Tess & Ed

It was a beautiful day in the sunshine as Tess & Ed tied the knot in their sweet picnic wedding at Elizabeth Farm. With “Relaxed, fun, colourful, and full of music” the theme of the day. they celebrated their vows with scones piled high with jam and cream and games on the lawn before guests gathered for a bright and fun reception at a local bowling club. They handmade just about every detail – from the bouquets to the decor, all bringing back the vibe they wanted every element to have. They chose Studio Something to be there to make sure every moment was captured.

Ed proposed on the couple’s five year anniversary, the bride explaining “Ed took me out to a fancy pants lunch on our five year anniversary. Over dessert, he gave me a beautiful antique ring and asked me if I would like to get married. It was simple, honest, and very sweet.”

The couple chose Elizabeth Farm for their day, telling “We didn’t want anything stuffy or formal so we went with venues we knew our friends and family would feel relaxed in. Elizabeth Farm is a beautiful old homestead with a lovely garden. Most importantly they do an excellent scone with jam and cream which we served our guests picnic style while we had our photos taken.”

The handmade details started with the bouquets says the bride. “We did our own flowers by visiting the Sydney Flower Market and frolicking through, randomly picking anything that looked beautiful and colourful. We set up in my friend’s apartment the day before arranging flowers into jars and making my bouquet (thanks to a few Youtube tutorials). By the end of the day, her place looked (and smelled!) like the Floriade festival. Definitely the most fun part of wedding prep!”

Accompanied by her parents, the bride walked down the aisle to friends playing “God Only Knows” by Brian Wilson.

Tess and Ed chose Wendy Hawthorne to officiate their ceremony, noting “We had readings from the Emmylou Harris song A Love That Will Never Grow Old and the poem Having a Coke With You by Frank O’Hara. Our friends played music for us on violin and cello which I loved as a personal touch. We wanted to keep the ceremony short, simple, down-to-earth and cheese-free, which our celebrant Wendy handled beautifully.”

Friends and family lent plenty of help for the day, says Tess. “We have so many talented friends and family who offered to help us so our wedding was full of beautiful personal touches. Our delicious wedding cake was made by a friend, complete with cupcakes stamped with a monogram she had made for us. The wedding cake topper was made by my artist step-mother; it had a tiny Astro Boy and Bettie Boop dressed in wedding gear and wound up to play ‘You Are My Sunshine’ from a music box mechanism. The flower girl’s dresses were made by our talented sister-in-law; a dressmaker. My artist brother made an excellent running order sign for the reception and my very handy mum made up some tablecloths too. They were all made as wedding gifts to us and we really appreciated having such meaningful things around us on the day.”

As scones were piled with jam and cream, the newlyweds performed a tea ceremony with their families to signify the moment the families joined as one.

Of their photographer, Tess recounts “We used Studio Something. I loved the look of their photos and the photographers made us feel like old friends. No awkward corny poses!”

“The wedding gown was choice number two, the bride choosing a dress from Asos. She explains “My dress was my plan B dress. After a disaster with a second-hand dress and a dry cleaner who shrunk a silk layer, I ordered a dress from Asos online as an experiment. It ended up looking really nice and I took it to a talented dressmaker who made some alterations to make it fit me perfectly. She also suggested a few alternations to the design which made it one of a kind. It was great to be a part of that process.”

The newlyweds celebrated with guests at Petersham Bowling Club. The bride noting “The venue is a great community run pub with a relaxed atmosphere and space for a live band, which was a priority for us. The staff were extremely helpful, accommodating and friendly. The vibe was so warm and relaxed it felt like the closest thing we could have had to a big party in our own house – if our house was big enough, and had a pool table, dance floor, and bowling green.”

The bright and colourful decor was made by the newlyweds and their guests. Tess remarking “We did our own flowers, had the girls around for a sewing bee one weekend to sew bunting, made our big ‘Till death do us party’ sign, made signs for the guestbook and card table out of old records, and folded a bunch of decorations. We also embraced our pub venue by having paper coasters made which featured the same design as our invitations.“

Tess remembers “We loved the band we hired, The Brassholes, a New Orleans style brass band. They really made the party!”

In lieu of a first dance, the newlyweds planned a very special surprise for their guests, they explain “We felt a bit awkward about dancing in front of everyone so we decided to play to our strengths instead. When guests posted us their RSVPs we requested they add a sentence about marriage. We took all the contributions and turned them into the lyrics of our own love song which we played for everyone on the night. Thanks to our guests the lyrics turned out to be sweet, poignant, and hilarious and now we will always remember that marriage means “being each other’s cheerleader”, “sharing our goals”, and “never having to shave my legs again”.

Congratulations on your marriage Tess & Ed! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us. Thank you also to Studio Something for sharing today’s wedding.