Real Wedding: Anna & Chris

I stumbled across this Aussie wedding on Anna's blog, and it's such a sweet celebration - planned in just three months! 25 of Anna and Chris' closest friends and family joined them in Sydney for an intimate garden ceremony followed by a simple, festive lunch (complete with party hats!). Anna joins us today with some of the details from the DIY wedding.


I designed and illustrated the invites, name cards and order-of-service.




I was 24 weeks pregnant, so I found a dress at a local boutique that fit my belly. It was by a local label called Rodeo Show. I wore handmade white brogues by an Italian label called Nylon, and Chris found his outfit about 4 days before the wedding. His shoes were his old beat up oxfords that he bought second hand in London.








We were married on a Friday in November at Wendy Whiteley's Secret Garden in Lavender Bay. It really is a secret garden - if you didn't know it existed you would easily miss it. We had a small ceremony with 25 of our close family and friends. Chris serenaded me on the guitar and sang 'From St.Kilda to Kings Cross' by Paul Kelly as I walked down the steps with my dad (it's a song about both of our hometowns, Melbourne and Sydney).








We went to the local florist on the morning of the wedding to pick some flowers for my bouquet. I was lucky because peonies happened to be in season and the are my favourite! My mother made it for me.








Afterward the ceremony we hired a private water taxi to take everyone across the harbour and over to Mosman where we had our reception at the local Scout Hall. It was an old blue stone heritage listed building, right on the bay (I think it cost about $200 to hire!) We spent the afternoon eating fresh baguettes and watermelon and playing bocce ball in the park nearby.






My engagement ring and our wedding bands were custom made by Brooklyn based jewelry designer Blanca Monros Gomez.




We decorated the Scout Hall ourselves. I made the bunting and bought fabric for the table cloths. We thrifted all the cutlery and plates, and hired the wine glasses. I bought colourful lanterns on the internet. My husband is a chef, so two days prior to the wedding, we got up at 4am and went to the Sydney markets and fish market to buy all the food. He spent the next two days preparing it and we hired a refrigerated van to transport it. It was very simple, Mediterranean style food, beautiful baked fish, lamb and lots of vegetables and salads. Our friends helped with the barbecue on the day. My mother-in-law made the cake with a mix of everyone's recipes – lemon citrus cake on the bottom layer, pistachio cake in the middle and baked cheesecake (made with my mum's Polish recipe) on the top, all piled high with hand made truffles. Our family and some friends helped us clean the hall, as we needed to be out by 9pm. We made sure everyone got into taxis and then we walked home hand in hand together and talked about the day.

I love weddings that remind us you don't necessarily need to spend a year planning to have a thoughtful and charming day. Thank you Anna and Chris for sharing your wedding with us, and congratulations on your new family!

Photos by Sean Murray.