A roaring, cosy fire, a polka dot bow tie, a golden sunset, Madeleine and Angela’s story, of a rustic winter wedding in the beautiful Hunter Valley is enough to make our winter-loving hearts do a little skip for joy.

And after being together for over fifteen years (since a mutual friend introduced them at university), their wedding was long-anticipated; though truth be told, today’s feature isn’t our happy couple’s first wedding. “It was so special that could finally be legally married! ” they tell “We had a commitment ceremony back in 2009 but it didn’t have any legal weight.”

With a deep navy, marsala and ivory colour palette, and a setting that is in some of the most beautiful of Australian wine country, the photographs captured today by Lightheart Films & Photography are enough to do all the talking. Settle in (with a glass of mulled wine if you please) and join us for the wedding of Madeleine and Angela.

Angela donned a dapper navy suit by Shane Ave which was custom made. Says Madeleine “Ange had a wonderful experience selecting the style and materials for her suit with an LGBTIQ+ supportive company.”

Madeleine wore a strapless ballgown from Brides Of Sydney. She recalls “Ange picked my wedding dress! We went to the wedding shop (Brides of Sydney), just to have a look, and were both pulling out dresses for me to try. Ange picked a dress up and showed it to me. I said, “I don’t think I like it.” Ange said, “just try it”. And that was how I ended up with my wedding dress. I love it. It made me feel like a princess on the day.” She added her grandmother’s bracelet as the finishing touch.

The flowers on the day turned out to be somewhat last minute, with the couple needing to find a backup florist and landing on Edwards & Day. They tell  “We originally put down a deposit with one of the florists who work closely with our venue. Due to health reasons, she had to pull out. Luckily our friend was starting her own floristry business (Edwards & Day), so we got in touch with her and her business partner. Edwards & Day (the florists) were one of our favourite vendors (see above), even though they were the last of the vendors to join the team.

We had a Zoom meeting with them, and we were so impressed. We discussed the colour palette we were using (navy/ivory/burgundy) and some of our likes/dislikes. Based on that, they created the flowers for the day. They could not have been more perfect.”

 

The beautiful winery of  Pepper’s Creek was their venue.  They tell “It’s situated among the Hunter Valley vineyards. The accommodation, chapel and reception area are all within walking distance from each other. The chapel and reception area are next to each other.”

Madeleine walked down the aisle to “Fight Song” by Rachel Platten played by Hunter Valley Strings. “We fought hard in numerous ways to be able to have this day!”

The couple were married by Amanda Garland. “We had a fairly short, non-religious ceremony. We used traditional vows but we also exchanged personal vows. We didn’t show each other our vows before the ceremony. It made it special. We had one reading, a poem. Our celebrant told the story of our relationship, which was a nice inclusion. Throughout the ceremony, there were many tears both from us and the onlookers!”

The couple gave their wedding party full reign on their attire within a set colour palette. “We told our wedding party that they could either wear a navy suit or wear a dress/jumpsuit/pants that were white/ivory/cream/off-white etc. Our wedding party loved being able to pick their style, particularly because it meant they could wear their outfit again. And it made the palette look great.”

The sunset photos are some of Angela and Madeleine’s favourites, and just one of the reasons they’re happy to recommend their photography team, sharing “All our photographs were fabulous. Our favourite might be the shots we got as the sun was setting over the valley. Talk about the golden hour. Lightheart Photography did an amazing job. We couldn’t have been happier.”

Winter in the barrel room meant that the fireplace was roaring, one of Angela and Madeleine’s favourite details of their winter celebration.

And then the dance floor began! Madeleine switched into a shorter burgundy frock from Brides Of Sydney before the couple took the spotlight. Madeleine and Angela remembered “We chose an acoustic version of “Higher Love” by James Vincent Morrow, sung by Charming Horses. We had some dance lessons (Rumba) in advance of the wedding with Care to Dance.”

Angela and Madeleine chose I Heart Productions to capture a film of their day in all of its beauty. The brides giving this advice “Strongly consider getting a videographer. It’s expensive but worth it.”

A big, beautiful congratulations to you both Madeleine and Angela. Thank you for sharing your day with us. Thank you to Lightheart Films & Photography for today’s golden captures.