My Vegan Wedding

I was fortunate enough to marry my soul mate in December of 2012.
Here is an account with as much detail as I can give of my vegan wedding and hopefully you find it useful in some way!

We did the whole wedding on a very tight and small budget. I had a 1900's Edwardian lace wedding dress so I based the wedding theme around that and created a casual vintage garden wedding. I've always been a huge fan of the Anne of Green Gables book series and movies so there was definitely some influence there!

We had the ceremony and reception at beautiful heritage Nutcote, the original home of author May Gibbs, in Neutral Bay, Sydney, Australia. This allowed us to virtually do everything ourselves as they didn't have a restaurant to provide catering but did have a cafe which we were free to use the facilities of. The staff were fantastic too. Providing our own food and alcohol saved a lot of money.

There was a bit of DIY involved.  Having friends and family help out with bits and pieces really made a huge difference, not just to the budget and the stress level but also to the intimacy of the day.

Some other things that really helped keep the budget down were;

• Dad was the official wedding photographer, with other friends roped in as second photographers.
• My uncle video taped the wedding for our friends and family overseas.
• Mum spent many weekends in op shops looking for decor.
• Borrowed decor, serving trays and cups/saucers from friend's collections.
• Family friends helped out with setting up on the day and acting as servers.
• Friends helped out with catering and had small jobs on the day.
• A friend bought the flowers herself at the Sydney flower markets and did the flower arrangements.
• We didn't have wedding cars because the ceremony was a long way from the street view.
• We didn't have bridesmaids or groomsmen (just a couple of by BFFs acting as ushers and two flower girls who wore there own dresses).
• DIY make up and manicure.
• We didn't have a wedding cake.
• The venue gave us a great package deal on using their marquee, tables and chairs.

Invitation design by Toni Deweese, bird image by Graphique

Handmade Vintage Wedding & Food Signs 

 Beautiful gardens at Nutcote

Groom's suit from Peppers Formal Wear

Hair by Frank @ Goldilocks

Bridal Ring 18k White Gold from GP Israel Diamonds, Groom ring Armoured Titanium from Jewelry by Johan

Bacci String Quartet

Marquee supplied by Nutcote

Crystal vases from personal collection

GF Vanilla Cupcakes, wrappers by Robert Gordon Australia

Vanilla Cupcakes, Mini Brownies by Funky Pies and Cake Pops by Stick It! Bakery

Spinach Quiche by Funky Pies 

Tuscan Mushroom Tarts by Funky Pies 

Vanilla Cupcakes

Tablecloths from Victoria's Basement, lace doilies from personal collection

The collection of bone china teacups and saucers were from my own collection and also borrowed from friends. They can be hired from Tea Cups and Roses

Drink dispenser and sign from Tea Cups and Roses

Beer & Ice bucket (in the corner) from Freedom Furniture 

Bottles and straws from Lily and Bramwell, I resold the bottles very quickly online.

Lemonade recipe here.

Cut glass wine and champagne glasses by Tea Cups and Roses

Cupcake wrappers/candle holder by Robert Gordon Australia

Handmade Vintage Wedding & Food Signs 

Card box bought from thrift store.

Flowers put together by my friend from the Sydney Flower Markets

Personalised tiles by Photo Gifts 4 You

Food platters all borrowed from friends

Roasted Tomato Pesto Tarts by Funky Pies 

Personalised food toppers by Sweetly Scrapped Art

Brownies by Funky Pies 

Cake Pops by Stick It! Bakery (no longer in operation)

Apple Pies by Funky Pies  

Homemade Vintage Wedding & Food Signs

Cucumber Sandwiches

Mini Cheese, Red Onion & Rosemary Muffins

Bacon & Mushroom Quiches by Funky Pies 

 Date Balls

Cupcake wrapper/candle holder by Robert Gordon Australia

Marmalade Bonbonniere recipe here

Jam labels by Gerson Curse, jars collected, cloth and ribbon from Lincraft Fabric

Homemade Vintage Wedding & Food Signs

Trunk borrowed from a friend

Budget Vegan Wedding in Detail

• Rings - Bridal Ring 18k White Gold from GP Israel Diamonds, Groom ring Armoured Titanium from Jewelry by Johan
• Invitations  - Invitation design by Toni Deweese, bird image by Graphique, envelopes and 150gsm paper from Paper Warehouse, Seals (silhouette of wedding couple) by Cristina Re from Eckersley's, Australia Post had wedding themed stamps.
• Celebrant - family friend
• Venue Hire - Venue was Nutcote, home of May Gibbs, Neutral Bay, Sydney (this price included 6 hours of hire, a marquee, tables, chairs and use of the cafe facilities)
• Crystal Hire & Drink Dispensers - Tea Cups and Roses
• Groom's Suit Hire - Peppers Formal Wear
• Hair Style - by Frank @ Goldilocks
• Bottles/Straws/Tealights - Lily and Bramwell
• Wedding Bubbles - Parties Online
• Decore - Table cloths from Victoria's Basement, lace doilies and vases from varies op shops
• Flowers - Sydney Flower Markets - gifted by a friend
• String Trio - Bacci String Quartet
• Catered Food - Stick It! Bakery (GF Cake Pops) & Funky Pies (Mini Spinach Quiche, Mini Bacon & Mushroom Quiche, Mini Tuscan Mushroom Tart, Mini Roasted Tomato Pesto Tart, Mini Apple Pie, Mini GF Brownies)
• DIY Food - Cucumber Sandwiches, Mini Cheese, Red Onion & Rosemary Muffins, Vanilla Cupcakes & Date Balls
• Cupcake Wrappers - (and makeshift candle holders) by Robert Gordon Australia
• Alcohol & Ice - Beer from Red Bottle and wine from Dad's wine club
• Hawkes Bay Sauvignon Blanc 
• Saint-Hilaire French Sparkling Wine (this was a huge hit, we ran out)
• Peter Lehman Back To Back Shiraz
• James Squire Pale Ale & Pilsner
• James Boags Light Beer
• Bonbonniere (Jam) - Jam labels by Gerson Curse, jars collected, cloth and ribbon from Lincraft. Marmalade Bonbonniere recipe here.
• Ice Bucket (you can see a glimpse of it next to the Lemonade stand!) - Freedom Furniture (it even had a bottle opener attached - winning!)
• Garbage Bags - used those outdoor stand up bags but they were out of view
• Water/Lemonade - Lemonade recipe - on the day we ended up using lemon cordial with fresh lemon juice added cause of time restrictions.
• Dress - 1900's Edwardian lace wedding dress from a vintage store in Beecroft (since closed down)
• Bridal Shoes - Kmart
• Tiles - by Photo Gifts 4 You (had three tiles made to use as napkin holders, then we gave one to each mother and kept one ourselves)
• Napkins - Woolworths Supermarket
• Food Toppers - by Sweetly Scrapped Art
• Thank You cards/envelopes/postage - Thank you postcards by Zazzle
• Ribbon - Lincraft (used for wedding dress, flower girl, flower arrangements and decore)
• Paper Doilies- eBay
• Cake Pops - present from a friend, made by especially gluten free and vegan by Stick It! Bakery
• Wedding signs - handmade by me - see my blog post Vintage Wedding & Food Signs

Thank You postcards by Zazzle

Something Old - My very old wedding dress :)

Something New - Shoes

Something Borrowed - Gregory diamond/pearl earrings loaned from a close friend

Something Blue - My sapphire engagement ring