Let's start with my own backyard Margaret River Wedding

Wedding Pics in Boranup Forest

I perhaps should have had a few more pictures without my flower crown on.

It was February 2020, the summer had peaked and was faltering with a splattering of rainy days amidst the sunny ones. Being the obsessive nerd I am, I had been over-thinking and planning our wedding for nearly two-and-a-half years. I had literally written a book.

Cheap & Cheerful

We envisioned a relaxed backyard barbeque, very DIY and very cheap. Our budget was $10,000 and we managed to stick to this goal. Here are some of the ways we saved our pennies:

• I made my own dress, costing $90 in fabric from Spotlight

• I made the bridemaids' skirts and bought their tops & shoes on sale.

• We bought the groomsmen's waistcoats online and their shirts and pants from Perth DFO.

• We asked for guests to bring a plate and BYO instead of a gift - this resulted in an amazing banquet! We provided a welcome cocktail and some 'buffer' drinks, wines and a sausage sizzle that didn't get touched.

• I used good quality silk flowers to make flower crowns for myself and 16 family members(!) instead of getting decorative flowers. We told guests to wear flowers and 'be the decoration', and everyone looked fabulous!

• Two years of slowly building the DIY decoration stocks, such as by collecting and decorating jars for candles, making streamers from fabric, making our own fantasy-themed signs to decorate the garden.
  

We splurged on the wonderful Giselle Natassia (https://www.facebook.com/gisellenatassia) for our photographer and on a local band.

Fantasy Vibes

We held the wedding in the garden of my mother-in-law-artist Jacqui Brown (https://www.jacquibrownart.net/).

She has a dragon pond and guineapig hobbit village, so it was only right to lean into the fantasy vibes. My (now) husband Elden and I are big Lord of the Rings fans, so we incorporated a roleplay puzzle/hunt style game and Lord of the Rings themed Croquet into the activities.

We also couldn't resist changing into fantasy costumes to dance in once the sun had set.

Special Rituals

Other than our shared love of fantasy, we wanted to express through our wedding our love of family and the blending of our family cultures. The Aussie BBQ, the English Cottage Garden and my Lithuanian heritage that was the origin of my parents' meeting and connection.

During our ceremony we 'wove together the tapestry of our family tree' as a sub-ritual, weaving fabric tied to a jarrah tree covered in photos of our extended family.

We cut our wedding cake with Elden's two uncles who had birthdays within a day of the wedding - this was a big family gathering and not just about us!

I made flower crowns for my new sisters-in-law and my cousins who travelled from England and France to be there. We all looked fantastic together, like an extended wedding party!

My mum and dad taught us the same traditional Lithuanian folk dance they had learnt to perform on their wedding day. We performed it with a group of friends, and then did an easier folk dance that all guests could join.

Final Thoughts & Favourite Moments

In the calm before the COVID chaos, I look back on our wedding day through a dreamy, sunshine haze.

A few moments that stand out are the giant group hug we were enveloped in immediately after the ceremony by close friends; the moment of relieved tears and laughter I shared with my mum (perhaps the only person who really understands how much I stress myself out about these things and the enormous pressure lifted when we finally knew it was all going well). The moment the Lithuanian dance finished successfully despite zero successful rehearsals, and dancing to an excellently put together cheesy playlist of bangers from the 1980's to the 2010's.