When I first saw Ruth and Nate’s wedding pictures, I had a bit of a swoon. AND THEN I WATCHED THEIR VIDEO. And read Ruth’s words (let’s face it folks, I love the visual). And it all ties together. Check out the groomsman in the cardigan. Yes. And the baby with the Chucks. AND SHE HAD BALLOONS. These guys did it green, did it familial and did it with Chucks. My words don’t do it justice. Also? She supplied me with so much and I can’t choose. So, here goes my first multi-post!
Name: Nate and Ruth Buma
Age: Nate, 28 and Ruth, 26
Occupation: Nate, Petroleum Engineer and Ruth, PA/HR/Church Volunteer
Wedding location: Uniting Church (Ceremony) and Laurelville Manor (Reception), York Western Australia
Wedding Date: 8 May 2011
Length of engagement: 4 months and a couple days!
Tell me about your wedding: It was a family affair! My aunty did our hair, my sister made the wedding cake, Nate’s grandmother made my dress, our bridal party and “speech makers” mostly comprised of family, my mum did all the stationary, my sister-in-law took photos … so it was very family orientated!
I spent many moons on blogs getting ideas for the style, and Nate sourced EVERYTHING from far and wide.
We wanted it to be as organic and local as possible so we used the town and as many as the locals as we could which turned out to be amazing and really contributed to the country feel! The florist was local, as was the caterer, as was the kind man we hired the vintage car from. We used the heritage buildings and farmers fields to take photos … it was a really relaxed vibe. A few months back York had terrible storms and the ladies who run the Uniting Church, lost the roof to a building adjacent to the church that they use for teas and such things – we made a donation to their roof fund and they put a delicious afternoon tea on for us after our ceremony which was very sweet!
While we were having photos taken, we had lawn bowls and cocktails (country style) back at our reception venue. That apparently (coz we were getting photos taken) was great idea! Good time, killer!
We wrote our own vows, which added a really personal and special touch to the ceremony!
It was just a really great experience for us! Relaxed and fun and a great reflection of us!
What was your favorite part of your wedding? I loved my dress. I loved the styling of our bridal party, with each person in their own interpretation of our colour scheme/ vibe that we wanted. I loved that it had so much of our nearest and dearest involved. I loved the country feel, and all the detail we had going on.
What disasters did you avert … or not avert and how did you deal with it? We left our seating plan until about 3 hours before the event kicked off! In a hurry to get it done we left some really key people off the plan so when they got there, they didn’t see their names anywhere, which was rather unpleasant for them! HAHA! Luckily they are close enough friends to know that we wanted them there so they did not leave! EEEEK!
Was there anything you would have done differently, or do you have any regrets about how something went? I would have had it on a day that suited my brothers better so they could have been there! But other than that, nope – it was a dream come true and I loved every moment!
What was your biggest challenge in planning? Sourcing the detail. I had got some really great ideas from different USA based wedding blogs and I found it really hard to get some of the things I wanted (eg glass drinking dispensers for the cocktails!)! It took a lot of energy, time and patience on Nates behalf!
What lessons did you learn from planning or from the wedding itself? That it takes time and patience to hunt down a bargain and that NOTHING is impossible!
What was your biggest “holyamazeballzI’mfreakininlove!” moment? We has spent ages trying to organize a vintage car, it didn’t make sense to get one to drive out from Perth, so after weeks of trying to organize something, Nate just packed the idea in, and we decided to go with the very non-vintage, community bus! When it came time for me and the girls to leave the Manor where we were getting ready, this insane, OLD SCHOOL, beautiful car pulled up! Nate had organized it in the last couple days and I had no idea! So I was so so so so thrilled!! YAY! I still love thinking back to that moment! Another real special moment was in that car, on the way, I was with my dad, and that was pretty memorable.
What were your top 5 favorite things about your wedding?
Nate’s vows
My sister’s brilliant effort with our 5 layered cake!
Loved my wedding dress – Grandma made my dream come true!
The styling (if we don’t say so ourselves!)
My cousin coming over from South Africa, my longest standing friend coming over from Adelaide and my grandmother coming over from East Coast
Top 5 least favorite?
It was a very stressful lead up. Nate and I had a very specific idea of what we wanted, and some things were a bit, non traditional, and we did get a bit of “abrasion” from the more formal family members – my least favourite thing was the stress of souring the detail.
Money issues are always not fun! And I am no budgeter so that was rather difficult! I was rattling off demands and wants and poor Nate was trying to manage the money side of things!
My younger brother ended up not being able to attend which was quite sad. He unexpectedly had to go overseas to an Olympic qualifier
What was the worst piece of wedding advice you received? A video is not needed! Thank goodness we did not listen to that! We did and here is the trailer – http://vimeo.com/24565354 (Eds. note: the full video will be in a later post. You know you want to keep watching.)
The best? A work mate said to me, that during the evening, Nate and I should go for a walk for about 5 mins, to a spot where we could see our wedding in front of us and just take a moment to breath and soak it up and acknowledge that this was our time. That was a great piece of advice and a memory I will always treasure.
Cake: Jo Pletts (Sister) from http://misscherrybird.blogspot.com
Random Acts of Wedding 