A Garden Greenhouse Wedding in Australia

From time to time we come across a wedding that literally takes our breath away, and the second we saw the reception in today’s wedding from Lara Hotz that’s precisely what happened. One lucky guest described the day as “a feast for the eyes,” and we truly couldn’t imagine a more perfect description. I’ll let the images do the talking from here on out!

From the bride, Alison: We were so lucky that my husband’s parents owned this beautiful historic house in Sydney – we felt it almost a waste not to have the wedding there! So we wanted a style and vibe that reflected the historic farmhouse – lots of greenery and nature with a rustic and relaxed feel. I think in the end it was a vintage/rustic look… One of our guests described it as a feast for the eyes! I just wanted it to be fun and to fit in to the historic location. I didn’t have an overt theme that I was sticking to, I just picked things I liked along the way and I think it turned into a rustic look by the end.

We made the signs that we placed around the property on big blackboards and easels for the reception, canapes and ceremony. We made menus and order of service for the ceremony on lots of different beautiful patterned paper from Spotlight – no two were alike! We made the place cards with stamps, raffia and pegs. The flowers were absolutely amazing – Jardine Botanic did a phenomenonal job. The archway where the ceremony took place was made of peonies. She also used some of the leaves from trees from the property for my hairpeice – which was such a nice touch. My Dress is from a very talented Australian designer called Philippa Galasso who was recommended to me when I was looking at beaded lace in a fabric shop. Philippa is amazing she comes over to your house to discuss designs and fabrics and she has her own beaded lace makers in France. I wanted some colour in my dress on the day and she ordered this beautiful sample of sage and gold beaded lace from her designers to show me – it was exactly what I wanted. She made the dress for me and it was the only wedding dress that I ever tried on!

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? Planning a wedding is a very steep learning curve in diplomacy! I think it is important to be clear, open and honest with family and friends from the start about what you want… otherwise things have a tendancy to snowball. Use as many friends and people you know in the wedding – its always nice to have more friendly faces on the day helping you get everything together. Our good family friend Rev Dr Jegasothy solemnised the ceremony and it was so special to have someone you know to be able to marry you!