Annie Hodder & Andrew Walshe { 29 OCTOBER }

STONES OF THE YARRA VALLEY, COLDSTREAM, VIC

photos captured by: Lost In Love Photography
styling by: Ruby and James

When Annie and Andrew got engaged Annie’s first thought was to host their wedding at her family’s property in the Yarra Valley. “Unfortunately the logistics of that idea were going to be a little hard to handle since excavation would be required!” So instead the couple opted to have their ceremony and reception at Stones of the Yarra Valley and invite their guests for ‘Brunch with the Newlyweds’ the following day at the family farm. “Many of our guests had travelled to be at our wedding and Andrew and I knew how fast the actual day would pass, so we decided to throw a relaxed recovery brunch the next day. This meant everyone could enjoy their time in the Yarra Valley and we could keep the party going just that little bit longer! I’ve always been a country girl and Andrew has fallen in love with the lifestyle too. It was really meaningful to incorporate my parents’ property into the celebration as it’s been a huge part of my life and now our lives together as a couple. We’ve never had a party there so it was the perfect occasion to celebrate and the gardens in spring are divine.”

THE THINGS WE LOVE | “We wanted our wedding to include everything we love; food, family, friends, whiskey and of course gelati! The reception styling exuded a romantic, rustic elegance with a dash of fun and sparkle. We wanted to create a lush floral landscape in the barn without it becoming jungle like.”

Annie and Andrew worked with the team at Ruby and James for the styling and design of their wedding and brunch event. After multiple site visits to Stones of the Yarra Valley and a detailed Pinterest moodboard, the brief soon reflected the couple’s vision for romantic floral arrangements with soft hues and greenery upon greenery.

“I think we achieved the right balance with the guidance of the team at Ruby and James and Sugarbee Flowers. Being the end of October we chose a similar colour scheme for both events that would complement the environment. Our flowers were soft hues of peach, pink and white and we had luscious green garlands of oak leaves and gum. The arrangements smelt beautiful.”

BLOOMING BEAUTIES | “I adore flowers! So for me one of the three most important things when planning our wedding was to ensure we had gorgeous blooms. Our guests would spend much of their evening seated at the dining tables so being surrounded by beautiful flowers and an abundance of candles was a must.” The bouquets and flower arrangements were soft and free flowing and the table centrepieces were long garlands of pink, blush and white flowers. Peach coloured hypericum berries were scattered throughout the oak leaf garlands.

Annie’s bouquet included David Austen roses, freesias, ranunculus, peonies, vines and gum. “I had fallen in love with anemones, however at our last meeting my florist Youki regretfully told me the only supplier in Victoria had lost his crop that season. However when Youki delivered the bouquets on our wedding day we had anemones! Out of the entire crop only two bunches were salvageable and Youki had managed to secure them for our wedding! Of course, they were absolutely stunning.”

“Andrew had the idea of creating a gentleman’s lounge area as a quiet retreat and place for guests to mingle. “I sourced props and furniture including leather books, a chandelier, velvet armchairs and Chesterfields which all came together perfectly for a distinguished vintage feel.””

MOTHER NATURE | “You can’t control the weather. I learnt that on our wedding day and again for our brunch. We were monitoring the weather closely before the brunch but it wasn’t until the day before that we made the decision to try and find a marquee last minute. Miraculously, one of our vendors offered to set one up for us, at 3am no less, after they had finished bumping out the chairs from our wedding. When Andrew and I woke up the morning of the brunch the sun was shining. We had our fingers crossed but after a couple of hours the heavens opened and there was rain and hail. One of my favourite memories from the day was seeing our guests running to relocate all the furniture from the lawn. Needless
to say we needed the marquee in the end!”

LET LOVE GLOW | Candlelight created a shimmering glow at the reception. Hundreds of candles and gold candlesticks were dotted amongst the rows of garlands. “I’m obsessed with flowers and candles! We used hurricane vases for some sparkle during the ceremony which were then placed around the barn for the reception. Festoon lighting was suspended from the beams inside the barn and on the patio outside. I’m very detail orientated so nothing was left to chance when it came to planning the reception decorations.
So much so that we used a dimmer switch to be able to control the light’s intensity throughout the night!”

FROM THE LITTLE THINGS |“Starting our own business was something that Andrew and I had been pondering throughout our wedding planning journey. We prefer to support small businesses but we struggled to source a single company that stocked the unique tablescape elements that would define our wedding the way we envisioned. As a result we had to source rentals from as far as Albury and from multiple suppliers. That meant more delivery fees and more vendors to negotiate and liaise with on the day.”

“Much of our focus for planning our wedding day was on the comfort of our guests. We wanted to create a heartfelt experience that reflected Andrew and myself as a couple. We knew our guests would spend a great deal of time seated so we ensured every detail on the table was considered. Speciality cutlery, linen and charger plates defined our table settings. It was this attention to detail that prompted us to explore developing our own tableware rentals business The Event Merchant Company. Throughout our entire wedding planning journey we encountered some incredible vendors that shaped our experience and we hope we can provide the same memorable journey for other couples.”

the day after

wedding brunch

WEDDING BRUNCH | “Initially we focused on creating a romantic French provincial garden party to suit the European style gardens on our property. However when we came across Gather Vintage Hire’s collection of furniture, it was everything we never knew we needed!” The worldly pieces added a unique styling element to the brunch design. “I’ve always admired Moroccan interiors and Gather Vintage Hire were able to supply us with pieces that blended a Moroccan spirit with our initial brief.”

“When I attend events I always notice the little details so I was sure to take the time to invest in the little things for our wedding and brunch. I ordered
a custom stamp that matched our invitations and my bridesmaids and I spent the night before our wedding stamping hundreds of takeaway coffee cups. The drinks caravan staff used these when serving our guests their morning coffee. As some of our guests needed to make the drive home from the Yarra Valley before the festivities were officially over, we also used the custom stamp on dessert boxes so they could take their sweets with them. Some of our guests who flew interstate carried their dessert boxes on the plane!”

Although our wedding was a child-free event, our brunch was the perfect setting for the little ones.
We organised lawn games as entertainment and they ended up being played by the adults just as much as the children!”

LA PATISSERIE | For their wedding brunch Annie and Andrew created a seafood bar and a harvest table filled with home cooked food. “We also had a drinks list that would keep the party going! There were however more than a few sore heads at our brunch so the home style food went down a treat!”

The real pièce de résistance of the brunch was the bakery. The team at Ruby and James had sourced an image online which sparked the idea for la patisserie. “At first it didn’t seem possible but when I showed Andrew the picture he said he could build it! Andrew spent many weekends creating the bakery in his father’s workshop. He would travel to Ballarat from Melbourne and spend the weekend building. I loved seeing it come together and then on the day of our brunch our rock star team had styled it to perfection. La patisserie was filled with delicious goodies that were served upon our guests’ arrival.

They were also treated to sparkling wine and fairy floss all before lunch!” ‘Happily Ever After’ napkins were the finishing touch. “Andrew put so much hard work into designing and building the bakery and it was a thrill
to see everyone enjoy it just as much as us!”

FOOD FLORIOUS FOOD | The wedding brunch food fulfilled every fantasy Annie and Andrew had about sweets and delicious pastries. “Andrew is a pastry aficionado so sweet or savoury we had it all!” There were brownies, neenish tarts, apple crumble, jam fancies, gingerbread men and baskets of mini BLTs, pots of fruit and yoghurt, mini quiches and white chocolate and raspberry muffins.

“Among our friends and family my mum is known for cooking enough food to feed an army. Even though she wasn’t the chef this time around she made sure we had enough variety to please everyone.” In addition to all the sweets and savouries from the bakery, the harvest table had artisanal breads, hot and cold salads, roast pork, roast lamb and herbie chicken pieces. The seafood bar had a specific selection of Moreton Bay Bugs, Coffin Bay oysters, smoked salmon and whole banana prawns!