Dazed Photography: September 2014

When we arrived at Voewood and entered the bridal suite, Tara and her bridesmaids were calm and there was a lovely serene vibe. "I guess I wasn't your typical bride. I was very relaxed about the day and the emphasis was on fun and enjoyment. A lot of brides had told me to savour every minute because it would fly by and my relaxed approach meant I didn't feel stressed at all."

The house lended itself to a relaxed wedding and having the entire venue privately for 3 days added to the intimacy of the wedding. Voewood is full of trinkets and unusual artwork and artefacts, so Tara and Dave opted to let the venue do the the talking and keep any decorations to a minimum.

A few weeks before Tara and Dave's big day, Tara contacted us to inform us that her mum had very recently passed away but her and Dave had decided they were still going ahead with the original wedding date.

"My mum had been my wedding planner; we had picked out the venue, decided on themes and chose my dress together (besides the alterers, she was the only one to see the dress before the day, something I will treasure forever.)"

"The loss was and is indescribable, especially so close to the wedding. However, knowing how hard my mum had worked towards our wedding and believing that my mum would have wanted me to have stuck to our original plans, ones we made together and this motivated me to carry on as she would have wanted. Her presence was known by everyone and she was a very important part of my speech." - Tara

Tara's mum was very creative and managed to embroider individual, personalised napkins/place settings for each guest, make and decorate the cake, spray paint the cutlery, sew welcome bags and contribute to many other personal touches.

From the cake being made by a bridesmaid, the flowers arranged by the bride, to the groomsmen tying the bows on the dinner chairs, everyone got involved in putting the final touches together for the couples big day.

The weather held up, the sun definitely came out despite it threatening to rain and music from the Acafellas and The Joe Ringer band kept the guests entertained. Here's a snapshot of Tara and Dave's wedding day.