Dress

For my dress, I always knew I wanted to have lace and a longish train. I fell in love with old pre-loved wedding dresses when I went to London in 2014 and visited some designer op shops with my mum. My dress was a pre-loved wedding dress from the 1960s that I picked up from the Salvos in Bateman’s Bay for $100. I immediately fell in love with the guipure lace on bodice and the train on the dress.

I am very lucky that my mum is a talented seamstress and we transformed the wedding dress to be a modern, elegant and a little bit sexy. We removed the satin underneath the guipure lace on the bodice to give more of a sheer effect and made the back a low V that met the train.

The train was detachable so I could walk around and dance at the reception. The skirt was a high split at the front that revealed my legs only when I walked.

Ceremony

Brad attended Canberra Grammar School and we loved the main quadrangle, especially the old English-style buildings with the vines growing on them. We also knew that in April the colours would be spectacular with the leaves turning beautiful autumn tones.

Reception

The reception was a blank canvas, so we could decorate and cater the way we wanted.  The priorities for us were photography and ensuring our guests had a good time.

That meant having plenty of food, alcohol and a great band. Although it’s more work, a DIY wedding can save you thousands—especially if you find a venue that allows for DIY catering.