I love that using a poster like this as your inspiration can introduce bold combinations and dramatic details – red bridesmaid gowns, big, gorgeous veils and bright Autumn toned floral arrangements. I envisage plenty of foodie touches too- cheese wheels instead of cake, jars of olives, bottles of red wine, a bare table filled with bread sticks and boards of charcuterie.

Cizano poster from Art.com, bouquet from Floret Flowers, Red dress photo by Jen Huang via Reverie Magazine, cheese wedding cake from Formaggi Othello, bride photo by Lauren Kinsey via Snippet & Ink, Table setting photo by  Braedon Photography via One Hope Weddings, Menu photo by Robin O’Neill Photography, via Style Me Pretty, Couple photo from Martha Stewart Weddings, olive jars from Camilla Styles

Great Gatsby Destination Fiji Wedding Photo by Tamiz Photography

There has been a noticeable shift in fashion and trends with the release (and pending release in Australia) of The Great Gatsby. Art-deco inspired gowns and stationary, a hark back to glamour and opulence, with embellished jewellery and strings of pearls. We’ve loved seeing it all roll in, and, of course, drooling over the star’s fashion on the red carpet! I myselft don’t have the hips for the 20′s style (girls with curves will understand my morbid fear of the drop-waist), however it’s a style that screams sophistication and gives a wonderful rebellious nod to gender ambiguity in the cut.

This week, we’ve launched a new series on Polka Dot Groom (welcome Mr Herringbone and his culinary skills!), and we’ve shared some fabulous weddings, advice and DIYs. If you missed anything, or just want a refresh – here’s the weekly roundup of our specialty blogs!

This Week On Polka Dot Weddings

Polka Dot Weddings is the blog where real brides write about their weddings and share their experiences. Inspiration abounds so click on each image to read more.

1.Real Wedding – Great Gatsby Destination Wedding 2. Real Bride Advice - Inspired Words – Celeste 3. Real Journey – Our “First Look” in Fiji4. Real Wedding –  Megan & Carl’s WEdding Video  5. Sneak Peek – Your Wedding Cake

This Week On Polka Dot Wisdom

Polka Dot Wisdom is a treasure trove of advice, news and wedding planning tips! Written by wedding professionals you could almost plan your whole wedding by following this, the wisest of all blogs! Click on the images to read more.

1.What Would They Know - Katie Colgan of Loui Col Designs 2.Vendor’s Favourites – Diamond Love Collections 3. Event Review – Watson’s Bay Boutique Hotel Launch Brunch 4.Polkadot Office - April 2013 

This Week On Polka Dot Made

Polka Dot Made is your source for all things handmade including weekly DIY projects to make for your wedding or engagement.

1. Etsy Roundup – Cool Cosmetics 2. Tuesday Type – Wishes Script 3. DIY – The Professionals – Ruth from Felt Foxes 4. DIY Tutorial - Ombre Metallic Vase Tutorial 5 Cocktail Friday – QT Sydney Hotel’s Espresso Martini 

This week on Polka Dot Honeymoons

The wedding is over, the dust has settled and now it’s time to get away from it all! Find resort reviews, inspiration and real honeymoons every week on Polka Dot Honeymoons.

1. Hotel Review – QT Hotel Sydney 2. Polkadot Travel Lounge – Naomi From SALT Retreats 

This week on Polka Dot Groom

Polka Dot Groom is dedicated to all things groom. Inspiration, advice and style for the Australian groom.

1. The Dish – With Mr Herringbone - Rare Roast Beef & Asparagus Crostini  2. Inspired Memories – Luke 3. Real Groom Style – Rob

What’s in a name? Well, the team at Photographs by Pavlina Matt have made the change to Shy Fox Photography, as it’s not just Pav that takes the pics anymore, and they really liked the name!  Check out their lovely new website for more info!

Fi Fy Fo Fum Designs has just launched a fab new website (so much lovely colour!). A place to find great designs for all your wedding stationery, and to celebrate, they are offering one lucky Polkadot Bride reader a $250 voucher!

To enter simply leave a comment below and tell us, in 25 words or less, what you would use the voucher for!  Entries close next Thursday 30 May 2013.

Who doesn’t love a sale? This Saturday only (May 25), Henry Roth is having a huge sale, with up to 80% off wedding gowns and bridesmaid dresses!
Doors Open at 9am Sharp at the Henry Roth Sydney Design Studio Level 2, 87 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

We’re excited to share a fab new service just launched by the lovely Alicia of Akimbo!  Called the Clever Hello Club, it’s a monthly subscription service where stationery lovers receive two greeting cards every month. It’s a super convenient way to always have a stash of quirky cards on hand for engagements, weddings and all of life’s occasions, plus it also makes a wonderful gift for the newlyweds!

Subscribers must join by the 1st of the month for the shipment that goes out on the 15th of each month.

You can find more information and join up at the Akimbo website!

Sports Celebrity Alert! Today we bring you the gorgeous wedding of Anthony Watmough from the Manly Sea Eagles to his beautiful lady Elle McLeod, courtesy of the good folks at Soda Films.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Nikki & Luke

Nikki & Luke’s wedding day was in a beautiful garden setting. Filled with beautiful tones of pinks and white the wedding was nothing short of romantic and paid homage to the beautiful Maleny garden setting.

Jodi McDonald Photography captured today’s wedding with beautiful, soft colours and dreamy captures that add to the romance of the day.

Nikki chose a gown by Alfred Angelo. Val Sparks Florist styled the floral arrangements.

Nikki and Luke chose House of Laurels Maleny for their wedding. Nikki explaining, “Our vision was to create something that was beautifully vintage but loads of fun – Laurels was perfect with the garden setting for the ceremony and stunning glass roof reception room.”

Of their photographer, Nikki says, “Jodi’s work is second to none – we absolutely love it and booked her as soon as possible. Her bubbly personality on the day ensured we enjoyed ourselves. The photos are AMAZING and we love them.”

“Luke and I didn’t want an overly serious day. We wanted it to be a day where everyone could walk away and say “I really enjoyed that wedding” To make it fun we set up our own photobooth with loads of funny props and we also included fun props in our bridal party shoot.”

“We didn’t want the wedding to feel “washed out” which can sometimes happen with the pastel vintage palette so we instead added heaps of bright flowers and the astro turf letters to add that fun and quirky feel to our day.” Nikki and her bridesmaid created the centrepieces, astro turf numbers and letters and and stamped name tags and signs for the candy buffet.”

Nikki remarks, “It was hands down the BEST day of our lives and we’ve had so many comments from our friends and family about how it was the best wedding they have ever been to. The fact our guests also had a great time made it an even better day for us! ”

Congratulations on your marriage Nikki and Luke! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Jodi McDonald Photography for sharing today’s images!

Ari and Ben

I love a county celebration and Ari and Ben’s wedding, held just outside Tenterfield at Deepwater embraced everything about a country wedding – from the golden grasses, the rolling hills to the shearing shed and open fire after the stars came out. It’s a beautiful representation of what is is to be Australian.

Ari tells how they met. “We met through mutual friends when we were seventeen, it only took a quick 10 years to get around to tying the knot! Ben proposed the morning of Christmas eve – we were at home, I was in my pj’s on the couch… I had no idea which is surprising because Ben is normally such a terrible secret keeper… and organiser!”

KISSstudio captured the most beautiful shots that show off the country location – golden sunsets and rolling hills just add to the beauty of today’s wedding.

Ari chose a strapless gown from Anna Campbell.

The wedding was held at Anketell Forest, Tenterfield. Ari tells “We found Anketell Forest randomly while on a road trip holiday and instantly fell in love with it. The old sheep shearing shed, which has been fixed up, has such character and was perfect for our wedding. The fields, mountains and bush surrounding the venue are just stunning as you can see from the photographs.”

“Our dog Ellie was wandering around ‘greeting’ people, until the ceremony began and she decided that she would be part of the bridal party. Ellie would run over to greet each bridesmaid as they emerged from the shearing shed, until finally I came out. She then proceeded to walk the entire way up the aisle just in front of me, looking backwards and not taking her eyes off me.”

Ari remembers, “At the end of the ceremony the celebrant introduced us using my maiden name, instead of Ben’s..! It was definitely an entertaining conclusion to the ceremony and I don’t think Ben will live that one down for some time.”

Of their photographer, Ari says, “KISSstudio were fantastic, it was all very relaxed and we had so much fun taking the photos. And, the results speak for themselves – the photos are absolutely amazing. The rustic style photobooth was also brilliant, everyone had a great time with it, judging by the photos! Its definitely a good laugh, and the photos from it will be great to look back on for Ben & I.”

“The remote location meant that we had to organise and supply everything from food and alcohol to chairs (aka straw bales!), decorations and lighting, which was fun but also challenging. We were lucky we had a big bridal party and lovely family and friends to help.”

“We essentially just wanted a relaxed celebration with family and friends (with wine and dancing!) and that’s exactly how it turned out. Everything from the band, the catering, to the flowers and photography were perfectly suited to our style, and it made the day very special.  We also wanted to minimise environmental impact where possible, so we used local produce for the catering, used compostable bamboo plates, supplied wine from a local winery and had kegs of preservative free beer, cider and ginger beer instead of bottled beer. Everything else was generally either borrowed, recycled or from the property – for example recycled glass jars and native wattle, or crocheted rugs thrown over straw bales.”

Of their first dance, Ari remembers, “It was very romantic and confetti was then thrown onto us. We danced all night.”

Ari describes the wedding as “Rustic environment friendly barn (sheep shearing shed) wedding with a warm bonfire and lots of laughs and dancing.”

Congratulations Ari and Ben! Thank you for sharing your story with us! Thank you to KISSstudio for sharing today’s wedding with us!

 Laura & Justin

The Tweed Valley provides stunning backdrops for a wedding with the rolling green hills and luscious natural backdrops, but today’s wedding takes on a holiday feel with the Thailand inspired Silk Pavilions venue. Just the ticket for the blistering hot day Mother Nature turned on for the wedding celebration.

Laura tells their story “We met in the most unlikely of places to find your soul mate: an nightclub, on the Gold Coast, on a Saturday night! I was literally love at first sight for both of us and I vividly recall saying to my girlfriend at the time “I will marry that guy” and as the saying goes, the rest is history. We have been inseparable since that night 6 years ago.”

Krista Martin Photography captured the vibrancy and life of today’s wedding in such a fun, beautiful way.

Did I mention the day was a scorcher? Laura remembers, “Our wedding day happened to be a record breaker in terms of January heat!! At one stage during the course of the day the thermometer hit a very warm and breezeless 42 degrees. The room where us girls were getting ready didn’t have air-conditioning so we were all running around with the very bare-minimal amount of clothing possible and trying to retain as much make-up on our faces as possible and the only thing that was making us feel any better was the thought of the boys all getting ready into full suits and no doubt suffering a lot more than we were – little did we know that the boys had been off swimming in a natural spring, having cold beers and standing in the chillier room. The numerous New Zealand wedding guests who attended have all said that they have never experienced heat like that in their lives! It was something that was completely out of our control so not even worth stressing about and a much better option than rain! It really was unforgettable.”

Laura wore a strapless gown from Pearl Bridal.

Laura and Justin chose Silk Pavilions in Mount Burrell for their wedding venue,  Laura explaining, “Silk Pavilions is a little piece of Thailand nestled amid the stunning Border Ranges National Park in the New South Wales Tweed Valley. We fell in love with everything that Silk Pavilions had to offer us from the beautiful scenery to the option of doing whatever it was that we wanted on our wedding day. As soon as we drove up the driveway on our first visit we knew that it was what we had been searching long and hard for in a venue – something different and very ‘us’.”

For the processional, Laura recalls, “I walked down the aisle to ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’ by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. I knew long before getting married that one day I wanted to walk down the aisle to this song, not only because the song holds special memories of my wonderful childhood but Israel’s version was stirring and really suited the outdoor style of wedding that we dreamed of.”

Of their photographer, Laura says, “Justin knows Krista from CrossFit here in Brisbane and had often spoken about her amazing photography skills – even prior to us getting engaged. While standing on the balcony of Silk Pavilions the very first time that we visited the property, Justin was on his phone emailing Krista within minutes of arriving to make sure she was available for the date that we wanted to lock in! I totally and utterly trusted Justin’s decision from the very beginning about asking Krista to be our photographer and it is the best decision (apart from marrying me) that he has ever made. From the first time that we sat down with Krista to discuss what thoughts we had for our big day right up to receiving all of the photos from her the whole experience has been nothing short of a pleasure and we could not recommend Krista Martin Photography highly enough.”

“One of the many reasons why we choose our venue was because we had the option to ‘do it our way’ which is exactly what we did. A lot of small things were either made by myself and my bridesmaids or brought by me online to add a special personal touch. This included the handmade name place tags, seating chart, personalised single bubbles for each guest, chair sashes with hand threaded crystals, lanterns and many more details. We have received a lot of feedback from our guests about the little touches and special items noticed throughout the day.”

For their first dance, Laura remembers, “On more occasions than I wish to disclose prior to our wedding, we would be at home (or on a couple of occasions at friends’ houses) and we would start talking about us needing to practice how we were going to dance at the wedding so that we didn’t look silly – 10 times out of 10 this ended with us (and others who witnessed it countlessly) laughing hysterically and dancing in very non-traditional ways and most often than not it would end in us doing the Dirty Dancing ‘lift’. Needless to say that on the night of the wedding we just winged it and laughed our way through our first song perfectly, which was Christina Perri – ‘A Thousand Years’. Later in the night when the Dirty Dancing song came on most of the guests were either dancing with us or watching from up on the hill and I quietly whispered into Justin’s ear “let’s do the lift” as this has been a long standing gig of ours he knew exactly what I meant. As the “lift” moment at the end of the song approached we separated and a couple of people clicked onto what we were doing – unbeknown to me my father (who only days earlier had witnessed our silly ‘lift’ gig for the first time) and one of my bridesmaids positioned themselves just behind Justin as a backup in case it didn’t go to plan as it had been a very long day and night by this stage! We executed it perfectly to a roaring applause from all of our guests and bridal party. Thankfully quite a few people caught it on video so we can look back on it for years to come and have a giggle.”

Congratulations on your marriage Laura and Justin! Thank you for sharing your stories with us! Thank you also to Krista Martin Photography for sharing today’s wedding with us!