Hannah + Zac: New Acton First Look, Pialligo Estate Wedding

This week I wanted to share a special real wedding on the Bel Combridge Photography blog - the marriage of Hannah & Zac (I mean, all weddings I document are special, but there are a few things I particularly loved about this Canberra wedding day!) 

Firstly, I simply adore the fact that Zac & Hannah’s wedding really was a collaboration between all the people they love most in the world.

“Once I learnt floristry in 2016 I always knew I wanted to do my own flowers. I love doing wedding flowers for other people but doing my own meant I could choose everything I wanted. The overall 'look' of the wedding was something I'd had in my head for years and I was so happy I could pull it all together, along with the help of my sister who made the cake and my dad who made the arbour and easels. When planning the wedding flowers, I chose ones that were easy to work with and simple designs so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed with work the days prior to the wedding.

A few people thought I was crazy taking on that job along with everything else but I planned out my days and got to work! It was one of my favourite things about the whole process.” 

They also chose to have a first look and take some pre-ceremony portraits, something that I’m a huge fan of and have been for years (there are so many reasons I love it when my couples decide to have a first look - but mainly it’s because they get to share this intimate moment, just the two of them, to remember for the rest of their life. Plus, it also puts any pre-ceremony nerves to rest - so I think it’s a win-win.)

As a Canberra Wedding Photographer documenting weddings throughout the last couple of years of the pandemic has meant two things - either supporting my couples when they have to make the heart wrenching decision to postpone their special day OR helping them as much as I can when they decide to push through and get married anyway. In H + Z’s case, it was a bit of both. 

“We were meant to be married in May 2020 and had to postpone due to Covid. We picked a date 6months out thinking everything would be fine by then but little did we know what Victoria would be in for. For a while we kept on planning as normal but the closer we got to November we realised that even just getting ourselves up to ACT for the wedding would be a challenge. With the borders locked down and no fixed end date we had to look at all our options: postpone again (but who knew how things would be at a later date), scale down the wedding, elope or just move back to Canberra (as we had been planning to at the end 2020/early 2021) - pack up our life, apply for an ACT entry permit, fly up and quarantine for 14 days. 

We held our breath for the VIC/NSW/ACT border to open in time to allow lots of my close friends, cousins and even two of my bridesmaids to attend but sadly it opened 2 weeks after the wedding. As my brother and sister-in-law are also living in America and couldn't attend we decided to also Zoom the wedding to everyone who couldn't be there and my close friend and MC stood up with the bridesmaids and had the missing 2 on the screen as well so it felt like they were there. 

It was stressful and disappointing at times but we are so happy we emerged from 2020 married so we could start our next chapter fresh in 2021.”

Although it meant some of their friends and family had to be there virtually, they had the most beautiful day: getting ready at the stunning Ovolo Hotel Nishi, New Acton and then becoming husband & wife - and celebrating long into the night - at the beautiful Pialligo Estate. 

Thank you Hannah & Zac for trusting me to document your incredibly special Pialligo Estate Wedding. I loved every single minute of it and wish you both nothing but all the love for the future!

Accomodation/First Look venue: Ovolo Nishi, New Acton
Ceremony & Reception venue: Pialligo Estate
Hair and MUA: Saloon Co, Braddon
Bride’s Gown: Karen Willis Holmes
Groom’s Suit: Peter Jackson
Florals: Project Florals (Hannah’s own business)
Rings: Lisa Littlewood Designs (Hannah) and The Gentlemans Smith (Zac)
Music/entertainment: Marty K Music