A quirky collection of wedding dress and other paraphernalia is attracting attention in Castlemaine.
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Peter Bottomley and his wife have been growing the collection for 30 years and this year decided to exhibit it in the studio above their cafe Run Rabbit Run.
The exhibition - titled Hatch and Match - has garnered interest from both locals and people from out of town.
"It was a, bit slow to start off but as word got out it has picked up," Mr Bottomley said.
"Particularly in the last two weeks there have been quite a few coming in."
It is the second exhibition, Mr Bottomley has hosted at his Run Rabbit Run cafe.
"We did a small one during the Castlemaine State Festival, which was quite successful," he said. "But we had a captive audience for that with hundreds of people wandering around the town."
Items among the exhibition include dresses that date from the Edwardian era to the 1970s, a number of bridal horseshoes and a Bendigo-made wedding cake that dates back to 1914.
"We've just been collecting for 30 years. The first piece bought was a pair of French wedding shoes then I started looking for bridal horseshoes ,which are scarce," Mr Bottomley said.
"In the search for those we have always found plenty of dresses and veils, and it sort of grew from there."
Mr Bottomley said the century-old wedding cake was a popular item in the exhibition.
"It is the top tier of a 1914 cake that has been stored under a glass dome," he said.
"Apparently it is from Bendigo. A lady saw our Facebook post and the exhibition and thought it would be a good place for her piece.
"She was from Bendigo and had a small collection of about five piece that she bought at auction.
"The cake is for the Organ family wedding in Bendigo. It is remarkable that it is still surviving."
Aside from the physical piece in the exhibition, Mr Bottomley has enjoyed collecting the stories that go with the dresses.
"I like to think of them as 'relinquished' dresses. We go to op shops, vintage shops or even online in more recent years," he said.
"For me it's about the story. An old dress is an old dress but to get information about person wore it adds to the picture."
Hatch and Match is a Castlemaine's Run Rabbit Run cafe until September 30.