Real weddings: Ellie and Tim

Posted on 29 July, 2016

Ellie and Tim’s surprise February wedding at the Old Parliament House rose gardens had a beautiful summer garden party theme. Here, the lovely bride takes us through her big day.

Getting ready 

All the girls which included me, my two sisters and my mum got ready at my family home in Isaacs. We started the morning with croissants and champagne on the beautiful back deck, followed by lots of laughs whilst getting down to business with the hair styling and makeup.

Meanwhile the boys got ready at Groomed in Braddon after each having had a cut and shave. This was then followed by a nervous beer in the city before departing for the Senate Rose Gardens.

The dress

My dress is a bit of a funny story! As relaxed and causal as I am, I thought to myself “do not make a big fuss about a wedding dress, and do not spend your life savings on a wedding dress..!” With this mantra in mind, I was looking at Etsy one day and I stumbled across numerous wedding dresses. I never knew wedding dresses existed on Etsy – I thought it was just for amazing stationery!

A few clicks on and I came across a beautiful Scott McClintock 1980s vintage dress that a young girl in California had for sale. After converting the US dress size into AU I knew not only would it fit, but it was definitely a sign and $171.41 later the dress was mine! After a quick try on, I knew it was the dress for me! The style, cut and overall look of the dress suited the “garden-party” feel I was going for.

As a wedding gift, my mum’s great friend Jo offered to do some minor alterations, and whilst at it felt the need to add some Swarovski crystals to the top bodice area and bottom skirt area. The end result was that it was simply gorgeous and I couldn’t have pictured myself in anything else.

The ceremony 

Our day was magical in every way imaginable.  The fact that it was a surprise really made it exciting right throughout the planning phase.  We chose the rose gardens as it is sentimental to us. Not only that, the gardens are absolutely stunning all year round.

It was important to us to have all those near and dear to us at our wedding and that included lots of children.  Being at the gardens meant that the big kids could enjoy a day out whilst the littlies played happily with the assortment of garden games we ensured were readily available to ensure they were entertained also.

February was a perfect time for the roses and it was deliciously warm! All together we had around 170-180 people attend. That’s what you get when you have heaps of awesome family friends and an Italian husband! My family is known to throw a banger of a party with friends and family, which on the day turned out perfectly.

The reception

We kept it simple but elegant and upon sunset we watched as our marquees lit up with beautiful solar fairy lights.  Our photographer captured every moment of our wedding including our guests whether it be when catching up with one another, dancing on the green grass used as a dance floor or just spending time with their children, many beautiful moments were captured that we will fondly look back on over the coming years.

Having a garden wedding meant that everyone could relax, sit, stand, dance or play games – anything that really took their fancy all whilst being part of a wonderful beginning!

The food

We went for a beautiful assortment of canapes served intermittently throughout the afternoon / evening along with serving copious amounts of strawberries and champagne for the ladies and a selection of beer for the boys.

Budget

We managed to do the whole thing for about $20k. This included everything from venue, band, catering, flowers, drinks, attire, and games.

Tips 

We weren’t overly strict on the budget, but we knew what we wanted to spend and I set-out a detailed budget (on a trusty excel spreadsheet) and we stuck to it! I managed to produce all my own “engagement” invitations – I purchased the template off Etsy, and then got them printed and cut myself at Officeworks. We saved so much money by doing it this way.

We didn’t have to worry about floral arrangements and table decorations as our venue was in the beautiful Rose Gardens – you can’t get nicer than that, so that certainly helped us to keep within our budget too.

Rather than purchasing bonbonniere’s, the girls all got together one Saturday and had a day of making our own home made tomato relish and lemon butter.  To add to the “spread with love” theme, my uncle also provided me with home-produced honey – all of which we bottled up, and decorated with gingham and twine ready for the guests to take a sample home with them.  They were so cute and we received wonderful feedback on how delicious they all were. It was nice to give people something home-made, and saved us a lot of money.

The little details 

Photographer: Ashleigh Croxford of Silque Photography & Design

Dress: Scott McClintock vintage dress, Etsy

Bridesmaids’ Dresses: ASOS

Groom and Groomsmen’s Suits: Shirts & shorts from ASOS and blazers from Connor

Bride’s Hair: Bride’s Aunt – Sherree Mulquiney

Bridesmaids’ Hair: Bride’s Aunt – Sherree Mulquiney

Makeup: Bride’s sister – Jess Goggin

Reception Stylist (if any): DIY

Flowers: Laurel + Lace

Caterer: Dizzy Delights (Cooma)

Cake: Bride’s friend – Ali King

Band (if any): The Baker Boys

Stationery: Etsy

First dance song: Little Bit of You – Chase Bryant