THE dress

Trying to post the Outfit Shot of All Outfit Shots you’d be amazed at the amount of nervousness I feel right now!

As you’d know from my “Not THAT White Dress” post I was surprised by the visceral reaction I had to a gown that didn’t look at ALL like what I’d envisaged wearing, and in the lead-up to the wedding I suffered from agonising anxiety about whether or not I’d made The Right Choice.

Post-wedding I can tell you unreservedly that yes, I did.

Dress: Hera Couture/Eleni George

My dress was a Deco-esque Grecian-inspired silk dress with chiffon drapery, intensely soft and fluid, and an absolute pleasure to wear.

Static, it was an elegant and understated work of art, but when it caught a breeze or when I walked the full circle skirt made the dress sing.

The silk was cut with the matte side out so that it didn’t gleam too overwhelmingly in the warm sun of the day, and the not-quite white/ivory/blush/cream colour was my Mum’s perfect choice.

 No boning, no corsetry, and (blessed!) straps meant that I was comfortable all day, as did the mercifully low heels on my REPLICA RUBY SLIPPERS! (woo!)

Shoes: Princess Pumps

Ever since I was a little girl I’ve been obsessed with The Wizard of Oz (I even wrote my honours thesis on it) so when I saw these ruby slippers, oh, years ago, I knew I’d have to have them. They were the first thing I bought for the wedding, and they were as perfect as the dress.

As my bridesmaids and I walked down the aisle I heard the final bars of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” played by my brother and his friend Sarah. My nerves melted away and I saw The Sophisticate, Matt, my husband, smiling at me from the front. He leaned in and said “look at your shoes!”. The perfect response.

 

The Morning Of

So I’m back!

What a whirlwind of a week, I barely know where to start.

Just a quick disclaimer – I’m not going to “reveal” any of the fashion choices *coughdresscough* in this post, so don’t be disappointed!

The Sophisticate and I drove up from Melbourne to Canberra on Thursday to spend the night with my Dad, then went the rest of the way to Nowra on Friday.

As we drove into town the heavens opened, and it started to pour.

Our venue Terrara has an excellent, and exceedingly pretty “wet weather” plan, but The Sophisticate and I had particularly wanted to get married under the sun and the trees so we had our fingers and toes crossed that the weather would clear by the following morning.

The day dawned grey, but Terrara’s in-house wedding organiser Jody gave us the all-clear, and by the time the bridal party arrived for the rehearsal the sun had shown its face.

And from that moment on, everything was perfect.

I’ll talk about the day in further detail later, but for now I just want to share some photos of the venue.

We’re enormously indebted to my Uncle and his partner for making it possible for us to have our special day in such extraordinary surroundings. Terrara looked beautiful; the marquee was light and bright, open and welcoming. The flowers were stunning. We’ve had nothing but rave reviews about the food (special mention to the 10:30 supper ham, which was so popular it warranted more than a few mentions in our guest book!).

Mostly I can’t say enough good things about the staff. The Sophisticate and I are a pair of wedding-rookies, and neither of us really knew how the day was supposed to progress. Jody and the rest of the Terrara staff run the venue like a well-oiled machine, and the whole day was seamless for me.

So, without further ado – some venue photos…

We went with Vicci’s recommendation (guys, guys, check out her wedding. It’s so beautiful I could cry) and set up our own “photobooth” in one of my new Mother-In-Law’s vintage hatboxes. Costumes, a mini polaroid camera, and a pen, and we have a GREAT illustrated guest book for a fraction of the cost of the real deal.

Another hit on the night was the vintage typewriter that my Mum sourced for our “Advice for the Recently Wed”

Our Place-cards/favours came from RecycledIdeas on Etsy. The keys are made of recycled card imprinted with flower seeds so that guests could take them home and plant them.

 I promise I’ll do a dress-reveal the moment I have a suitable photo. Sorry to make you wait – I don’t want to fudge it!