MEDIEVAL LUXE | Kate & Barry

I remember the exact moment my beautiful friend Kate rung me to tell me that her great love Barry had proposed. I was driving down King Street in Newtown, heavily pregnant and the news pushed my over the edge. I started sobbing, gushing tears SO heavily down my face, all over my lap that I had to pull over; not an easy feat on King St. I was just SO happy. And relieved. For some reason it had felt like forever that they had been together and it was so obvious that they were meant for each other I had become impatient. From the moment I met them however many years ago, I took every (usually wine filled) opportunity to pester poor Barry, who I will be honest, does not like being pestered. It always came from a good place; I just wanted everyone to be loved up & get married! Because I love weddings -  loved being engaged, loved being proposed to, loved planning the wedding, loved the wedding & then loved being married. I literally sound insane, but explains why I do what I do so passionately. I just love love. Lucky for him, I got pregnant & my dinner party ramblings became less intense and he got a break. Which is when he actually did it. Bless. 

They were planning on a long engagement as his family are English & they had decided to get married in Kate’s crazily beautiful home, New Zealand, so giving everyone time to save was important. But this gave us time. I immediately insisted I do their flowers regardless of never having done a wedding over in New Zealand, but I was convinced it wouldn’t be all that different to Sydney. 

Kate is an artist by trade, so concept, design, palette & overall look was entirely up to her. It was quite nice however to help create a wedding that resembled my dear friends. Kate is elegant, classy, kind, creative, generous & has a crazy amazing eye for detail. Barry is a proper ‘northerner’ & can often seem to be quite hardened & brash, but underneath he is a big gooey pot of sentiment who adores the people he loves. He too is kind & generous & both of them are quite the traditionailists at heart & live by quality over quantity. 

Deciding very quickly on Stoneridge Estate in Queenstown for obvious reasons (it’s like Lord of the Rings meets GOT), the vibe & look of the wedding was cemented. Medieval, romantic, intimate, evocative, cosy & WOW are just a few words to describe what you feel when you walk into the intricately detailed almost-castle. To compliment the already incredible setting Kate chose a palette of blush, navy, the darkest burgundy, mustard & gold with pops of white. When I started researching wholesalers in NZ (it turned out that the market system ran VERY differently to what I am used to here!)  it was incredibly important we had roses. Roses on roses on roses, big puffy roses in EXACTLY the right colours. This was hard given it was the middle of winter, snowing in most places. We ended up finding a supplier who specialised in my most favourite variety of important roses & although many talks of low supply, managed to get us pricey the right colours. We  also decided on foliage in burgundy, grey & deep green which against the luxe fabric Kate had sourced worked flawlessly. 

In the end every table was coated in lashings of blush fabric, wild foliages, brass candlesticks with dove grey tapered candles, luxe navy napkins & THE most stunning burgundy place cards & menus, intricately noted with gold calligraphy. All of this sourced & painstakingly made by the bride herself. Did I mention the brides eye for detail. THE eye for detail. Period. 
The bridal table was in a league of its own though. With a medieval candelabra the size of any Sydney siders lounge room completely coated in blooms & foliage hovering above the 3m long centred BT, a rose laden spectacle of a rambling centrepiece SO dense you didn’t know where one rose finished & the other begun & layered brass candlesticks with grey tapered candles for DAYS. It was an absolute masterpiece where the saying ‘less is more’ was absolutely rioted against.  

The best part though was seeing my dearest of friends envelope themselves in one another, clear as day, in the tiniest of chapels, with a backdrop that would make the most cold hearted crumble into a heap. Kate was as elegant as ever, stoic & calm. Barry was his soft centered self, allowing his closest people to peer into his heart, wearing his vulnerability & love on his sleeve. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house & I cursed putting my eyeliner on at all.