RACHAEL & KYLE'S COUNTRY WEDDING

Photography by Feather & Birch

Wedding Date: 26th September, 2020

Rachael wore the Asta gown.

What was your wedding venue?
Our venue for both the ceremony & reception was at my parents (Jacque & Sam Connell’s) on 20 acres in amongst wine country of Orange NSW. 

It was originally booked for April 24th 2020 at Racine Restaurant until COVID-19 took hold and it became clear we should postpone to give ourselves some time to come up with a plan B and we had in mind that we would wait about 6 months until spring (October/November) but hadn’t made anything official. 

Before we could make an official decision, our venue let us know that their lease agreements had changed and would be moving location. They moved just up the road to even more beautiful location, so that didn’t rock the boat too much. We then decided we’d have the wedding in November and again started making plans as best we could without really knowing what our limitations may be due to COVID-19 rulings. It got to a point where we had completely had enough and just wanted to be married, so we changed the date again to 26th September 2020 and reduced the guest list from 180 people down to 65 people. 

Then, three weeks out from the wedding, the venue let us know that there had been a double booking and we would have to find a new location. After a lot of very quick research and fumbling around, we decided to hold our wedding at my parents place and just make it work.

So, the ceremony was to be outside in mum and dads beautiful garden that was in the midst of blooming and the reception to be held in a shed that our families tirelessly worked on to transform into a beautiful rustic venue, along with a marquee (give people room during COVID-19). 

It snowed the morning of the wedding and the ceremony was also held in the shed – haha, and we could not have cared any less – the day had finally arrived and everything else seemed so trivial! 

Did you have a wedding theme/style?
Not entirely. We’re both very relaxed people and come from families on the land so we stuck with a country style and had everyone dressed in ‘lounge suit’ attire to keep it formal but relaxed. 

How did you and your now Husband meet? 
We became friends as children when we would meet at local pony club and stock horse camps. We became very close friends at university where we both attended Charles Sturt University in Orange NSW undertaking an Agricultural Business Management degree. We should’ve been together years ago, but timing was never in our favour. We both travelled across Northern Australia in different paths of work and different directions and although we always stayed in touch, never really crossed paths again when we were both single, until 2018 and we were both back in Orange NSW where our families are. We were engaged 18months later. 

What is your proposal story?
Haha, poor Mac! He plucked up the courage to ask Dad if he could marry me and then made Dad wait 2months whilst my ring was getting made. Mac got the ring this particular morning, it was a Friday and he and I would always try to go out for drinks in town on a Friday evening together to kind of signify the end of the week and debrief. This particular Friday, he messaged me at work that afternoon and said “Sisters Rock – 7pm” and I thought, where the hell is that. Until I realised it was a VERY beautiful restaurant I love (and also goes by the name of Borrodell) and I thought, gee whiz, he’s really upping the stakes for Friday evening drinks. I didn’t twig though as I’d had a tough week and was very excited to let my hair down. 

On the way out to the restaurant I was making idle chat (its well known that I can get quite chatty) and said “how about how it’s Friday the 13th Mac, have you had any bad luck happened today?” haha, unbeknown that he was already highly uncomfortable at this point. Once we got there, we took our seats and ordered a drink and Mac said lets go for a walk whilst we wait for drinks, which still wasn’t quite that unusual as there is a large strip of lawn that leads out to the helicopter pad and you can see all these amazing large houses way out in the view and one of them is Mac’s sisters place. And the rest is history, he got down on one knee at the end of the strip whilst I was still yabbering on until I turned around and started giggling & smiling profusely with a Yes!  

How did you hear about Prea James Bridal?
Mac’s youngest sister wore a dress by Prea James and suggested we visit Hope x Page in Sydney when we go down for a look. 

From where did you purchase your gown?
Hope x Page in Sydney. The girls in store were so beautiful, they work very hard. They take the time you need and aren’t pushy. It was the first shop we went to and I had to go back at the end of the day – I couldn’t get Prea’s dresses out of my mind.   

What do you love most about the gown? 
The Asta Gown - The silk-like feel and weight of the material. You just pop it on and you’re done. The simplicity of the design. I couldn’t decide between two of Prea’s dresses and I was going to take the top from one and the bottom from the other but I just kept saying to the girls when I had the Asta Gown on “oh my goodness, it feels so good. I can’t explain how beautiful the material feels on my skin”

Are there any special details about your wedding that you would like to share? 
Our wedding day actually fell on the same wedding anniversary day as Mac’s Nan & Pop’s – 26th September and they’ve been married for about 65years! 

We are also fortunate that our families live near one another so we had our wedding at my parents place and the photo’s at Mac’s parents place!

Were there any details that you (and friends and family) made yourselves?
We were so lucky, we had family & friends pitching in the week before the wedding to make signs or borrow furniture (the arbour), facilities (toilets & generators) from to make the wedding happen at my parents place. We’re extremely fortunate! 

Finally, Do you have any words of wisdom for couples planning their big day? 
Weddings can be organised in just a few short weeks. It seems impossible at the time and people will tell you it’s very difficult to get ‘suppliers’ at short notice, but it can be done, be flexible. Your wedding day is what you make it to be so only enjoy it!

Wedding Vendors

Photographer: 
Matty Teague from Feather & Birch. Simple, crisp and classic photo’s. So many people from the wedding have said that he “really captured the whole day including the atmosphere”.

Videographer: 
Harrison Slattery from Harrison Slattery Media. He is a legend! Hard working, easy to deal with and created long lasting memories for us! You can see their wedding video here

Hair: 
Kink the Art of Hair. The team are always a joy to be around! Fit me in everytime we had a date change!

Makeup: 
Emma Engleman from Base Make Up Beauty & Wellness – love her work and so relaxing and fun to be around! 

Florist: 
Botanica Flora – the flowers do all the talking!! 

Stationery: 
Original invites were by: Studio Disenos
And then we used an online website for our second lot of invites: Wedding Invitations | The Knot

Cake: Mac’s cousin – Tegan Curran

Caterer & Hire/Prop furniture
Racine Functions 

Accessories (Veil/headpiece/jewellery): 
Veil - I don’t actually know the original story behind the veil, but I borrowed it from my eldest sister in-laws friend, and my youngest sister in-law also wore the same veil with her Prea James dress.

Jewellery of significance – I wore a broach that is a family heirloom. Every girl in the family wears it on her wedding day and it is 100 years old this year.

Fur - My last minute fur was from Bubish Luxe and the girls were great to deal with. I actually got the wrong size and contacted them immediately and they got my fur here just in time for the wedding.

Bridesmaids Dresses: 
Esther Boutique

Groom & Groomsmen’s Suits: 
Blowes Menswear – Such  great team of people and so easy to deal with. Due to COVID they ended up ordering two lots of suits in for the guys so we’d have a back up – superstars! 

Band: 
Robbie Mortimer and his band Young & Wild – they don’t stop playing – danced all night! Make sure everyone feels included. 

Celebrant:  
Kate Noller - She was an absolute superstar and kept us on track! Such an amazing girl.