Relaxed DIY Wedding in the Southern Highlands

Today’s featured wedding is the epitome of relaxation, painting the story of a couple whose main goal was celebrating with their loved ones! Ellie and Harry gathered their closest friends and family to Kangaloon Hall in the Southern Highlands of NSW to witness their joining. With some last-minute planning and so many deep emotions throughout the day, they couldn’t have been happier with the turnout! And with Anna Awburn capturing everything alongside Ellie and Harry, you can feel the love and connection running through every shot.

Harry is certain he fell completely in love with Ellie the moment he watched her win a burping competition the night they met… As the newcomer to the Whale Beach SLSC, Ellie had drawn the attention of Harry and his friends, who were curious about the “hot nose-ring girl”. The night’s theme was “reality TV shows”, and both Harry and Ellie, despite being single, were dressed for love! Ellie, in her Farmer Wants a Wife flannel, and Harry, in his dapper Bachelor tux and single red rose.

Wishing she had chips for their mid-hike snack, Ellie had resigned herself to finish her mandarin and muesli bar and continue on their bushwalk. Her hope, however, was rekindled when Harry reached into the bag and said, “How about this?”. Imagine her surprise when, instead of holding chips, she looked down at Harry still kneeling with a gorgeous ring?! “It was a very ‘us’ moment. Low key, having fun out in the rain with no other walkers around, and having a dorky little chuckle about the chippies (I still would have liked some chippies to be honest),” she recalled. “We were dropping our dog at dad’s so he could look after her while we were away and Harry sneakily showed the ring to dad and told him he was going to propose. It’s special because dad died a few months later, so it was a nice little special moment for Harry.”

Their venue for the day was Kangaloon Hall, a place where, almost a year prior, many of their guests had gathered at this exact location for Ellie’s dad’s memorial. “Dad couldn’t be there on the day, but we felt closer to him, remembering details from the memorial. It felt nice to gather everyone together again and say a few short words about dad throughout the night as well,” Ellie explained.

“Kangaloon Hall is a beautiful little community hall with a 110-year-long history of community events; dances, luncheons, fundraisers, Christmas carols, yoga… It’s run by a great committee that was extremely kind and helpful. We also had heaps of flexibility to do the day how we wanted, and every touch felt very unique.”

All of these beautiful florals were done by Ellie’s sister and mum, collected from Mittagong Flower Merchant, Blooms of Bowral and Harris Farm, with cottage and native flowers picked from her mum and dad’s garden. “They were very special because they were a combination of specially sourced natives (like flannel flowers, king proteas, banksias and grevilleas), mixed with a whole heap of diverse native and cottage flowers and foliage from my parents’ garden just five minutes down the road. My dad planted and cared for all of these plants for 35 years, so having these at the wedding was extremely meaningful for me, not being able to have him there.”

Harry, being the uncomplicated guy he is, took his more fashionable cousin Hannah with him to M.J. Bale to find his outfit. With the help of Hannah and the campy shop assistant, he picked out a suave cream suit and waistcoat combo paired with brown leather accents.” The outfit matched his long, red beard, and more than a few people at the wedding told him he looked like a cocaine baron.”

The process of finding an outfit for their relaxed DIY wedding was less straightforward for Ellie, who couldn’t seem to settle on a simple vibe to go for. “I bought a whole range of wacky things, including but not limited to a hot pink tulle mini dress, high-waisted and flared pink sequinned pants, and a whole range of denim tube tops,” she explained.

“The final outfit wasn’t fully decided on until the day before, and everyone was more stressed about that than I was. I knew I wanted to wear my fabulous LMS golden disco platform shoes and built the rest around them. I then nearly landed on the cream tulle skirt but realised a week before that it needed altering, and only got it back the day before. Then the black top was the last piece of the puzzle, and was an express post $30 purchase from Showpo! It all came together just in time, and I felt great and looked much more special and dressed up than I ever have, which was fun!”

Harry and Ellie decided to scrap the formality of walking down the aisle for two main reasons: the loss of Ellie’s dad being at the forefront of the day. Since she and Harry weren’t really into having a ‘proper’ wedding, they thought – why not just wander up together?! “It was nice to see all our favourite people’s faces in one place, ready to celebrate with us when we got up in front at the ceremony,” Harry remembered.

Fiona King was the amazing celebrant for this DIY wedding, perfectly slotting into the day with her quirky personality and passion for wildlife conservation! The ceremony itself was short, sweet and entirely meaningful. “Heaps of people commented that it was very ‘us.’ We both felt pretty awkward and we ended up stuffing up the rings a bit, but I think it was cute and endearing. We were keen to get out from the centre of attention and just have some drinks, honestly!” Ellie shared.

“Whenever we talked about having a wedding (over the 10 years of being together), we always just wanted it to be a big party. The ceremonial stuff was like ‘oh, ok, I guess we’ll do that’ (mostly for the mothers!), but it wasn’t necessarily that important to us. It was nice, and I’m glad we did it, but it didn’t feel particularly earth-shattering. I also wrote both of our vows!! And then Harry made a few little changes (like adding that he plays a lot of Call of Duty, haha).”

Since a few of their guests couldn’t make it on the day, Harry’s brother and dad helped the couple set up a livestream via Zoom to share the love. “My granny and Harry’s Nannie and Papa weren’t able to join on the day due to health and mobility. They and some of our friends who couldn’t make it due to sickness ended up zooming in, and we also have a recorded session of the day now, which is good!”

Both Harry and Ellie wanted simple wedding bands – but with a sparkling twist! Their rings from Natalie Marie included each other’s birthstones, Harry wearing Ellie’s diamond and Ellie wearing Harry’s aquamarine.

The decorations were DIY’d by Ellie and Harry, with the help of their families! “We strung up hundreds of fairy and festoon lights all over the hall and the outside courtyard. We avoided single-use plastic decorations and had heaps of gold-themed decorations made from tissue paper. I cut squiggly willow leaves from our huge willow tree at home, and we spray-painted them gold. Mum brought confetti made from fresh rose petals and love-heart-shaped gum leaves.”

As special nods to weddings passed, Harry wore his beloved late grandpa’s watch and cufflinks, and Ellie wore her granny’s special pearl necklace. “I also carried a lace handkerchief she had gifted me which was her hanky from her wedding in 1955. It had some original pieces of tissue paper confetti saved from her wedding, so it was really special!”

Anna Awburn was the only photographer who could have perfectly captured Ellie and Harry’s relaxed DIY wedding with her signature candid, natural style. “Anna was amazing from the beginning to the end. Efficient, intuitive, discreet, and completely nailed the brief. Her photos are amazing and we couldn’t have asked for more.”

Five things that made this relaxed, DIY wedding so special to Ellie and Harry included:

“1. All the help we received from our family would have been an absolute shambles without them.

2. All our lovely guests – people travelled from all over Australia and the world, and booked accommodation in the highlands, and really got into the spirit.

3. Being at such a unique venue helped us remember Dad – it was so special to be able to book the same place, and make it fully unique each of the days.

4. Feeling comfortable to do it our own way – Harry and I both really felt, throughout the whole thing, that we were free to do it our way. We never felt pressured to do anything we didn’t want to do, which was amazing and a real privilege, I think.

5. Being close to home helped with set-up, going home at the end of the night, and packing up/cleaning up in the morning.”

Even though Anna captured an incredible array of moments, Ellie and Harry have to agree that any shot with their precious Aussie Shepherd dog, Bronnie, is their favourite! “My sister-in-law, Jen, was kind enough to duck down to the house to pick up Bronnie for a quick golden hour shoot next to Sugarloaf Farm and its iconic dry stone wall. We rarely get a photo with the three of us (Harry, Bronnie and I), so that was special. I also really loved the shots in the paddock!”

Since they had full control of the venue, Ellie and Harry made sure to set up multiple seating areas for everyone to kick back and relax. “We made sure we had a little quiet, comfy areas for people who needed a calm space away from the crowd. We set up a low table, picnic rugs and cushions around the corner, in the back section of the hall yard.”

We may have mentioned some of the DIY aspects of this wedding, but none of them are more impressive than the alcohol Harry spent months brewing and kegging! “He spent months beforehand brewing beer and other alcoholic drinks, and brought his beer fridge and taps so everyone could just help themselves to beer from the tap! We had a huge old bathtub from our property that my sister cleaned out, filled with ice and a whole bunch of other drinks. We had heaps of non-drinkers at the wedding, so we ended up with a lot of leftover booze!”

To keep everyone happy and fed on the day Ellie and Harry enlisted the help of Soirée in the Highlands for grazing platters and Red Belly Pizza for their wood-fired pizza and salads! Their beautiful cake, covered in native florals, was made by Cooked by Julia. And their furniture, from the wine barrels to the lawn games, was hired from Vintage Events Hire.

Ellie’s uncle Rod, her dad’s older brother, is a comedian who wrote a beautiful poem to read at the reception for everyone! “He’s a comedian by trade, so he knows how to perform, and it was simultaneously hilarious, touching, and very sad,” Ellie explained.

“Harry’s brother Chris gave a really nice (long) speech and said some really nice things about us, and his family heckled him because his speech had been going on for so long.”

A lot of the planning for this relaxed wedding was done last-minute, only months before the day itself. Even so, every vendor Ellie and Harry contacted was available. Almost like the universe was expecting them and saved those special people just for them! “I liked meeting different vendors like Anna, Fiona, and Julia, who made the cake. They’re all doing their own little thing and providing such beautiful, personalised services for wedding couples. It’s nice to see that those of us who don’t want to fit the standard mould have lots of options.”