Real Wedding – Lily & Alex, Collingwood Vic
Real Wedding – Lily & Alex, Collingwood Vic
Real Wedding – Lily & Alex, Collingwood Vic
Real Wedding – Lily & Alex, Collingwood Vic

Real Wedding – Lily & Alex, Collingwood Vic

Lily and Alex, a creative and practical couple, spent many hours lovingly adding DIY touches to their incredible Collingwood Children’s Farm wedding.

It was important to them that they had a city meets country wedding as a nod to their relationship when it first began. They didn’t stick to traditions and threw the rule book out the window and what resulted was a day full of fun and flair. Every element of their day was delivered with love and meaning and the talented Grace Petrou was there to capture it all.

IN LILY’S WORDS…

The meeting.

We met in 2009 through a mutual friend, we’re from the same home town and were friends for three years before romance blossomed.

The one.

When we first danced together we knew we were made for each other.

The proposal.

It was supposed to be at sunrise at the light house in Byron but it rained that morning. We were staying in a beautiful Airbnb property in the rainforest with an outside bath, and Alex put candles around the bath and popped the question there, it was a very beautiful setting.

Planning process.

We made a lot of the props for the wedding ourselves as Alex is a carpenter and I’m a shoe designer so we’re quite a creative/practical pair.  We had many a creative day on our decking. We planned the ceremony closely with our celebrant and friend/yoga teacher, Katie of Humminghearts Ceremonies, who helped us create a spiritual ceremony without any religious connotations. The ceremony ended with my sister and the best man Dave playing ‘If I were a Carpenter’ by Johnny Cash, a song which means a lot to us.

Arlene at the Collingwood Children’s farm was an amazing help with the planning of our big day and helped us loads with the details we wouldn’t have thought of.

Style inspiration.

We both love the outdoors and thought The Collingwood Children’s farm was a beautiful venue. When we met Alex lived in Salisbury, our home town in rural South West England and I lived the city life in London.  The Collingwood Children’s farm encapsulates the countryside meeting the city which summed up our early romance. We wanted the wedding to be fun and laid back and not at all traditional and we used quirky touches like scrabble letter place names and a deckchair with polaroid pictures of our travels as our table plan to give a fun vibe to the day. We also had a fun dress up area. The festoon lighting and cute bunting created a fun laid back feel in the barn.  The style of the wedding was eclectic and fun and emphasized a party vibe.

The dress.

My dress has a vintage 70’s feel, it’s unstructured and not at all traditional, like me. I knew I wanted something quite bohemian and then I found Rue de Seine – a beautiful New Zealand brand, on Pinterest. I tried on a number of their dresses in The Bridal Atelier in Armadale but none of them were quite me. I was very lucky as a week later the Rue de Seine trunk show came and I found my dress, I bought it there and then as I knew it was just perfect for me. I was lucky enough to have it fitted by the designer. It was a very special moment.

I designed my shoes myself, they are nude kid leather with an asymmetric shape and lace up around the ankle. They have a lilac flared block heel with a lilac insole, which tied in with the flowers. I danced in them all night!

Favourite moment.

Alex’s favorite moment was when I walked down the path towards him and he saw my face!

Mine was when we did our first dance, we hadn’t practiced at all but we both love dancing and we did a really fun dance and had the best time, I forgot anyone else was there, looking at Alex’s face while we were dancing was a special time for me.

Traditions.

We asked the guests to bless our rings during the ceremony with their good intentions and feelings, which was very special to us.

Meaning of Marriage.

Taking the next step in our commitment to one another, promising to stand by each other for the rest of our lives. It means being there for one another through everything life throws at us good and bad. Supporting and cherishing each other in every way and respecting each other’s quirks. Marriage means loving the good and bad in each and being one another’s best friend forever.

Wedding soundtrack.

I walked down the aisle to Toothpaste Kisses by the Maccabees, a song that we listened to lot when we first met.

My sister, our best man Dave and friend Andy Bailey played If I were a Carpenter by Johnny Cash while we were signing the papers

We left our ceremony to Here comes the sun by The Beatles

Our first dance was to Let’s Dance by David Bowie, a song we always dance together to.

Funny stories/near disasters.

We had a near disaster with our ID as we thought we were not going to get my birth certificate to Australia in time, but it all worked out.

Planning surprises.

Just how long it took to make and plan everything.

Words of wisdom.

Make sure you do everything your way, this is what we did and our day couldn’t have been more perfect.

 

 

LILY AND ALEX’S TRIBE

Ceremony location: Giant Oak tree by the Yarra river near The Collingwood Children’s Farm

Reception venue: The Collingwood Children’s Farm café for canapés and the barn for the dinner and dancing

Celebrant:  Katie of Humminghearts Ceremonies

Photography: Grace Petrou

Videography: Jason Pietrosanto

Styling: By bride

Florist: Jodi Dowley at Oak and Holly Flower Shop

Hair and Make Up: Hair by Little Buddha Hair, Make up by Bride’s best friend

The Dress: Rue De Seine

Veil / head wear:  Flower head pieces by Lee Li

Shoes: Designed by Bride Lily Harper, to contact Lily, email her at [email protected]

Rings:  My engagement ring is antique and the bands were from a small jeweler on Bond street  in London

Bridesmaids dresses: My middle sisters dress, Free People, my little sisters suit, Joseph and silk shirt by Vanishing Elephant

Grooms suit: Jack London

Grooms Shoes: Loake

Catering: The Collingwood Children’s Farm

Favors: scrabble letter place names, made by bride and groom

Cake: Cake Day AU

Stationery / Signage: made by bride and groom

Entertainment: DJ FeeFee Starr, to contact – [email protected]

Honeymoon: Campervan travelling around Western Australia from Margaret River to Ningaloo Reef and inland to Karijini National Park.




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