Bride: Leia O’Leary
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Bridegroom: Heath Carter
Wedding date: April 18, 2015
The Meeting
We met in August 2011 at a mutual friend’s birthday party. There was an instant attraction for us both, but it wasn’t until meeting up again at New Year’s that we started dating.
The Proposal
It would be nice to say that there was a very romantic and well planned out proposal but that wasn’t entirely the case. We were at home with our four-month-old son at the time, generally discussing our future when Heath asked me to marry him. Later that week, he organised a booking at the same place we’d had dinner on our first date, then got down on one knee with a diamond ring and proposed in front of all the other patrons. That restored the romance to the situation!
The Wedding Day
It went off without a hitch after initial fears from threatening clouds. A garden ceremony was arranged at Bishopscourt B&B in Forest Street, complete with wedding arch, LOVE letters and white garden chairs for guests.
I also arranged two high school friends to play flute throughout the ceremony.
Fortunately, the rain held off, the sun came out and it was a perfect afternoon – the kind every little girl dreams her wedding day to be.
A reception followed at The Boardwalk Restaurant at Lake Weeroona where drinks and canapes were enjoyed, along with views of the sun setting over the lake. A full, three course meal followed with guests dancing long into the night to music by Luke Owens Solo Acoustic.
A friend and work colleague of the bride sang The Bridal Waltz before the happy couple were finally farewelled by guests with a sparkler send-off.
The Dress
This is usually one of the hardest decisions for the bride to be to make but, for me, it was easy. It was the first dress I tried on. I tried many on after it but kept comparing them all to the first so I knew it was the one.
Bendigo Bridal Collection were fantastic in supplying and fitting the gown, which was from the Winter 2014 Bridges Desire Collection from Brisbane based designer Wendy Sullivan.
It featured a fully boned and fitted ivory lace bodice with sequins, crystals and pewter lace and a one-shoulder detail which cascaded down the dress. The skirt featured a train which bustled up for the reception, and I wore a full length, ivory, one tier veil with a hairpiece I made myself.
The Cake
It was a simple white, three tier cake with the middle tier featuring a damask lace pattern detail. Each tier was a different flavour; raspberry and white chocolate, red velvet and traditional chocolate mud cake.
It was finished with white ribbon, flowers, diamonds and crystal brooches and was made by Cafe Essence.
The Photographer
The day was captured by Shaun Guest Photography. Shaun was with us all day, right from the guys clowning around as they got ready, the girls having hair and makeup done, the flower girls and page boys playing, the fairytale garden ceremony and right through the entire reception, including the sparkler send-off. Shaun also provided a photo booth with playful props for all the guests to go crazy and snap some fun photos.
The Honeymoon
We have delayed our honeymoon due to purchasing a new home, which we moved into the week after the wedding. We are planning a trip to the Gold Coast theme parks this Christmas as our son will be almost two and old enough to enjoy it with then!
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