When I posted some wedding pics last month to celebrate our 8 year anniversary I had a few requests to post some more.  So, here we go, a post about our wedding – somehow it seems like a million years ago………

We got married at the end of March and opted for a Friday afternoon wedding.  Neither Anto nor I are very traditional so we skipped a lot of the usual wedding traditions.  We spent the day together and got ready at our house, along with our family members.  We decided to have no official bridal party and to do our professional pics before the ceremony.  I also look fairly awful in white so my dress was a latte colour.  A much more traditional shape than I originally intended but I tried on this dress and loved it. It also went with the slightly vintage feel of our wedding.  I (along with help of my mum) made my hair fascinator (a silk magnolia and feathers) and my friend Susan helped me make jewellery to match the dress.  My bouquet was roses and orchids with magnolia leaves and was gorgeous. Anto wore a three piece suit and did look quite handsome.

We left home about 4pm and Anto’s brother drove us to meet our photographer by lake Burley Griffin.  We then had an hour and a bit of photos together before our 6pm ceremony.  We were getting married in the Old Parliament House Rose Garden which is near the lake and we had planned with our photographer to wander around and take photos in the general vicinity as there are lots of beautiful spots.

We were keen to have our photos before the ceremony so that we didn’t have to keep our guests waiting between the ceremony and the reception and it worked well, other than I was feeling a little nervous about the ceremony (not the getting married bit, just the falling flat on my face walking down the ‘aisle’ bit) so was less smiley before the ceremony than after!  Nonetheless we had a lovely hour on our own having our photos and got some gorgeous ones near the lake and high court.  I have way too many I love but here are a few of my favourites.

Then it was time for our 6pm ceremony at the Rose Garden.  We headed over and to the Rose Garden where our guests were waiting, and walked down the long ‘aisle’ together to the sounds of a string quartet……… I even managed to not fall over, despite the wobbly heels and the walk on paving being very long!

We had a short but lovely civil ceremony in the Rose Garden, with readings from some friends – Will, Angela and Petronella and Anto’s brother Michael.  Our Dad’s held the rings for us and our Mum’s were witnesses.

 

After the ceremony we had organised for champagne in the gardens while  were congratulated and then did the family official photos. The string quartet continued to play and the sun started to go down, and it was a lovely and relaxing way to complete the formalities.

Once all the official duties were completed the guest wandered next door to the reception at the Member’s Dining Room of Old Parliament House.  We stayed in the gardens with our photographer for a few more pics at sunset and then the last few formal photos at Old Parliament House.

We then had a little rest, a snack and drink in a room off the reception while our guests enjoyed the start of the reception. After our short break it was time for the party and we decided to kick off the reception with the speeches and cake cutting so that everyone could relax and enjoy the food and festivities after the formalities were over.

We opted for a cocktail reception and had plenty of food, wine and cocktails to keep everyone happy! Cocktail hour was particularly popular…..We had a jazz band for the guests to listen (or dance) to and everyone seemed to have a great time. The food, wine and cocktails were plentiful and time seemed to zoom by.  It was a fantastic few hours with our friends and family and we still have plenty of great (and very funny) memories from that night.

As we were planning a month long overseas honeymoon, we headed home for what was left of the night and started the next day bright and early cooking breakfast for all our wedding guests!  It was lovely catching up with everyone again the next morning, even if it seemed a little too early for some 🙂  That afternoon we bid everyone farewell and headed to the airport to jet off on our honeymoon…….

Eight years on I wouldn’t change much about our wedding. It was a lovely day and suited us perfectly.  It’s funny looking at the photos now, everyone looks so young and it seems so long ago!   Unfortunately a few family members have passed away since the wedding but I’m pleased to say that we are still friends with most of the people we invited.  There are lots of lovely people we have met since and now see more often that it would have been nice to have there but all in all we did pretty well. It’s amazing how much changes in 8 years though!