We always know, when we head to the Gold Coast hinterland for a wedding what an actual dream it’s going to turn out to be. For Lauren Nad Josh, the groom’s insistence on the colour orange led to a stunning colour palette, that contrasted against Queeess’ans soft greens and the country setting of the day.

And despite the many plan changes, “We even had a plan E at once point!” laughs Lauren, due to COIVD-19, the last-minute border controls meaning that many guests had to tune in from afar, there was still a sense of beautiful peace to this day. Captured, in only the way she can, by the amazing Sophie Baker Photography, “We really wanted to create a relaxed and casual atmosphere to allow our guests to wind down and hang out.” explains Lauren, who made the most of lockdown with Joah and handmade plenty of the elements of the day (along with the setup!) “We love being in nature, so the tipis with its open sides overlooking the dam were just perfect. We had some lawn games for the young at heart, and an amazing lounge area where people sat, had a chat and a few drinks after the ceremony and into the night. We felt that the entire layout of the dining and casual seating really helped to create that relaxed vibe.”

The bride found her Made With Love gown at White Lily Couture. “When scouring Instagram for wedding dress inspo, I always seemed to gravitate toward the minimal crepe designs. I had my eye on one particular dress designed by Made with Love, however, it was outside of the price range my husband and I had agreed on. Funnily enough, I ended up going to a sale day at White Lily Couture and found the same dress, and it turned out to be just within the budget we set! It was a size too big, but the amazing tailors at EM Wedding Dress Alterations made it fit like a glove.”

Stunned by these orange and peach-toned blooms as much as us?  They’re the work of Lola’s Wildflowers. Says Lauren “I absolutely love flowers and had dreams of how I wanted the flowers to look like. I chose Lola’s Wildflowers because I loved her organic and natural style. The bouquets were so unique and the flowers she used, complimented the bridesmaids’ dresses perfectly. The ceremony was held in front of a big tree. We didn’t want to distract from the unique twists of the tree’s branches, so we decided to go for a semi-circle floral arrangement on the floor to still incorporate the flowers into the ceremony. We later reused the arrangement to decorate different areas of the reception.”

The orange colour scheme? An unexpected love for Lauren “When my husband and I first started talking about the wedding, there was one particular feature he really wanted – the colour orange. At first, I pictured a horrible, bright orange colour that I did not think would work at all. But after scrolling through some wedding inspo, we compromised and settled a rust/burnt orange shade into the colour scheme. I incorporated the colour into our graphics, decorations, flowers and bridesmaid dresses. Apparently, it turned out to be on-trend at the time, so that was nice. I think it worked out beautifully and actually made our wedding much more unique and fun.

Relaxed, beautiful and right in the middle of nature, Gold Coast Farm House played host to Lauren and Josh’s wedding dream  “Our ceremony and reception were both held at Gold Coast Farm House, which is this huge property surrounded by trees and creeks. There are also two little lakes in the main part of the property that created a lovely scene. We loved the idea of having a blank canvas to do anything we wanted, and GCFH allowed us to do exactly that.

We won’t lie, it was hard work organising all the different vendors and having to think about bringing in water, toilets and electricity, but the venue ended up installing some generators just in time, and the toilets we hired turned out to be one of the highlights for our guests! Overall, it was everything we hoped for, and the journey in bringing everything to life was an adventure in itself. ”

Lauren and Josh knew the vibe they wanted for their photographer, Lauren explaining “Our photographer was one of the first vendors we booked when we started wedding planning. We really wanted someone who would make us feel comfortable in front of the camera. Both of us are quite camera shy and we never feel natural when a camera gets pulled out. But from our first meeting over a video call, Sophie made us feel so at ease. We instantly knew she had us covered and she was so flexible and easy to contact during all the COVID complications. During our wedding photos, Sophie would give us specific instructions on how to pose when we needed a bit of help, and she made us look so good!

“Leading up to the wedding day, we had to have so many contingency plans due to COVID and other personal factors. We even had a plan E at one stage. But throughout the whole process, we learnt to just go with the flow, be okay with things falling apart and keeping the reasons why we were getting married at the centre of all of our decision making. Long story short, don’t let the small things ruin the day.”

Josh and Lauren credit much of the success of their day to the support of family and friends “The day before our wedding, we had a bunch of amazing friends and family who gave up their entire weekend to help us set up and pack down the wedding. There were so many things we had to set up the day before and despite the hot weather, they all made a huge effort to get everything organised.”

Diy? oh where do we start! “The COVID restrictions gave me plenty of time to stay at home and DIY some key elements.” laughs Lauren ” Including approximately 100m of hand made fabric bunting, sewing on lace applique to the border of my veil, and painting flower vases. My talented brother also designed our invitations and all graphic design features!”

Lauren and Josh’s wedding concluded guests literally near and far “Some of our family members were not able to travel and make it to our wedding. ” explains the bride “Josh’s parents were stuck in Singapore and Queensland had closed their borders to South Australia, where many of my family lived. Even though we were heartbroken that they couldn’t be there, we were able to set up a live stream. Our families held watch parties across the country and around the world to join the festivities, and that was truly special.”

“Because of the relaxed and casual atmosphere of the day, we had a lot of young families really enjoy themselves. The kids at the wedding loved the ice cream cart, running around playing lawn games and taking polaroids of everyone and everything. To this day, we still have those kids coming up to us and saying that it was the best wedding they’d ever been to.”

Josh’s favourite wedding day memory? “Literally the days leading up to the wedding. The fun, adventure and spur of the moment memories all happened in the preparation and process leading up to the big event, and seeing all of our efforts come to fruition on our wedding day.”

A big congratulations to you both Lauren and Josh! Thank you for sharing your story and to Sophie Baker Photography for sharing today’s stunning photography!