There are so many ways to celebrate a wedding at home, and for Ainsleigh and David, it was a country-style celebration, in the middle of winter, at the groom’s family home. “We got married on David’s parent’s property, which is also where we held the reception” explains Ainsleigh. “David’s mum, Sharyn, always thought that her place would be great for a wedding venue/B&B, so it was important to David to get married there.”

The pair, who chose photographer Curly Tree Photography to capture their day, embraced the coldest of seasons. “We didn’t go all out with any consistent theming, being a backyard wedding we wanted to retain a natural, simple, relaxed, but romantic, vibe” remembers the bride and instead of deciding on a theme, on a look,  made their day about embracing community, love and each other. “I feel the atmosphere was one of love and thankfulness, COVID regulations had only just relaxed the previous week or two before the wedding, meaning we were able to have all our guests attend. Although we did end up missing some important people who were interstate and not allowed to attend (grandparents, aunts/uncles, friends).”

It seems, too, that these two were always meant to be. “We know each other through a few degrees of separation. Ainsleigh was working at West’s Chocolate Bar when David came in with mutual friends. He didn’t speak to her all night but added her on Facebook the next day and they hit it off from there.” Much like the country setting of the nuptials, the groom also chose a country setting to ask Ainsleigh to marry him. “David bought Ainsleigh a new dress and took her on a picnic trip to Orange to celebrate her birthday, they walked to the top of Mt Canobolas lookout. When she turned around to look at the view, he knelt. After an age, she turned back and he, cramping, said some words that neither can remember and she said ‘yes’. We think.”

That tweed suit of the groom’s? Incredible! It’s a Harris tweed beauty by Rundle Tailoring which David paired with shoes from Northamptonshire Productive Society. He added cufflinks from a friend who had passed away a few years prior. David’s groomswoman wore pieces from Cue and Sportscraft with a custom made bowtie made from the same tweed fabric.

The bride found her Jean Fox gown at Angelic Inspirations. She shares “Myself and my best friend/maid of honour, Emma, were in Canberra and visited two boutiques. After trying on a parade of dresses, at the second boutique (Angelic Inspirations), we were both drawn to one dress. We came back the next day just to make sure and purchased it on the spot.

The experience was quick and pain-free, as there were only 8 months between the proposal and the wedding, I just wanted to decide quickly and be done with it. I  wore the  rum pink/ivory ‘Sweet Caroline’ gown by Jean Fox, and ivory fur stole from Review paired with chestnut RM Williams boots.” She added her mother’s pearl earrings (that she also wore on her wedding day!) to complete her look.

It was always expected, that the weather wouldn’t be warm and sunny for these two, but the rain made Ainsleigh a little nervous. She remembers “I watched the rain radar on the hour as the chance of rain forewarned 100% rain falling at the exact moment the ceremony was due to start. It was later found out that the decision to move the ceremony (and arbour) inside was made only 10mins before it starting! Thankfully the rain held off enough for photos to be taken outside as we made our way to the car, and light enough for me to walk up the aisle.”

“My father, Phillip, walked me down the aisle (which ended up being a muddy path from the car to reception tent), while David played Debussy’s ‘La fille aux cheveux de lin’ on guitar.”

 

The couple chose Michele Cramp to officiate their ceremony. “We just wanted everyone to be comfortable and for it to be quick and stressfree – we didn’t even have personalised vows” explains the bride. We included readings from Lemony Snicket’s ‘Letters to Beatrice’ and George Eliot’s ‘Adam Bede’. Our dog Astrid was included, she barked each time we kissed.”

The couple chose The Posy Post to style their flowers for the day. “We requested seasonal natives with a colour scheme of burgundy, green, and cream, with little other requirements.”

“The rain added something special to the day, even though it meant we had to move our ceremony location from the hilly view across the dam, to the reception tent. The temperature ended up perfect, with great photo opportunities (and no one squinting in harsh sunlight).”

It seems the couple’s choice of photographer was decided upon long ago, and there were zero regrets. “Ainsleigh met Caitlin from Curly Tree Photography at a friend’s wedding in 2015, she knew instantly that Caitlin would be the only choice to shoot her future wedding. We had a couples shoot with her in 2017 and it was very relaxed and comfortable. Caitlin was one of the first people Ainsleigh contacted when David proposed – she wasn’t leaving anything to chance that she couldn’t secure Caitlin as her photographer.”

“Ainsleigh handmade the invitations, and the centrepieces were put together by Ainsleigh, her sister Larissa, and mother Lesley. Before the rain, the intention was to have rose petal confetti thrown as we walked down the aisle together – these were prepared by Ainsleigh and friend Elspeth.
Lesley purchased throw rugs on the lead up to the wedding, we rolled these up and placed them in an old, vintage suitcase of Shay’s for guests to grab and keep warm.”

Talk about a community pulling together for these two, even the cake was handmade! The newlyweds noting “Ainsleigh’s godmother, Shelly, made the two-tier wedding cake and other smaller cakes to cater for vegan, coeliac, and diabetic-friendly – it was amazing.”

The sit-down reception dinner was catered by Fennel & Co, who receive rave reviews from these two. “Tess from Fennel and Co eased a lot of concerns when it came to finalising timings for the wedding, she went above and beyond as a caterer, and ended up filling a quasi ‘wedding planner’ role. After our pre-wedding consultation, we both felt so much more at ease and less stressed about the minute things to come up on the day.”

 

For their first dance, the newlyweds had a bit of a helping hand. “We had a couple of lessons from Cass and Kim at Fantasy Dubbo DanceSport. We chose “The Garland Waltz” by Tchaikovsky’s ‘Sleeping Beauty.
My train was soaking wet from the rain and wouldn’t hold on the bustle, so the dance was a lot less graceful than how we practised it (lots of tripping).”

A big congratulations to the newlyweds! Thank you from us to you for sharing your beautiful wedding day stories! Thanks also to Curly Tree Photography for celebrating today’s day with beautiful images for us!