Snow Filled Winter Wedding in Thredbo

Sarah & Dale

As a self-confessed winter lover, I am honestly not sure I have seen more of a celebration of this season than today’s snow-filled wedding: from the ceremony against the bright white snow to mountaintop photos, to snow boots and snow fights. Feather and Finch Photography was behind the camera, capturing our cold weather-loving couple as they made the most of the snow!

“It was a Monday morning on a long weekend,” tells the bride as she kicks off her story with the tale of the proposal. “I was getting ready for work and Dale called me to come to look at our little Maltese dog, Jaffa. I insisted that he was sleeping and to leave him alone when Dale called him into the room and told me to look at his collar, where Dale had put the ring. I asked if he was serious, and when he said ‘yes’ I said ‘yes’ straight away. It was a beautiful way to make an ordinary day extraordinary.”

The groom and groomsmen were dressed by MJ Bale.

The bride worked with designer The GC Bridal Lounge to create her winter wedding gown. She tells, “I designed my dress with the help of Kate Gubanyi at The GC Bridal Lounge. I knew I needed something versatile for the day, so she designed a simple sweetheart strapless dress and a separate long-sleeved jacket to go over it with some beautiful winter’s beading.”

It was in the grounds of Thredbo, on the Thredbo River, where these two chose to say their vows against the snow. Sarah explains, “Nicole at the Thredbo Alpine Hotel was absolutely outstanding. We organised everything from a distance with neither of us actually ever having been to Thredbo, and Nicole was a wealth of knowledge and help. She made the whole day run like a dream. She walked the whole of Thredbo with me to pick a spot for the ceremony (and some secret spots for me to take Dale and Ryan for photos on the day) and made the whole thing as stress-free as possible.”

The bride chose an instrumental version of Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors” to play as she walked down the aisle with her parents.

“The most important inclusion we had was getting special permission for our little Maltese Jaffa to come into the national park for the day as ring bearer – because of his involvement in the engagement – but it was made all the more special due to him, unfortunately, passing early in 2018. It gave us some beautiful memories of him that we got to share on such a big day.”

Antoinette Braeder officiated proceedings and included a very special guest in the day. Sarah remembers, “We kept the ceremony short, made sure to respect the traditional owners with an acknowledgement of country, had little Jaffa (our dog) allowed into the national park to be the ring bearer and wrote our own vows. We chose piano instrumental versions of all our favourite songs to add a fun twist to the music and had both our mums as witnesses for the signing of marriage documents.”

“Thredbo had received an uncharacteristic 50cm of snow the few days before and it was a sunny, crisp day without a cloud in the sky and the day was absolutely beautiful. It was a small ceremony, we only had 40 of our closest friends and family, and Antoinette (our celebrant) helped us to customise the ceremony to include everything we felt important.”

“We had an entire bus full of strangers up on the mountain cheering when we kissed during the ceremony.”

One of Sarah’s favourite memories was, “Running around like mad trying to get all our photos at the top of Kosciusko before the lifts closed.”

CH Floral Designs created the lush floral arrangements for the day. Sarah says, “I went for red and burgundy blooms for my own flowers and white and burgundy for the bridesmaids, just to get some nice contrast. Chellie from CH Floral in Jindabyne worked to include some native and seasonal flowers, knowing flowers in winter can be somewhat of a challenge.”

Of their chosen photographer, Sarah remarks, “You cannot find a more talented, relaxed, friendly and professional photographer than Ryan from Feather and Finch Photography. Ryan met with us multiple times and took a genuine interest in getting to know us. This made all the difference in how he captured us on the day. Ryan planned every detail down to the smallest detail, but was flexible in his approach and always open to ideas. Ryan made us comfortable, he made us laugh and he left a lasting impression not only with Dale and me but also with our family and friends.”

Sarah and Dale celebrated with their guests at the cozy Thredbo Alpine Hotel’s Cascades Restaurant. Sarah notes “We had the beautiful lounge bar at the Thredbo Alpine as a backup option in the case of rain, hail, snow or blizzard for our ceremony. We did still use the Lounge Bar for canapés and drinks before the reception, with its beautiful open fireplace and ski field views to warm everyone up. The reception was held at Cascades Restaurant, where the staff and food were absolutely beautiful.”

Of their first dance, Sarah remembers, “Ed Sheeran’s ‘Give Me Love’ was our first dance, we had no dance lessons but just chose to enjoy being able to hold each other, be silly and just have fun on the night.”