coast, which were perfect locations for everyone to get ready for the day as well as spend the days after the wedding recovering and reflecting.

The ceremony and reception venue, Sandridge Estate fitted our brief in terms of not wanting guests to change venues, somewhere everything could happen on the day. The next day, a recovery lunch was organised at Harvest and Cater at Boat Harbour Beach which really felt like a continuation of the celebration.”

Of their photographer, the bride remarks “Naomi was such a pleasure to deal with in the lead up to the wedding and also on the day. She was non-intrusive but also made sure all the important moments were captured candidly which was part of our whole brief. We feel so lucky that she was recommended to us. We really feel as though we have a storybook of our day that captures the whole night, the feelings, the atmosphere and you can literally relive the love and happiness by looking at the photos. Naomi is insanely talented and the images reflect that, especially in terms of how the light is used and the details that are captured. Everyone commented about how comfortable they were for her to be such an integral part of the day. Her service in editing and providing the photos to us was also exceptional. We couldn’t have asked for more.”

“A special moment was when we left the barn at dusk to have photos and were joined by Nathan’s children Jesse and Sienna who ran out to join in on some special pics. We also loved having some time after the ceremony having photos away from the reception with our wonderful bridal party. The whole weekend was so special and it’s so difficult to pick any one thing as they all keep flooding back!!

“Nathan’s son and daughter Jesse and Sienna made the most beautiful speeches that they wrote with help from Sophie’s mother Lucy. They specifically asked in the lead up if they could do this on the day! There was not a dry eye in the house. Our ‘team’ of MC’s, Claire, Jake and Gregg, were hilarious, organised and wonderful.”

Of their first dance, the bride tells “We chose a song we both loved that we thought would really complement the feeling and mood of the barn. It is called Hold by Vera Blue. It was such an amazing feeling to be surrounded by our friends and family as we had our first dance.”

Music was important to the newlyweds, who chose Well Strung for their day. Sophie explaining “One of the favourite details of the day ended up being the music – it seemed to capture every nuance perfectly. This was also complemented by our fantastic band who really got the party started – Well Strung from Launceston. A great bunch of guys who were so easy and wonderful to deal with.”

Congratulations on your marriage Sophie and Nathan! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us! Thank you also to Look See. Photography by Naomi Fenton  for sharing today’s beautiful celebration.