It’s never too late to find true love.

This sweet older couple, Kim and Greg, found each other later in life but were definitely not too old to say ‘I do’ in this laid back, western-inspired vintage wedding in the historic country town of Gundaroo, NSW.

Whilst 68-year-old Greg is a born and bred Aussie bushman and technology isn’t really his forte (he doesn’t even send text messages), 45-year-old Kim is much more computer savvy and quite the internet shopper. She did most of the styling for their vintage wedding herself, buying bits and pieces online (she hates shopping the regular way), and found her 97-year-old vintage wedding dress through a local vendor on Etsy who had sourced the gown from a museum.

Greg (who has 34 grandchildren – Kim jokes she knows all their names off the top of her head) looked cool yet gentlemanly in his Whatt Earp-style outfit, also purchased online – from the US. Kim’s limited edition Diane Hassall wedding shoes (with Swarovski crystal butterflies) were ordered the same way from London.

Young-at-heart Kim even chose a song from teen movie, Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1, for the ceremony – if you’re a Twi-hard you’ll know Bella’s wedding processional, Butterfly Waltz. “When I heard the song I loved it,” says Kim. “It has an old world sound that is absolutely gorgeous – no modern techno sounds!”

It was a beautiful, warm Autumn day for the couple’s civil ceremony at the heritage listed, Gundaroo Colonial Inn, with their good (and quite younger) friends, Dion and Erin as attendants.

As the celebrations continued into the evening, Kim says, “People started piking at about 11pm but I wanted to keep going! Everyone had a rip-roaring time.”

This is a love story with little twists and turns of fate proving you just can’t plan everything, even if you tried.

Web developer, Marcus Uitert spotted art director, Laura Fritsch, in a sea of 20,000 revellers at music festival, Stereosonic. She was not even meant to be there. Having been convinced by a friend (who then stood her up!) to go along, she’d spent the day with strangers and, at 10pm when the festival came to a close, the crowd converged toward the exit gates of Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse. About 10 metres from the gate, Marcus approached Laura asking where the after-party was (subtle!). They got chatting, exchanged numbers and three months after their first date, moved in together.

Two-and-a-half years later they were engaged (on a surprise trip to Paris organised by the romantic Marcus). Upon their return, they booked a vineyard wedding on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula. The rustic theme and decorations were all sorted, invitations were designed and they’d had several meetings with the priest from the only Catholic church in area.

Then, with six months to go, Marcus received a phone call from the winery – they could no longer hold the reception there due to permit issues. “Are you serious!?” they said (a bit more, too, I’m sure) and a mad dash ensued – a new venue (Abbotsford Convent), a new date, shuffling of suppliers and booking new ones.

It was chaos. But then luck (or destiny) prevailed. The priest relocated to Coburg (just 10 minutes from the venue). Some of the older guests were relieved not to have had to travel so far. And the new caterers at the Abbotsford Convent turned out to be absolutely amazing. Delectable food and presentation to die for.

Laura says, “Despite all the stress that was created from having to change venues, Marcus and I had the wedding of our dreams and couldn’t imagine doing anything differently. It was the perfect day.”

The couple’s morning wedding was held at 11am with a sit-down lunch at 12.30pm. With no time for photos in between (they were held afterward instead), “the joy and spirit from the ceremony flowed really nicely into the reception without that huge gap in the middle,” says Laura.

It was meant to be.

The Grand Rosina Room of Abbotsford Convent was styled with bright bunches of colourful flowers, which Laura did herself using flowers sourced from Dandenong Market.

The bride’s mum made and decorated the beautiful three-tier wedding fruit cake – with an elegant Eiffel Tower cake topper the reminder of a perfect Paris proposal.

She also made Cointreau cupcakes for the bomboniere. “Mum was up all night baking and still managed to look stunning on the day,” praises Laura.

Laura’s bridesmaid, Kelly-Anne, wore a floor-length teal gown by Out with Evie, which they found at Myer. Laura tells, “She flew down from Darwin; I had half a day to spend with her so we went to Myer and I threw dozens of dresses into the fitting room for her to try on. The blue one looked the best on her and fitted so well.”

With just one attendant on either side, the groomsmen wore a charcoal suit he already owned, and Laura says she could afford to buy all of Kelly-Anne’s outfit, including her shoes and jewellery.

Photos courtesy of Whitepoint Photography.

Ever heard of elephant dung paper? Nope, neither had I, but I was certainly intrigued to learn more! Melbourne couple, Carly Wilkins and John Gillieron used it to invite friends and family to their Aussie bush wedding at Craig’s Hut near Mt Stirling, Victoria (the remote log cabin originally built for movie, The Man from Snowy River).

So of course, I Googled this new and fascinating term and here’s what I learnt: elephant dung paper is exactly how it sounds – paper made, not from trees, but from fibrous elephant poo! Umm, ew?

But it’s all in the name of environmental and animal conservation (you can read more about it here) and whilst some guests “thought it was gross,” says Carly (with loads of jokes about who licked the envelopes), others thought it was fantastic. Because the final product, despite its interesting beginnings, is a rather lovely eco-friendly paper, perfectly suited to the rustic wedding theme.

For this outdoorsy couple (who met at Scouts), their bush wedding was a huge logistical challenge. A fourteen-hour day that commenced at 10am meant that lunch as well as dinner had to be catered for, not to mention the physical logistics of transporting guests through rough terrain to the cabin. But 4WD enthusiast, John, wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Carly tells, “We got all our friends with 4WDs to operate a shuttle system. Guests loved it – many of the cars were well-done-up tough machines and it was their first time in 4WDs.”

With no option for a limo, Rolls Royce or any other girly wedding car, the bride still arrived in total style, not to be upstaged by big boys’ toys – a magnificent chopper accompanied by her dad and only bridesmaid. What an entrance!

Here’s a wedding (and couple) that’s as sweet as the heavenly candy buffet. A beautifully-styled vintage affair with lace and divine floral arrangements the star attraction. And the photos by Panache Photography are equally as dreamy.

Adelaide couple, Monika Laskowski, 26, and Philip Portella, 34, worked at the same packaging company but, ironically, didn’t meet until one night out at an Indie club. Neither one had recognised the other out of their corporate clothes but when Phil introduced himself, Monika suddenly remembered who he was – the one who’d worn Converse sneakers to casual Friday! So that was it, she was sold. They danced together for the rest of the night and had their first date at a gig the following week.

After an overseas proposal (in Central Park, New York), where Phil shyly asked Monika if she would like to marry him, the couple held their vintage wedding last December at St Mary’s Church, North Adelaide, and reception afterward at the Botanic Gardens Restaurant.

The ceremony was an emotional one. Monika’s mum, who’d suffered a stroke a year earlier, was only just able to attend (and sadly, not the reception). She was bound to a wheelchair and in a lot of pain and the couple tended to her mid-ceremony to help her be more at ease.

Phil says, “The care and time that Monika spent with her mother throughout a busy time in her life has shown me another amazing, caring and determined side to her character that I love and respect.”

Like I said. Sweet couple. Congratulations.

On April 17, 2013, news broke that the New Zealand parliament had voted to legalise gay marriage (more about that here) and the world watched as the entire congregation broke, emotionally, into Maori song to mark the historical moment.

It’s a moment which many of us in Australia are eagerly awaiting, but I shan’t get into politics right now. Because our gorgeous couple, bride and bride, Irene Angelopoulos and Vanessa Conte, certainly didn’t let the current state of affairs get in the way of their joyful nuptials and cocktail wedding at Meadowbank Receptions last October.

The Melbourne girls met through a love of sport – Vanessa played it and Irene was the star spectator. 24-year-old Irene says, “Vanessa seemed to be part of every sporting club going and when I would go to watch different friends play [soccer, basketball and indoor soccer] she would be there.”

She jokes, “I’ve been the cheerleader for over six years now. And the scorer. And the ‘soccer mum’.”

Irene says that after a few years dating, a wedding was the natural next-step to their relationship – the pair had already started building a house together – but they’d said, “When it’s legal, we’ll do it.” So for Irene, with no clue as to when the Australian government might change its mind, 27-year-old Vanessa’s proposal came as a complete shock.

She says, “Vanessa had laid out red rose petals in the shape of a heart on my bed and put the ring box in the middle… I freaked out when I saw what was going on and made her open the box just in case it wasn’t a ring! As we both started crying, no words were exchanged but we both knew what the answer was.”

Irene says their ceremony in front of 140 family and friends was essentially the same as any other (just without signing the papers), adding they wanted to “show everyone this is our decision, this is who we want to spend our life with and if it ever becomes legal in our lifetime we’ll go down to city hall and sign the papers.”

“We’ve done the fancy party, now all we want is the same rights as everyone else. We are over the debate. We just want the same rights.”