A 'sustainability' theme with a little bit of vintage & some rustic tones

As our loyal readers know, at The Wedding Gurus we love to celebrate those who take a chance and do things a little 'differently'. We love to bring you inspiring pictures and ideas of those who have been courageous enough to try something unique and have pulled it off fabulously.

Vintage themes are definitely a popular choice with couples and wedding stylists and our readers are always on the look out for interesting and inspiring ideas, but the wedding we are bringing you today was much more than simply vintage it carried the theme of 'sustainability'.

The wedding of Leah and Mawson was held in the gorgeous Adelaide Hills town of Woodside  -approximately 38km's south-east of Adelaide City, at Bird in Hand winery.

Take a look at the wonderful ways they have recycled, reused and incorporated produce to create an amazing and fresh look.

Leah's dress was by local designer Caleche Bridal (Norwood), although Leah herself designed the sleeves of the vintage inspired dress.

 Leah spent many months collecting individual recyclable pieces including some pictured below

With the stark contrast of the background against the lucious green lawn and vegetation of the property, this was the perfect setting for a natural look

Some of the local wildlife also managed to steal a small piece of the spotlight

The uniquely brilliant and delicious cake was made out of layers of gourmet cheese.

These arrangements were an assortment of local wild flowers and plants

The couple actually grew all of the herbs that were beautifully placed on the tables with great effect and added to this were lemons and limes for the guests to take home.

The cheeseboards pictured above were actually made by the brides father from old wine barrells in an effort to promote recycling ideas. 

 

These completely cute wooden pegs were used as place settings and the whole scene set amongst the wine barrels with splashes of green herbs and colourful fruit was a sustainability fans dream.

Heirloom seeds were even given to the guests as gifts on the table 

We hope that some of these great and unique ideas have inspired you to think outside the box when it comes to your own wedding. Leah and Mawson have certainly gone to great lengths to create a reception that truly represents who they are and what they believe in and which hopefully reminds us, even just a little to remember what is important to us when it comes to planning our big day.

The Wedding Gurus

xxxx

Week 23 - 52 Rituals/Traditions in 52 Weeks

Acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land

I thought I might share this with you as I have been on occassion asked to begin a ceremony with an acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land upon which we have stood.

An acknowledgement is a great way of paying respect to those who have come before us and can be done whether or not you have an indigenous background. The two examples here are from one particular area, using specific groups, but wherever you are in the world, you can easily use similar wording to pay respect and honour the traditional owners of the land on which you stand.

It is believed that paying tribute brings good luck by ensuring that you are beginning on a positive note.

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“We acknowledge and respect the traditional custodians whose ancestral lands we are meeting upon here today. We acknowledge the deep feelings of attachment and relationship of Aboriginal peoples to country. We also pay respects to the cultural authority of Aboriginal peoples visiting/attending from other areas of South Australia/Australia present here.”

OR

“We would like to acknowledge this land that we meet on today is the traditional lands of the Kaurna people and that we respect their spiritual relationship with their country. We also acknowledge the Kaurna people as the custodians of the greater Adelaide region and that their cultural and heritage beliefs are still important to the living Kaurna people today.”

If you are thinking of adding something like this to your ceremony, or are assisting a couple who would like to have something similar included, be sure to check the details of the traditional owners of the land that you will be performing the ceremony on.

Also check out one of our previous rituals/traditions - a traditional smoking ceremony.

The Wedding Gurus

52 Rituals/Traditions - Announcement

Over the next 5 weeks we are going to be doing something a little different in our ‘52 Rituals/Traditions in 52 Weeks’.

Our next 5 posts will be some lesser known and more culturally diverse rituals from all over the world.

Some of these are century old customs and others are modern versions of long standing cultural traditions.

Many you may not have heard of before, but they are gorgeous and rich in their depth and sentiment and we really wanted to explore some of these ideas despite the fact that they may be a little more ‘out there’ than many would normally consider.

Remember, any tradition or custom can be modified to suit your particular use for it, however it is always a good idea to do your best to keep enough of the original meaning so as to be respectful to the culture to which it belongs. Rituals mean a great deal to those who practise them so we should always be mindful of this.

We are really looking forward to bringing you some really different ideas over the coming weeks and hope that you will join us in exploring some fun ideas.

The Wedding Guru’s

The Wedding of Carla and James

Welcome to the wedding of the gorgeous Carla and James.

In October 2009 James proposed to his beautiful girlfriend Carla on top of the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas. 2 years later in November 2011 they said 'i do' amongst their family and friends in their hometown of Adelaide.

Carla Waye is a solo singer / songwriter (www.carlawaye.com) and has worked with renowned producers such as Darryl Anthony and Isreal who has produced for the likes of Jessica Mauboy, Stan Walker, Ricky Lee and Jay Sean. Carla comes from a very close Filipino family while James is from a proud Greek background, as you will see from the beautiful photo story to follow they were able to incorporate some of both their Filipino & Greek traditions throughout.

It has been a true pleasure for the team at the Wedding Gurus to bring this to you and we hope you enjoy the inspriring and breathtaking story of how their beautiful wedding day unfolded. The couple can’t speak highly enough of their fabulous photographer Jackie Tran who captured all the truly spectacular and memorable moments of the days events.

The sweet and classically simple flower girl dresses are from Tea Princess

 

Carla with her proud mum. The Jewelery including headpiece, custom brooch and earrings,

by Maria Elena Headpieces

 James with his handsome groomsmen and page boys

Carla's overwhelmingly beautiful wedding dress is by San Patrick purchased at

Anastasia Bridal Couture

The colourful & breathtakingly beautiful Church, St Dimitrios of Adelaide

In a traditional Greek wedding ceremony the bride and groom are crowned with a Stefana. 2 Crowns are linked together with a single length of ribbon symbolising the joining of two souls and the creation of a new household. It is a symbol of combining two people as one.

The stunning bridal procession of all white Jags courtesy of Jags With Grace

The Classic Jets Fighter Museum at Parafield Airport was the perfect location to capture these unique and timeless shots

The bridesmaid dresses were individually designed by each bridesmaid and crafted by

Adriana Loro Designs on Port Road, Adelaide

 

The elegant and intricately crafted 8 tier wedding cake was created by the talented team at

Sugar and Spice Cakes on Goodwood Road

The couple share their first dance at the spectacular Sunrise ballroom of
Sfera's Park Suites & Convention Centre, Adelaide

Carla Waye is an acclaimed singer / songwriter and amazed her guests with a beutiful vocal performance with the help of David Fitzgerald. Carla sang a medley of songs including 'make you feel my love', 'angel of mine', 'heaven' and 'even when im sleeping'

As part of James' Greek Background, his family and friends pin money and lucky charms on him as a sign of good luck and fortune for the couples lives together.

Carla performs a traditional Filipino dance 'Tinkiling'. The two parralel bamboo poles are hit together and raised into the air and back to the ground to the rythmn of the music, as this is done Carla hops over and around the them in a skillful graceful manner.

We saved the most magnificent awe-inspiring photo till last.

As Carla and James embark upon their future together, we wish them a marriage filled with blissful and everlasting love, laughter and happiness.