Real Bride Style: Anjie & Ben

I am thrilled to introduce a new regular feature to Amour Amour; Real Bride Style where 'real brides' share their wedding day with us. I hope that these beautiful weddings will be a source of inspiration when planning your own day as well as offer invaluable insights into the planning of a wedding.

I couldn't think of any bride I would rather have as the first 'Real Bride' than the gorgeous Anjie, a colleague of mine and as beautiful on the inside as she is on the out.

Anjie & Ben Salkeld
March 7th 2009

Anjie and Ben were married at Bimbadgen Estate in the beautiful Hunter Valley this past Autumn. The Bimbadgen Estate winery had a special meaning to the couple as that is where Ben proposed.
Anjie says; "It was romantic and surprising. My fiancée proposed on one knee under a beautiful tree on Bimbadgen Estate overlooking the valley. After I said yes, we drank champagne by the vines before heading into the restaurant for a long lunch and an even longer walk home… "

There are so many beautiful flowers, how did you choose?

"I was after something feminine and romantic and I’ve always loved roses. My sister in law is a florist and she arrived on the Saturday with the most beautiful cream and pale pink David Austin roses for me and bunches of different shades of pink for my bridesmaids. The table arrangements were a mix of bush roses and hydrangeas."

Your favourite part of the day
"Receiving a text from my husband to be while I was having my make up done (and battling a few nerves) saying 'I can’t wait to make you my wife' That and rocking out to ACDC later in the night."

Tell us about finding your wedding dress
"We only had 6 months to plan the wedding and I left the dress shopping until 4 months before. I wasn’t worried about this until all the shop assistants freaked out! I tried on a few different dresses and never felt that feeling everyone talks about until I walked into Sarah Devine and found my dress."

Bimbadgen has a gorgeous Italian-style bell tower which inspired a romantic theme. And where is more romantic than a vineyard in Autumn?

Anjie with her gorgeous bridesmaids; her two sisters and two of her best friends.

The maids wore knee-length navy chiffon gowns from Chic Collections. The simple and very stylish dresses suited each maid- one of whom was overseas when the dresses were chosen!

Bimbadgen Estate was chosen not only for the sentimental reasons but also because it delivered on Anjie and Ben's checklist; good food, good wine and getting everyone up on the dancefloor!

The cake was a gorgeous chocolate truffle cake made by du Plessy Praline. "Each truffle was lovingly hand made in dark, white and milk chocolate in a variety of delicious flavours. They were a perfect complement to the Bimbadgen sticky wines we served."

Anjie was kind enough to share some of the behind the scenes details of planning her beautiful wedding;
How did you involve family and friends in the day?
"A dear friend of mine designed our invitations, my Mum wrote all our place cards and my sister designed and printed the order of service booklets."

What did you find the most challenging in the planning of the wedding?
"The hardest part for me was not being able to invite everyone I would have liked to, due to space and budget restrictions."

Speaking of challenging, who did most of the planning?
"I definitely get to claim this one! With the exception of our music, readings and vows - which was a team effort."

Did you and your fiancée have the same vision for the day or were there some compromises (I.e disagreements!)?
My fiancée was happy with whatever I planned. I’ll leave it to you to read between the lines!

Where there any traditions that were important to you or that you didn't want on the day?
"We were married outdoors by a celebrant who was an ex-Catholic Priest so I’m not sure if any of that classifies as traditional!"

And lastly, what advice would you give other brides? Would you do anything differently?
Drink champagne and celebrate your engagement for as long as possible before you go into planning mode. On the day, take a moment for yourself and reflect on how lovely it all is.

Anjie's Style Guide
Hair: Anastasia Pappas
Make-up: Zoe Dellis
Dress: Sarah Devine
Bridesmaids dress: Chic Collections
Grooms attire: Versace
Groomsmen attire: Peppers Formalwear
Rings: Affinity Diamonds
Cakes: du Plessy Praline & Otello Chocolates & Patisserie, West Pymble
Invitations: Sue Roche Design & The Paper Place
Entertainment: Sydney Wedding DJ’s
Photographer: Michelle Fiona Photographer
Flowers: Rambling Rose
Bonbonniere: Piccolos of Bimbadgen Estate Sparkling Semillon

Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us Anjie & Ben and best wishes for a wonderful future together.