Real Weddings: Caitlin and Matt

Posted on 1 February, 2016

We love a good wedding here at HerCanberra, and our ‘Real Weddings’ series lets local brides share the details of their big day.

Caitlin and Matt’s on-trend wedding day at Poachers Pantry was all about picturesque gardens, good food and a reception with a Scandinavian twist. We asked the lovely bride to talk us through their big day.

The ceremony

Beginning with the ceremony, our wedding felt very intimate and special. We kept it short and recited our vows, which we wrote together over a bottle of wine – so they were a good mix of personal and funny, with ample reference to our dog, Inca.

We chose to have both our ceremony and reception at Poachers Pantry.  The decision was an easy one – we really wanted a pretty outdoor area and access to good food. Poachers was the first place we visited and within 24 hours we’d made a booking. The garden is so beautiful and the food is delish. Double thumbs up from us.

The dress

My dress/jumpsuit (which I had designed and created by J’Aton couture in Melbourne) was a result of a few things: one, I am totally indecisive and wanted pants but also a train for walking down the aisle and two, after months of stomping the streets of Sydney and Melbourne, I couldn’t find anything I liked – beading and fine lace looked bad on me, none of the samples fitted me and nothing had the ‘edginess’ factor that I was after (I was inspired by Mick Jagger’s wedding).

When I had my first appointment with J’Aton it was just magic. By the time it came around I had decided I wanted to wear pants/jumpsuit and as I nervously mentioned it, he jumped at it (mind the pun!) We just started bouncing ideas off each other and by the end, he had created the most wonderful sketch of a jumpsuit with a statement over skirt – which was exactly what I wanted.

The reception

The reception was just a whirlwind of fun. When we walked in to the marquee for the first time, we were overwhelmed with happiness to see everything we’d planned come together, just as we’d wished! We kept being like, “look at that, how good does that look!”

Styling

I have some experience with event styling from work, and I approached the wedding with a bit of a formula and very strong idea of what I liked and didn’t like. We wanted the styling to reflect us, and for the room to feel warm and intimate, with a Scandinavian touch (as a homage to our engagement in Sweden, and also my love of [Finnish design company] Marimekko).

We had a bit of freedom with the marquee as it was a blank space, so we chose dark bentwood chairs, golden halogen lights to hang from the ceiling, amber coloured glass bottles (sourced through Show Pony Events) and amber candle holders (which Matt made from beer bottles, and which was a bit of an ode to him and his hobby of home brewing).

I sourced black and white floral Marimekko napkins and had a bar cover made out of fabric of the same pattern (by Show Pony Events). We designed our own menus, and I had done all the place cards in my signature handwriting. Where we could, we used gold to bring warmth – on our chair signs, and the frame of the seating plan (another two DIY projects). The flowers we chose were rich colours too – deep reds, dark pinks, dark green leaves.

Poachers were very accommodating to all our weird, wonderful and last minute requests – of which there were a lot! They were really happy to set up all of our DIY decorations, and anything we’d hired (through Show Pony Events), so that made it very easy for us the days leading up to the wedding.

They also were very good at communicating with all of our suppliers to organise installation of decorations/set up  – the florist who rigged garlands to the ceiling, the band who had power queries, Sweet Bones who made our cake had refrigeration requirements, and Show Pony who made several deliveries on our behalf and assisted with table set up. The whole thing ran very smoothly – because of Poachers.

Photography

We chose Kelly Tunney for our photos because she is an awesome photographer and even more amazing person. We seriously have so much love for her. Couldn’t recommend her more highly, the photos she took were exactly what we were after – we wanted our photos to capture moments rather than poses, and she did this perfectly.

Food and drink

Choosing food and drink was the easy part, as all the options for our wedding menu were seriously delicious. In making our decisions, we wore our practical hats and chose what we thought most people would like and eat. I also made a special request to have rosé on our table and the scallops for my main (which was different to what we’d ordered for everyone) and they did this for us, no problem!

Our cake came from Sweet Bones Bakery – we’re not vegan, we just think they make seriously amazing cakes! We chose a naked cake, Black Forest style.

Dancing

After speeches on the night, it didn’t take long for the dance floor to get going, and at one point I looked over and my 95 year old Nanna was leading a conga line. Amazing.

All in all, it was the best party we’d ever been to! We felt so happy and so full of love for each other and every one of our friends and family.

Explore a Poachers Pantry wedding

Poachers Pantry is holding their next wedding open night on Wednesday 17 February, where brides and grooms-to-be will get the chance to experience what a Poachers wedding looks, tastes and feels like.  Find out more at poacherspantry.com.au.

The details

Reception and ceremony location: Poachers Pantry

Guests: 119

Photographer: Kelly Tunney

Styling: A combination of DIY and Show Pony Events

Bride’s dress: J’Aton

Maid of Honour’s dress: Manning Cartell

Bridesmaids’ dresses: Rodeo Show

Hair: Sarah Kate Bridal

Makeup: Estella Artistry

Jewelry: Dinosaur Designs

Groom and groomsmen’s suits: Roger Bartholomew

Flowers: Flowers by Alexandra Rogers

Cake: Sweet Bones Bakery

This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are the author’s own. For more information on our sponsored post policy, click here.  All photography by Kelly Tunney.