Life Down Under inspires Amie and Joel’s Australian-themed wedding

A year spent Down Under helped to inspire Amie Hammond and Joel Pope’s Australian-themed wedding.

The Middlesex couple have travelled the world, but it was their time in Melbourne that made a lasting impression. “This was where we made some of our most cherished memories and met some of our closest friends,” Amie, 28, says. Former professional cricketer Joel’s love of the game and Amie’s passion for horses also influenced the couple’s celebrations.

Amie and Joel, 27, walked down the aisle on August 7, 2015 in front of 100 friends and family at St Peter’s Church, Newdigate, Surrey. One hundred and forty guests attended the evening celebrations at Greens Barn, Newdigate. The happy couple, who have been together since they were teenagers, worked tirelessly to style the venue, from flowers to favours.

“As we lived in Australia we wanted to tie it in somehow so we had personalised stubby holders made up (as stubby holders seem to be a very Australian thing) and also a little map of where we lived in Australia,” Amie says.

“We wanted our wedding to look pretty, intricate and personal. We had fairy lights and small hanging glass candles (like little rain drops) from the trees and dotted around outside, along with Polaroid-style photos of us through the years, and tiny wooden hearts scattered around the barn.”

Cricket-themed menu holders and horse shoes on each table paid homage to couple’s other great loves. Food was also important and a pizza van, paella stall and hog roast were among the delicious offerings, which also included a stacked cheese cake and pork pie cake.

“Aside from the things we couldn’t physically do ourselves our wedding was totally ‘our wedding’,” Amie says. “It was fun, relaxed and full of love, full of our friends and family and full of our adventures in life together so far.”

Photos courtesy of Andrew Brannan Photography.

Joel wore a tailor-made suit teamed with DIY buttonhole.

The couple lists their most memorable moment of the day as seeing each other for the first time as Amie walked up the aisle.

When choosing her wedding dress from Wedding Frox, Amie knew lace and back detail was a must.

“The main thing was we wanted it to be laid back, relaxed, easy and fun and I think we did exactly that,” Amie says. After their perfect day, the couple headed to Ghyll Manor Hotel for their wedding night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKAyejofybM

Video by Simulated Film.