Elegant chic in the country your kind of vibe? Then may we just say, you’re going to fall head over heels for the story of Anna and Kyle. The couple, wanted something clean, something pared back. “Our wedding theme was ‘soft romantic, ethereal, contemporary, clean and considered” explained Anna. “The atmosphere was just magical. Everyone was in such good spirits and just cheerful. I remember Kyle and I looking around and seeing people we hadn’t introduced from our different walks of life having conversations with each other and laughing together which is really all we could ask for.”

With a white-on-white colour palette, set against the country vineyard, Kate Freestone captured the sparkling details in a way that was truly honouring the story of the happy couple.  From the sweet surprises to the details that honoured what they both adore, settle in and watch this one unfold.

The couple’s story begins in Officeworks! “Kyle and I met in my first year of university as I was shopping in Officeworks before starting up classes. As I reached for the last notebook on the shelf I heard a very audible swear word behind me and turned around to see a very hung-over Kyle who was planning on buying the same notebook. After an awkward exchange (me getting the book in the end) we went our separate ways until a few weeks later – it turned out the ‘Officeworks guy’ was a close friend of my housemate and would come over on occasion. We got to know each other a little and being that he was a pharmacy student, he offered to tutor me in Chemistry which I was struggling with. I thought he was just a very nice boy for this and it was all very innocent. In the end, I actually failed chemistry but Kyle and I have been together ever since!

Kyle chose the pair’s fifth anniversary to propose. “On our 5th anniversary together we woke up and took our dog Samson for a walk like we always do. We reached the pretty park in the centre of town that we always walk through and I noticed Sammy’s collar was jingling more than usual. Kyle asked me if I could have a look at it and fix it. When I looked at the tag it was a big red love heart that was engraved with ‘ Anna, I Love you. Will you Marry Me?’. When I looked up Kyle knelt on the ground holding the ring… It was perfect except that he was holding the ring box upside down, although that kind of made it more perfect.”

Kyle went classic, choosing a tuxedo from Jack Holman Menswear.  Explains Anna “We decided to go classic to match the theme, as well as Kyle’s style, which is not very flashy. We chose a classic black tux with a white rose buttonhole. The suits we hired from a local menswear store in Bathurst – Jack Holman Menswear – pulled through and made sure the boys all fitted perfectly. They wore patent black dress shoes and black and silver cufflinks from Oxford Shop.”

“Another special detail of our wedding was the vintage car that picked the boys up. Up until the car arrived at their hotel to collect them, Kyle had no idea about it and thought he was getting dropped at the venue by his Pop,” remembers Anna of the surprise car from Mudgee Vintage Car Hire. “We had chatted about having a car before but Kyle believed that because the girls and I were getting ready at The Vinegrove it didn’t really matter how he arrived. I decided I really wanted to surprise Kyle and even though a lot of the fuss is about the bride, remind him that it was his special day as well. The car was a beautiful red Hudson from a local business, Mudgee Vintage Car Hire. They were so accommodating and allowed us so much time with the car that we were also able to have both sets of parents picked up which made them feel very special as well, not to mention Kyle and the boys were able to get some amazing photos.”

Anna’s favourite part? Not even the wedding itself! “I think my favourite part of the wedding planning process was probably the rehearsal – we had had a couple of very stressful days the couple before (being in the thick of COVID) but when we had a run-through of all the important parts of the ceremony and reception the evening before the wedding day with the flower girl, groomsmen, bridesmaids, MC and celebrant, I think at that point all the stress of planning went away and it was just really exciting to see all our favourite people all together to celebrate us. It was probably the first point where the wedding actually felt real and was coming together after all the months of planning.”

“There was a moment in the morning where the girls were helping me get into my dress and my dad had arrived – Kate made them all lineup and my dad face the other way so she could capture the reveal moment of me in my dress – those pictures with my dad and I crying and all their faces when I walked out captured a very special memory for me.”

Anna’s beautiful lacy Tal Kedem gown (called “Rain Lily”) was nothing like she imagined. “Before finding my dress my first dress choice was a simple fitted dress – it was very beautiful and exactly what I thought I wanted. I was about to commit when I saw that Sphere Bridal in Sydney was having a Tal Kedem trunk show. I thought I liked the look of the dresses and should try on some more before I decided on my original choice. As soon as I tried on my dress I knew it blew my simple little dress out of the water – I felt so special in it from the first moment. It was completely different to what I thought I wanted and a bit extra but if you can’t be extra on your wedding day when can you?
I thought the dress stood alone without a veil so went with simple hair and makeup instead. For earrings, I wore the Magnolia strand earrings from a. b. Ellie and my heels were the ‘Trinket’ heels from Billini – simple, strappy, white high-heeled sandals with a bow at the back.”

Anna’s bridesmaids wore incredible two piece suits from Dissh.  Says Anna “Anyone who knows me at all knows I love to rep a suit, jumpsuit or pants. Initially, I had planned to get changed into something like that as a separate reception look but after deciding on my dress I knew I wouldn’t want to take it off so I ended up incorporating that little part of myself into the bridesmaid’s look. I’m so glad that we did because all the girls looked absolutely stunning in them and since it was Mudgee in May they were definitely practical as well.”

Anna and Kyle were married at Mudgee winery venue The Vinegrove. “We had our entire wedding at The Vinegrove and I can’t even begin to describe how perfect it was” explains Anna. “The girls and I got ready in the homestead which had a big beautiful room for each of us and was absolutely stunning for photos. Since we were also running unbelievably late in the morning, the convenience of being already at the venue was a lifesaver as well.

When Kyle and I first visited we fell in love with the courtyard area because we wanted our guests to be able to have relaxed canapés and enjoy catching up with each other while we were out having photos – mainly so there was no awkward intermission between reception and ceremony where the guests aren’t really sure what to do. I can’t count how many people have come up to us since the day, saying it was such a beautiful time listening to music, playing lawn games and chatting while we were gone. It also meant that when we came back from photos, Kyle and I had added time to socialise with everyone before the formalities started and really got to enjoy the atmosphere. The Vinegrove looks magnificent in every season but I’m so so glad we got married there in Autumn, the tones and colours looked amazing and just suited us and our wedding to a tee.

By complete chance (or fate), when we chose our venue the only two dates they had available were a date in February and a date in May – having lived in Wagga Wagga for several years we knew February heat can be brutal so we decided to pick the May date. As it turned out the date happened to be the exact day Kyle (and I) had gotten together 7 years earlier and the day we got engaged 5 years after that. So thankfully now we only have one anniversary to remember.”

Anna chose an acoustic version of Alex Lloyd’s “Amazing” for her walk down the aisle with her dad. Remembers Kyle “I remember being really nervous standing in front of everyone waiting for Anna and then seeing her and she was so beautiful in her dress.”

“I honestly cannot begin to describe how amazing Kate was, I would recommend her to anyone and everyone without any hesitation”, gushes Anna of the couple’s chosen photographer. “Kate went out of her way to make everyone comfortable and make the photo taking enjoyable at every point.
She got all of us to laugh, had the kiddies paying attention when they needed to and kept everything moving seamlessly. She took advantage of the venue, the scenery and the sun and convinced Kyle and I to do some sunset photos impromptu which ended up being our absolute favourite photos and a really memorable moment. She is by far the best there is and not only was everything on the day perfect, but she was so prompt in getting the photos back to us. The calibre of the photos she took speak for themselves and we can’t thank Kate enough for everything she did for us.”

 

These two left the details to the pros – except for one! Says Anna “I am so not crafty and neither is Kyle so we left everything to the professionals and are SO glad that we did. My sister and maid of honour, Katie, is amazing though and made a huge banner on CANVA for the old bus on the property, which was the first thing people saw when they arrived and also was a great backdrop for photos later in the day. It was also a little unique detail to our wedding which we loved.”

An onsite marquee played host to the dinner reception. “The Marquee for the reception was also magical – the stunning ceiling floral arrangements were adorned with chandeliers and our Venue coordinator, Sarah made sure every corner had a special little detail that lit the place up beautifully in the night including candles, flowers and little bits of decor. Our Venue Coordinator, Sarah was definitely the icing on the cake of the venue, she made sure everything was perfect and everything ran smoothly.”

The florals? A dream! Styled by Wild Blue Studio. “Our flowers were provided by the amazing ‘Wild Blue Studio’ who honestly couldn’t have been more perfect for the job. They absolutely nailed every part of the brief and were so fantastic and easy to work with.

My bouquet was a stunning cluster of orchids and baby’s breath in an asymmetric bouquet. The four girls held a bouquet of long-stemmed white roses and our gorgeous flower girl Pippa had a single baby’s breath posy.
Petals of white roses lined the aisle and each chair of the seating had a small baby’s breath posy tied with white ribbons to the aisle facing shoulder. The arbour was two beautifully designed, asymmetric white pillars adorned with tiers of baby’s breath and long-stemmed white roses.
For our guest tables, we chose a palette of white single-stemmed roses of different heights amongst clusters of baby’s breath with nude candles.
Our head table was a long table with clusters like the guest tables with the addition of orchids overhanging slightly and single stemmed white flowers (roses, anthuriums, orchids), tapered nude/ivory candles in glass pillar candle holders. At the end of  table, we had a small asymmetric organic growth with white cheesecloth cascading down/draped.

Wild Blue also went above and beyond – they were little flower fairies that worked behind the scenes to make sure everything was perfect. They repurposed flowers from the ceremony to the reception to make sure nothing was wasted and little details were added everywhere – each corner from the cake table, bar and welcome signage had some little extra touch to make it that more beautiful.”

How incredible is this white-on-white wedding cake? “Cakes By Drew made the most DELICIOUS personalised fondant cookies as bonbonnières that were an absolute hit and I still think about them to this day.”

“There was also a really special moment for Kyle and I were our photographer Kate whisked us away to a neighbouring paddock for some sunset photos. We were umming and ahhing about doing them to start with because we wanted more time to socialise with the guests but I will be forever grateful that Kate convinced us to do them – not only did they produce the most phenomenal photos – but that time of just Kyle and I together away from the hustle and bustle of the wedding was something I will remember and cherish forever.

My advice would just be, to make sure you spend a bit of time on the day with just you and your partner – you get dragged every which way on the day so make sure there is a bit of quality time for just you two. Also, I would say don’t sweat it if you don’t get around to everyone on the day – your wedding isn’t a catch-up, it’s your wedding day! People don’t expect to have 100% of you.”

The newlyweds first dance? An old favourite! Says Anna “Our first dance was to ‘The Book of Love’ by Peter Gabriel which was kind of sentimental in a very cheesy way – we picked this song because 7yrs ago when Kyle and I first started talking to each other we discovered a mutual childhood love for the TV show ‘Scrubs’ and it was the song that played in the season finale. We didn’t really practice dancing at all so ended up awkwardly swaying on the spot for all of about 30 seconds before our bridal party joined us on the dance floor and saved us. We chose to do our first dance straight away for the reception which was a perfect way to start everything off.”

The speeches remain one of Anna’s favourite memories of the night. “Every single one of them were as equally heartwarming, hilarious and as cheeky as the last. Everyone was either in tears or in stitches. Speeches have always been my favourite part of weddings because I think it gives you an insight about the couple and the people that they hold dear and to have all your special people say such wonderful things about you makes your heart pretty full. I think it was pretty clear from the speeches on our wedding day that both Kyle and I hold our families very dear and are very close with them.”

Kyle adds “I remember the speeches and everyone laughing and mostly I just remember how perfect everything was, how everything just went exactly how we had planned but even better than we could have imagined, everyone just had such a great time and it was just the most special day of my life.”

And Anna’s dance with her father something she made sure to fit in. “It was really important to me that we included the father-daughter dance in the evening. My Dad has two daughters, myself and my sister Katie, and knowing him, I know nothing would have made him prouder than dancing with his daughters on their wedding day.
Kyle and I also both really wanted to have round tables as well for our wedding – we wanted people to be able to socialise and catch up with each other easily and feel free to move around between tables, which I think is a bit easier with round tables.
We also included all the cliché wedding things – the bouquet toss, garter toss, cake cutting, speeches, father-daughter dance – the whole thing. It made the evening so fun and watching Kyle slide across the ground on his knees to do the garter toss to Nelly’s ‘Hot in Here’ was a highlight for me.”

“We count ourselves so lucky that every single one of our vendors was an absolute dream on the day and it would honestly be too hard to pick a standout. All the on-the-day vendors including hair, makeup, music, catering, cake, photographer, celebrant and florals and everyone leading up to the day preparing the stationery, the cars and attire and of course the venue, brought their absolute A-game and Kyle and I felt like we hit the vendor jackpot. We couldn’t be more thrilled with how everything turned out and can’t thank them all enough.”

Congratulations to you both Anna and Kyle! Thank you both for sharing your spectacular day with us and Kate Freestone for sharing today’s beautiful images.