Tracy & Richard

This lush Scandi garden wedding took our breath away! With the bride a florist, guests were guaranteed a gorgeous setting, made even better with delicious food and loads of DIY details. Dawn Thomson snapped this beautiful day.

Florally, the groom made an excellent choice in proposal location! Tracy shares, ”Richard proposed in Spring at a surprise picnic he had set up under a field of pink blossom trees in Canberra.” It sounds absolutely beautiful to us!

The bride wore the ‘Mabel’ two-piece gown by Karen Willis Holmes from their Wild Hearts collection. She tells, ”I had a list of dresses to try the day of my trial, and although the Mabel dress wasn’t my first choice, it turned out to be what I was looking for. I loved the two piece design plus the classic clean lined cut, a combination of modern and classic fused together. On the day everyone said the dress was ‘very me’, which is how you want to be on your wedding day!” The bridesmaids wore tops from Forever New and maxi tulle skirts from Needle & Thread.

Creating a their perfect wedding day, the bride and groom chose The Orchard Garden, New Zealand as their venue. Tracy tells, ”Our venue is best described as a secret garden surrounded by lush foliage and a stunning wild garden of flowers. I am a florist so I always knew I wanted to get married in a garden surrounded by nature. Our wedding theme was a mix of Scandi, classic, modern and rustic and our colours were white, black and tan.” We simply adore this combination! Tracy also shares of her favourite part of the day, saying, ”It was the ceremony in the garden. From when I was walking the down the aisle with my Dad and seeing Richard beaming at me, to saying our vows in front of all our friends, It was a very special half an hour!”

Thrilled with the blooms on the big day, Tracy shares, ”Our wedding flowers were stunning! Andrea Crawford Flowers did an amazing job. I loved images on Pinterest of large rustic and modern white bridal bouquets, and Andrea created this for me with a combination of white blooms and olive. I also love scent so Andrea added some springs of Jasmine to my bouquet as well – it smelt like heaven! These same blooms were used in the five bridesmaids flower crowns, and the men had minimalistic olive buttonholes. Andrea also made some huge olive garlands which we had at the ceremony to line the altar, around the signage ladders and around the wine barrels. My favourite, however, was a giant olive wreath which we had hanging on a wine barrel at the ceremony, and hung on the wall in the reception.”

With an eye for detail and a crafty knack, Tracy worked hard on a lot of DIY details for their wedding. From working on the invitations and their styling to white confetti cones filled with petals at the ceremony, every aspect of the wedding was detailed beautifully. The bride tells, ”We made up white popcorn boxes with the program for the day attached, as well as round aluminum tins filled with peppermints for all guests on arrival. The favours were wooden Swedish butter knives that we used as the place-cards.  We tied tags with names on them with a piece of tan leather.” Rosemary plants in kraft pots and individually wrapped chocolate chip cookies were gorgeous touches throughout the night which the guests also enjoyed. The bride and groom wanted a venue and day that represented them as a couple, choosing good food and beautiful details to focus on. Tracy shares, ”I am a florist so I knew I wanted to splurge on the flowers! However this meant skipping things like having wedding cars.”

Overflowing with blooms, the reception tied in beautifully. Tracy tells, ”All the table and other flowers at the reception were done by Wendy who runs The Orchard Garden, New Zealand. She created Scandi yet minimal looking displays on the long tables, with olive foliage and Queen Annes Lace in bottles juxtaposed between long stem candles. Our cake was made by Cakes By Kim. I wanted something simple and minimal, so Kim made a two tier round naked cake. It was vanilla flavoured with thin white icing, and it was stunning and perfect! It was presented on a wooden cake plate on top of a wine barrel with an olive garland around it.”

Thank you to our gorgeous bride and groom, and congratulations on your wedding day! And an extra special thank you to Dawn Thomson for sharing your beautiful images!