Emilie & Miles

With the blooms of Spring already peeking their little heads out of the WInter grey, it was a nod to Mother Nature’s beauty when Emilie & Miles tied the knot in a beautiful Spring Winery wedding in Western Australia. The bridesmaids, in pale blue floor-length gowns, carried bouquets of roses and dusty miller. The ceremony, was of course, under a bright blue sky and the kicker? The toasting to the newlyweds with S’mores- a nod to the groom’s homeland of North Carolina.

Captured beautifully by Loren of Nectarine Photography, the day was, as the bride described “Dusty spring, with rustic features and just a little bit of sparkle.”

Miles surprised Emilie with a proposal right before she travelled to Perth to see her loved ones. She explains “We met in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where Miles is from. He worked at a coffee shop in town and I would go there to write almost every day. One day, he finally got up the nerve to ask for my number at the very same café, and I wrote it down on a napkin, to which he replied, “Classy.” We went on a date within the week and fell in love shortly after!”

We had been living in the U.S. for about a year and I was becoming a little homesick. I booked a plane ticket to Perth to see my family for a few weeks and Miles told me he wanted to have a dinner with me before I flew out. We went out to a gorgeous restaurant in town called Lantern and he told me we were going somewhere afterwards. It turns out we were going straight back to my house where my friends, had set up 200 candles and rose petals, and when I saw the glow coming from the house I knew instantly what was happening but didn’t want to believe it. Miles got down on one knee and proposed, and I said “What?” about five times before I actually said “Yes!” The following week I got to fly home and show off the ring to everyone. It was so amazing.”

Beans & Bunches styled the beautiful Spring inspired bouquets, Emilie telling “I found Stacey at Beans and Bunches through a few websites, looking for the best flowers within my budget. She totally exceeded my expectations and provided this gorgeous bouquet on the day, an assortment of blush, white and green, with a special selection of succulents for the bridal bouquet.”

Emilie chose a beautiful lace gown with low back from Brides Selection, telling “My dress was an ethereal dream. It was covered with so much delicate beading that would sparkle in the sunlight. The first time I tried it on, it felt amazing and so naturally contoured to my shape. Her name is “Nola” – Ivory tulle over a light champagne Vogue satin fit-and-flare. The beading cascaded down the dress and was the ideal lace appliqués that I wanted. What really sold me was the back of the dress, it had this gorgeous illusion open back that I was looking for; so with a few of my personal touches, I was able to transform it into my dream dress. The first time I tried it on, I was by myself and had tried on about 20 dresses already in the weeks leading up. I had found a few contenders but needed to know for myself what I wanted without anyone’s influence! I absolutely loved the dress and couldn’t wait to bring my mum and bridesmaids back with me to come and see it!”

The bride walked down the aisle with her father to Jon Bryant’s “Wilderness”.

Graham Irvine officiated the ceremony, the bride recounting “Our ceremony was very simple. We didn’t want anything added to it and that worked the best for us. We had our good family friend Graham Irvine act as our celebrant, and he prayed for us to begin the ceremony. We asked our pastor, Tim Healy, if he would speak at our wedding and he performed a short message before we exchanged our vows. We wanted our ceremony to have a feeling of warmth, love and laughter. We just wanted our favourite people to witness our declaration to one another and we were so blessed by the support of our friends. The whole ceremony was very relaxed.”

The couple chose Belvoir Homestead for their ceremony, noting “Belvoir took a bit of a hunt because we went back and forth on getting married in a church or outside — weather is always fickle in September! We eventually decided to just take the risk and make it outside because it felt right for both of us, so we worked alongside Katie to tailor it to what we wanted and even hashed out a rain plan. They had so many spots to choose from and we ended up landing on one they had never done before! We were surrounded by trees, beside a bright red barn with a white picket fence running along, and cobblestone pavements throughout. ”

The newlyweds celebrated with their guests with S’mores. Emilie explains “We wanted to incorporate some of Miles’ roots, so we had s’mores for our post-ceremony snack, there was a station set up where the polaroids were hung. Something really special was having Miles’ family over to stay with us and be there for the wedding! We also had groomsmen and bridesmaid who both flew in from North Carolina.”

Emilie and Miles chose the beautiful Darlington Estate Winery for their reception. Emilie tells “We locked in Darlington within the first few months of our engagement because it possessed all the qualities we wanted. It was rustic, lush, overlooked a vineyard and offered a beautiful menu. Michelle, the owner, was incredibly helpful and kind. She offered advice and was so understanding throughout the process. We were really happy with how it all came together, and both venues were out in the hills so there was just a gorgeous landscape for the entire day.”

Says Emilie “Loren was so awesome. She worked with me to get the vision that I wanted and let me call the shots, but ultimately supplied us with spontaneous shots as well as the classic ones. I had admired her style for years and was so happy with how it all turned out. I will always treasure the photos that overlook the hills because we were so relaxed and excited to get the night started!”

Emilie created a lot of handmade touches for the wedding with the help of her bridesmaid Bec. She tells “Bec and I had so much fun gold dipping feathers, I op shopped for the vases we had on each table, and we did the flowers in those vases a couple of nights before. Bec and I also hand stamped everyone’s name tags that we attached to the succulents with twine. We handmade the cake topper, which spelt “Mr & Mrs” in bunting. Darlington was generous enough to include a couple of step ladders and things for us to put some finishing touches on. I included some of my favourite photos of Miles and I, and a picture of my parents on their wedding day, that we had sitting next to the gift table.”

And the dance floor kicked off with the first dance, the bride telling “We chose “We Are Man and Wife” by Michelle Featherstone. My dad actually choreographed our dance and we practised for weeks! Once we got on the dancefloor though, we just enjoyed ourselves. The reception was so much fun, so we did a little waltz and just swayed to the music.”

A big congratulations Emilie and Miles! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us! Thank you also to Nectarine Photography for working with us to share today’s gorgeous wedding!