For my final wedding day post I wanted to share some photos from the reception.
The whole day was a crazy blur, and neither The Sophisticate nor I seem to be able to remember anything but broad strokes! By the look of the photos we were having a rip-roaring time though.
Because we opted out of having a professional photographer documenting the day we were able to transition seamlessly from the ceremony to the party.
As soon as the paperwork had been signed and our minister Gareth had presented us to our guests we moved to Terrara’s gorgeous courtyard where drinks and nibbles were waiting.
I remember approaching the party and seeing people playing with the totem tennis set that had been brought by the (amazing!) folk at Daisycare Nanny Agency. The sound of laughter and chatter, and all my favourite people congregated in the dappled sunlight with margarita slushies in hand… my heart just swelled.
It was pretty special for me to have both sides of my family in attendance.
By special request from my brand-new husband we were “presented” to our guests to Elvis Presley’s “Live at Madison Garden” version of That’s All Right. Also Sprach Zarathustra intro and all. It was a bit of a running joke, and one of our groomsmen almost didn’t make it down the stairs he was laughing so much.
The caterers at Terrara – Duck Duck Goose – did the most amazing job. The food was scrumptious. We had “Salad of Grilled Quail, Witlof, Watercress, Orange & Pecan” and “Asian-style Oxtail Gow gees with Bok Choy & Sweet Chinese Dipping Sauce” for Entree. For Mains we served up “Beef Eye Fillet with Horseradish Mash, Wilted Spinach and Onion Jus” and also “Pot Roasted Pouissin with Crispy Pancetta, Pine Nuts and Garlic Crushed Potatoes”.
Terrara does this fantastic thing where the dishes are served up on share plates at each table – sort of like a High Tea – which means everyone got a bit of everything, rather than staring mournfully at your neighbour’s plate and wishing you could swap.
Speeches were good fun. My beautiful maid-of-honour Fiona (who’s a new Mum!) made a lovely speech that made me giggle, and Matt’s best-man Garth had everyone rolling in the aisles too.
My new In-Law’s made a speech, and so did my Dad. And I proved that The Sophisticate had married the Right Gal by reading mine off an iPad (He’s the biggest Apple Fanboy in Australia. We even mentioned it in the vows. No, really)
Most of the speeches made me cry. Of course. I think I spent most of the day in tears, LOL.
For our cake we chose a Croquembouche, which was insanely delicious, and dessert also included “Chocolate and Macadamia Tart with Burnt Caramel Ice Cream” and “Italian Meringue with Passion Fruit Cream, Boozy Berries & Brandied Custard”. Finally, Terrara served up a supper ham that was so popular it garnered more than a few mentions in our guest book!
An incredibly rare photo of my Dad with all four of his kids. Can you see the family resemblance?
Apparently I threw the bouquet over the heads of almost every woman in the room (check out the look of intense concentration on my face!). It was snatched from the air in a breathtaking act of athleticism by the gorgeous Akinyi. One of Matt’s groomsmen dove for the garter. He was bruised, but triumphant.
And that was our day.
Thank you so much for sharing it with me, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading.
This looks like the most romantic wedding ever, everyone just looks so happy and you and your new husband look very much in love. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thanks Mia, My smile was jumping off my face all day – it was amazing.
Oh you guys are so beautiful!!!! You make me look so forward to my own big day 🙂
You are glowing like crazy in every photo I see from your wedding day 🙂
Thanks Donna,
I’m looking forward to seeing yours! You’re wearing those amazing sparkly shoes with the sequin love hearts, right?
P.S you said there was no professional photographer as well? I think whoever took the photos you do have did such a wonderful job!!!!!
I know! It was mostly down to a few people: Steve and Dom who work with The Sophisticate (in the film industry) and are pretty serious amateur photographers, with some pretty serious equipment. Also, The Sophisticate’s old school friend Jonathan; my friend Barb (who took all the photos of the girls getting ready) and my friends Gaith & Injey, who took some of my favourite shots from the ceremony. All incredibly talented people and we’re so, SO indebted to them.
So sweet! *sigh, sigh sigh* That’s all I got! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jassy, my pleasure 🙂
oh, how wonderful!!! honestly, I’m jealous 😀
huge hug!
Thank you, M. It was pretty special.
What a beautiful post. Brings it all back. I spent half the night in tears too. It’s a big thing when your little girl gets married. David says, wow they look so happy. And you are. May you always be this contented, this complete.
Thanks Mum <3
Fantastic photos, Lilli! A wonderful way to remember your special day. I’ve sooo enjoyed reading about your day & seeing you look so wonderfully happy 🙂
Thanks Jo – It was a really wonderful day. It’s been kind of fun sorting through the photos and remembering (or not!) everything that happened.
Beautiful! I’ve been loving your wedding posts – it looked like such an amazing day. So who took those fabulous photos if you didn’t hire photographers?
Thanks Corinne, We’re actually incredibly lucky with our friends. The Sophisticate works in the film industry, so he’s got a lot of Pretty Serious Amateur Photographers in his network, and we basically said to everyone “Bring your cameras, here’s a Picasa album, please upload anything you took on the day”. We ended up with nearly 2,000 photos, and almost all candids.
You both look so happy and relaxed! I love the photo of you cutting the cake. Gorgeous!
Thanks Tasch! It felt silly to be cutting a croquembouche with this whopping great knife, but gosh it was delicious!
This was a lovely post. i actually got misty eyed 🙂 you look amazing, everybody looks happy and the photos are truly great.
Thanks Kilda, we’re so lucky with our friends, so many of them are talented photographers!
Amazing! It looks like really good fun and really relaxed. I’m a big supporter of not having an official photographer – we didn’t at ours either. It means you don’t abandon your guests for ages whilst you go off and have corny “romantic” shots. Your pictures look romantic and lovely because they are taken by the people who love and know you. It makes a massive difference.
Exactly our though. Tell you what, it raised some eyebrows though! “No official photographer? Are you MAD?”
There’s one or two shots that we didn’t get that a photographic “session” would have covered, but like you said then we would have had to abandon our guests for ages. And I prefer candids anyway.
It looks like such a beautiful wedding Lilli and you both look so happy. I’ve loved these wedding posts so much. It gives me confidence that you can have a wedding and make it your own!
Thanks Jess, It really did feel like “our” day: low-key, casual and fun. It was amazing to see almost all of our favourite people in the one place at the one time – especially considering how far from home the venue was. I’m incredibly grateful.
Beautiful wedding! I LOVE the floral dresses on the bridesmaid. I think I’m going to steal that idea! Where did those dresses come from?!?
Thanks Lisa,
They were made by Louise at Sohomode: http://www.etsy.com/shop/sohomode
Such pretty photos! What a beautiful day you had by the looks of it! 🙂
The photos are gorgeous but more importantly and more obvious is the happiness and love all around the wedding! Beautiful!
Thank you for your generous heart in sharing your photos and special day with us – these last photos are really the icing on the cake – may the spirit they capture go on and on and on …
Such a lovely post! Thank you so much for sharing your day 🙂
I just can’t get over how beautiful you look in your dress. I don’t think you could have picked a more beautiful dress. Your whole wedding looks very beautiful and romantic. 🙂
With tears in my eyes….. thank you for sharing this special day!
Hello
What a lovely wedding. We had tea dresses from Sohomode too! She is so clever isn’t she!
Hope you and your hubby are very happy!
Love
amy
x
http://dottypinkdesigns.blogspot.co.uk/
A few months late but CONGRATULATIONS!!! With such superb photographs who needs a professional snapper? Wishing you both nothing but the very best for the future!
Thank you so much, Deena!
Everything is lovely! ?
You were, you ARE absolutely GORGEOUS 😀 The dress looks amazing on you and i think you almost sparkle 🙂 I found your blog by chance but i have to say that you have a great taste and you can really know how to make the most of yourself. I’ll keep follow your posts 🙂 you’re GREAT 😀
Your wedding and blog are absolutely beautiful! 🙂 You are such a fashion inspiration and your wedding was absolutely darling, and you looked absolutely gorgeous! Thank you for being so beautiful and for wearing what you want when you want! Thank you for sharing your big day!