J O S H & J O E Y
F R O M T H E B R I D E
The Meeting...
We met about ten years ago at church. We saw each other pretty much every week but never said more than "Hi, How was your week?" Our lives took a dramatic (but exciting) change three years ago when a quick chat turned into hours of conversation. Just friends turned into best friends, then dating, the thrill of engagement and finally the blissful joy of saying "I do"!
The Proposal...
It was the day of my 21st birthday. Josh told me we had to get up early because he had a surprise planned. I was hoping he would propose but I wasn't sure. We drove up to Maleny early in the morning and went for a walk through the Mary Craincross Reserve which was beautiful, all the birds and wildlife were just waking up and the sun was glistening through the trees above. Towards the end of the walk he told me to turn around and close my eyes. I was hoping that this was not 'the moment' as it was near the car park and people were around When I opened them he had placed a chocolate in my hand and with a big smile asked "was that a nice surprise?!" We then went to the amazing venue Weddings at Tiffany's just down the road where he led me to a secluded little pergola and proposed to me overlooking the Glasshouse Mountains! It was perfect! We then headed back home to my parent's farm and had a little picnic by a tranquil pond under the warm afternoon sun. It was the perfect day!
Wedding Style...
We wanted a traditional wedding with a slight vintage touch. We are creative people and wanted to make the decorations ourselves so that every part of our special day spelt 'us'. Our colour themes were pink, champagne & ivory.
The Ceremony Venue...
Our ceremony was at Preston Village Chapel on a beautiful country hill just outside of Toowoomba.
The Reception Venue...
The reception was just next door in the newly refurbished Preston Manor, a charming old homestead.
Pre-wedding Celebrations...
Josh went out and played some games of pool with his best man Brad the night before while the girls went to bed early as we had to be up at 3am for hair and makeup at 3:30am! The day before we had lunch at Sizzlers with close family and some of the wedding party. A few days before this Josh organized a surprise day spa for me and one of the girls!
The Dress...
My wedding gown was the gown of my dreams! Before I started looking I knew exactly what I wanted, but did not know whether I would be able to find one exactly like I had envisioned. However, the first shop I walked into and the first dress I tried on... I knew it was the one! My dress was an A-line lace gown with crystal and pearl beading all over. I bought it from After 5 Formal and Bridal.
The Flowers...
We wanted flowers that would match the colour scheme but would also complement our traditional/vintage style. My original inspiration came from a photo I found on the net and our florist Sharyn from Bouquets with Bling did an amazing job putting the bouquets together!
Decorating...
We decided to hand make the decorations ourselves. We wanted something simple and slightly vintage looking. We decided to go with a doily in the centre of each table and a hand decorated jar with a bunch of roses in the middle plus little candles around this. The main colours were ivory, champagne and pale pink. Making our own decorations was something that meant a lot to us and was also a lot of fun.
On the Menu...
For the canapés we had macadamia and sage crusted lamb racks with sweet potato chips. The reception was a sit down meal. For the main we had a choice of red snapper with caramelised fennel, baby vegetable and a beurre blanc or corn fed chicken breast with grilled polenta, tomato ratatouille & chicken jus. For desert we had our wedding cake served with berry compote and chantilly cream.
Wedding Favours...
We had a lolly buffet for the bonbonniere which we put together ourselves and was a big hit! The theme was white and pink lollies such as musk sticks, sugar coated almonds and jelly beans. We created the design on the cute paper bags ourselves also.
Memories...
Things were looking pretty bad the weekend before. The weather was shocking and there had been so much rain and flooding again. We visited Preston Chapel on the Monday before and it was a mess, trees and branches were down everywhere, the night before the wedding it even stormed. But on the day of the wedding we couldn't have asked for more perfect weather, and the clean up job by venue staff was impeccable! The temperature was amazing for that time of year and we saw some of the first blue skies we had seen for weeks. Everything went so well on the day!
Honeymoon...
We did a road trip down to Tasmania. Joey had never been to Sydney, Melbourne or Tassie so the experience was incredible! The ferry ride in between was also an amazing experience. One of our highlights was climbing Cradle Mountain in the late afternoon, we had the whole mountain to ourselves just to make it that bit more romantic... absolutely breath-taking.
Photography...
We chose Everglow Photography because we love their approach to photography and their style! These guys get to know you and what you like, which makes such a big difference on the day. They are laid back and make you feel like you are special and really comfortable. There are so many photographers that only stay for part of the wedding and charge extra for any hours you want them to stay after this. Everglow are there for the entire day even if its 14 hours long and do not charge extra. They capture all the real moments as they happen, all the emotion and little things you miss on the day. We also love the fact that they are a husband and wife photography team! They get love and work together well.
We love looking back and seeing all the emotion in the photos, the happiness, joy and tears! All the elements of our day were captured, big and small. They captured memories that are so meaningful, something we will cherish for a lifetime.
The contributors...
Photography Everglow Photography Ceremony Venue Preston Village Chapel Reception Venue Preston Manor Bride's Dress After 5 Formal and Bridal Bride's Shoes Cinderella Footsteps Suits Spurling Formalwear Hair & Makeup The Powder Room Flowers Bouquets with Bling Wedding Cake Katie Young's Cakes + Josh & Joey's own DIY details!