A New England Nautical Wedding – Chelsea & Brian

Chelsea & Brian had plenty of time to get things in order for their wedding, and as a result managed to create many beautiful and personal DIYs that not only reflected themselves but also their family and friends on their special day! Combine all of that with a New England nautical theme and you’ve got one pretty awesome wedding! Oh and did I mention the bride made her own headpiece? It’s stunning too…see for yourself…

With an 18 month engagement, we had enough time to think about a number of details for the wedding day. We chose the venue quite early on after visiting a variety of other places. The Boat Club just felt really good to both of us – the gazebo with iron lace for the ceremony which looked out to the water, and the view and space available in the function room really suited the number of guests and what we were looking for. Being able to have the ceremony and reception at the same venue was a bonus – everyone, including us, was from out of town!

We found that choosing the venue and date (June 15) really got the ball rolling. With this locked in, we were able to choose colours (grey, navy and ivory, with purple as an accent colour) and the basis of the theme, knowing that they would fit with the place we had chosen to tie the knot. Brian went to college in Maine, a picturesque north-eastern state of the U.S which borders Canada and the Atlantic Ocean, so we decided on a New England nautical theme.

With about a year till the wedding, we chose our table centerpieces – sail boats. We foraged for fallen timber on my parent’s farm, and having chosen pieces with a slight curve to them, sanded them back to take off some of the rougher parts, and then promptly left them on the verandah for about 9 months to bleach in the sun. We later sewed triangular sails from calico and navy striped cotton, drilled a hole in the centre for bamboo to act as the mast and attached 1 eyelet screw to each end of the timber to stretch out the sails (afterwards we gave them all away to our families as mementos of the occasion). For the table names, we chose places we had lived and images from our engagement photoshoot. We then used florist wire to hold the photo up and wrapped this around a stone as the anchor.

The next DIY touch was the ceremony decorations. We created woolen garlands in grey, navy and ivory to decorate the gazebo, and the maid of honour cut hundreds of purple, lavender and white hearts out of card (she’s a treasure, I tell you) and attached them to bamboo skewers for the aisle decoration. In the meantime, Brian had been spending some serious time with a mate of his working on his car and getting it ready for the day. With two 1960’s Valiants as our wedding cars, there was quite a bit of work to do. They went through the painstaking process of sanding every panel on one of the cars back to bare metal and sealing it. They definitely turned some heads cruising around for photos!

When I finally went dress shopping, I went to a few places and tried on a number of different silhouettes before we got to Roz La Kelin. Styles that I thought would suit me didn’t work as well as I’d imagined they would. The dress I bought was just so much better than anything else I tried it wasn’t funny. It fit like a glove through the body and only needed hemming for a perfect fit. I felt that it had the elegance and individuality I wanted. As it was sleeveless and I was getting married in winter, I had planned to make faux fur shrugs for myself and my bridesmaids, but as I had also decided to make my headpiece and time was starting to run short, my Mum kindly stepped in and made them for us. The headpiece was similar to a style I had seen once but couldn’t find anywhere, so I decided to make it. A lace trim was hand stitched to delicate lace netting and gathered into a cap on one side with a silk flower to finish it off. I was lucky I went for this style as the day was very windy and my hair would have been out of control! I’ve since started making headpieces to order. Brian wore a slim, tailored 3-piece suit (coincidentally the style was named ‘New England’) and ivory tie, with his grandfather’s cufflinks that had been passed down to him; they share the same initials and he was especially honoured to be able to wear them.

One of our favourite moments happened after being announced as husband and wife. As we were walking back down the aisle, our families and friends were showering us with rose petals in the sunlight. But as it was so windy, a few of them were releasing the petals only to have them come straight because of the wind. My maid of honour also tried to reapply my lipstick and dabbed it straight on my teeth – which is the reason I was using the car’s side mirror to reapply!

We felt that having DIY’d quite a few things, our wedding was definitely a reflection of ourselves, our friends and our family as we could see everything we’d all had a hand in throughout the day. Now – advice! Start early; take people up on it if they offer to help; be confident if you decide to do any DIY and be true to yourselves. Always do a practice run for your DIY projects and make sure you are comfortable with the project – you don’t want to commit to making 200 pompoms and then find out you aren’t too good at it. In terms of styling and ideas, we found Pinterest fantastic for keeping ideas together and accessible when you’re on the move (your decoration ideas, manicure styles, hair styles, showing the florist arrangements you like, etc).

And finally, make sure that you two are happy with your decisions, and make them with your own best interests at heart – you don’t want to make it harder on yourselves so that it’s easier for someone else. It’s one of the most important days in your lives and you’re spending some pretty pennies putting on a party for your nearest and dearest – you owe it to yourself to have spectacular and heart-warming memories of the day!

Fab Suppliers // Photography: Kye Norton Photography // Ceremony & Reception: Caloundra Power Boat Club // Bride’s Dress: Roz La Kelin Diamond Collection “Teona” gown // Bride’s Shoes: Joanne Mercer // Bridesmaids Dresses: Hills In Hollywood // Art Deco style drop Earrings: Lovisa // Sapphire and diamond engagement ring: Lannah Dunn // Headpiece and Bridesmaids hair accessories: Chelsea/Luminous Miss // Groom’s Attire: Tony Barlow Formal Hire // Groom’s Shoes: Julius Marlow “Navigate” dress shoes in black // Groomsmen Attire: Tony Barlow Formal Hire // Wedding Rings: Ringleaders // Hair & Makeup: Katie and Mel at Hot Brushes // Stationery/Invitations: By the bride // Cake: Leah Allinson, Cakes By Leah // Cake Topper: MissCake // Ceiling draping and fairy light backdrop: Mask Events // Florist: Nicole at Stem Design // Transport: friends Mario and Angela // Wedding Celebrant: Kellie Allen //