Sophie & Dale
How did you and your partner meet?
It’s a tale as old as time, we met in high school on the school bus, we lived down the road from each other. A few years of being friends turned into 13 years, a dog, a new city, a house and now a wedding.
How did your partner propose?
Dale had planned a lovely weekend away to the Southern Highlands to celebrate my (Sophie) birthday. He put a lot of planning and effort into the trip, it was the first birthday outside of the pandemic so we wanted to get away and enjoy it.
It was the morning of my birthday and while we were chatting in bed, Dale asked if I’d like my birthday gift. I had been pretty strong in saying a gift wasn’t needed because the weekend was enough of a gift. Alas the boy wanted to gift me a present, who was I to deny him haha. He gave me pair of thick woollen socks which was very much appreciated at the time haha.
He then asked me to close my eyes.
When I opened them he was there with the ring asking me to marry him. After the shock of it all I said yes. We spent my birthday eating, drinking and enjoying the magic of the day.
What made you decide to get married at Terrara House?
Before we were even engaged we found it on instagram and just loved how beautiful it all was, the gardens, the house, the cows. We loved the location was in the centre between where we grew up, Canberra, and where we have built our live together, Newcastle. So as soon as we were engaged we enquired for our big day. We kidded ourselves by looking for other options but kept being drawn back to Terrara House. It had everything we were after and was the perfect setting to celebrate us. We loved the ability to make a weekend out of it, have all our family and close friends stay with us and our guests not having to move between venues for the ceremony and the reception.
How many people attended your wedding?
170! For us a small intimate wedding hahaha. Our close family and friends.
What was most important to you as a couple when organising your intimate wedding celebration?
For it to be fun, stress free and full of love. I (Sophie) didn’t want to worry or stress on the day, I wanted to sit back and enjoy it for what it was. It honestly felt like we were having an intimate family dinner. It didn’t feel like a group of 170 people. The team at TH are absolutely the best of the best. They went above and beyond to make us
What was the menu for the celebration?
We have Chris and his team at Orchard catering feed us on the day. They did an amazing job and worked with us to enjoy people were well fed throughout the entire day.
Everything was based around sharing so we had walking canapes, antipasto and then shared mains. Dessert was done by my mum and family. Lots of traditional Italian desserts. We finished with a late night bite delivery of Maccas nuggets and cheese burgers haha.
What was your favourite part of the day?
This is so hard, the whole day from 6am-11:30pm was so much fun! Probably being at one location for the entire day. It just removed a whole layer and stress and worry that we didn’t even have to think about.
Being in the marquee, once the sun had gone down and all the candles were light was everything we could have hoped for. Looking around the marquee, that was so full of love and warmth seeking all our loved ones there was honestly magical.
Then dancing the night away with everyone.
A personal favourite in the styling was the bar, it was the key piece that held such sentimental value for us. The LED bar sign to celebrate Dale's late mum Kerrie and the beautiful mural on the bar wall of our parents and grandparents wedding days. It was perfect.
What is your advice for couples planning a wedding in the future?
There are absolutely no rules to weddings so do what you want and what’s best for you as a couple. Some advice that was given to me, no one will remember the colour of the napkins or what’s going on the the table. But they will remember the energy and atmosphere of the day. They will remember the feeling of love and happiness and the smiles on your faces. So sit back, relax and enjoy the day for all its magic.
DETAILS:
Photographer: Luke Chisholm
Brides Dress: Lotta, by Lola Vorma from Mrs Fray
Brides Shoes: Loeffler Randall
Brides Accessories: Kate and Kole large pearl earrings, everything else family heirloom
Bridesmaid dresses: Carla Zampatti
Grooms Suit: Hugo Boss
Engagement & wedding rings: Armans Jewellery
Makeup: Ella and Me Collective, Gabriella Stockwell
Florist: Flowers on the Mill
Catering: Orchard Catering
Planner: White Top Venues
Stylist: White Top Venues
Stationary: Sammy Paulie
Invites: Sonny Studio
Entertainment: The Vintage Stylus
Drums: Theodore Merkoureas