Carmelina & Dale

There are plenty of amazing venues we have showcased across Polka Dot Bride over the early eleven years of publishing weddings, but I am pretty sure this relaxed country potato farm wedding is the very first that combines my love of potatoes and weddings! With Sherise Fleming behind the lens, the day was all about creating an experience that was not just fun on the wedding day, but fun throughout the wedding planning – and that, is something we can completely get behind!

The bride wore a simple lace gown from Baccini & Hill, paired with an Anna Campbell hairpiece. She tells “I booked in several appointments in bridal stores around Melbourne and went with mum and my bridesmaids to try on dresses. I tried on a lot of dresses over two days and after some deliberation decided on the dress that I wore on the day.”

The couple decided on their family potato farm for their big day, the bride explaining “We were completely uninspired by all the ‘same old same old’ wedding venues we researched and looked at. Everywhere we went felt wrong and we were underwhelmed with options. We had 150 guests invited and it was not easy to find venues that easily catered for this. The rules and restrictions at venues also took the fun out of the wedding and the price seemed to increase very quickly. We had the crazy idea to do something totally different and unique. Having a home wedding in our family spud shed was so inspiring and once we decided we would do it, we got to planning right away.”

The bride walked down the aisle with her father to Ed Sheeran’s “Tenerife Sea” remembering “We liked this song a lot and my dad walked me down our farm grass paddock aisle.”

A family friend officiated the ceremony, the spot chosen for its views. “We were married on top of a hill in the paddock on the farm.” says the bride. “It has an amazing view of the rolling hills of Thorpdale and ample space. We wanted the guests to enjoy this view and for this to be the backdrop for our pictures. We wanted it to be relaxed and casual. My younger brother said some words about the significance of having a home wedding and our celebrant was our neighbour who used to live on the property when she was a child.” 

Pollen & Patina created the beautiful bouquets for the day, Carmelina tells “I had some colours in mind and pictures of flowers I liked. I passed then onto Pollen and Patina and Katie created the floral work. I was not sure what my flowers were going to look like until they arrived on the wedding morning.”

Of their photographer, the bride remarks “Sherise was amazing! She was relaxed and candid which suited us perfectly. She was also organised and prepared for the day and stuck to her timeline really well. She was fun to be with for the day and was so accommodating to any requests. Perfect choice for us.” 

On stand out feature was the welcome the guests received, explains the bride “We set up Bride and Groom haybales ourselves at the top gate and they were so cute and effective. They are a feature of the day that we are so happy we did and the guests loved them. They were also the perfect landmark for guests to find the farm as you could see them from afar.”

Guests gathered for cocktail hour in the shed. “We made all our own signage and Dale made the large gorgeous wooden bar himself” tells the bride. “We had cocktails in mason jars and they were a big hit, we have no regrets about making those and feel they were worth the extra effort and expense.”

Guests enjoyed a banquet feasted catered by  Cafe Aura. “Our caterers Cafe Aura went above and beyond to cater for us. They researched in great detail the hire and set up of the kitchen we created in the spud shed. They were organised and did an amazing job with an abundance of food which all the guests loved. It was a challenging job as we had no kitchen facilities, not even a sink and they were able to create an entire set up to serve fresh well-cooked food.”

Although The White Tree was the perfect choice for the roaring dance floor, there was a surprise musical interlude before they even kicked off. Carmelina explaining “Our MC’s were my brother and our dear high school friend, who is also engaged to my cousin(also my bridesmaid). The MC’s and my cousin got up and surprised us by singing and playing piano accordion to “That’s Amore” however they changed the lyrics to be about us. It was a really fun surprise and was very funny.”

As is Italian tradition, the newlyweds were wrapped in steamers as they began their first dance to Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud”. Says Carmelina “We loved our first dance. This surprises me because we actually did not want to do the first dance but both ended up really enjoying the atmosphere of it. We had streamers and sparklers and it was really beautiful. My cousin also sang for our first dance so it was just lovely.”

And of course, you know how we adore a wedding film! Native Weddings captured the day as it unfolded with this beautiful film.

Congratulations on your marriage Carmelina and Dale! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us! Thank you also to Sherise Fleming for today’s photographs and Native Weddings for sharing today’s beautiful day.