Grace & Tony's Wedding

The elegant buildings and historic gardens of Anlaby Station proved the perfect backdrop for the recent spring wedding of Grace Ellis and Tony Butchart of Melbourne.

Drawn to the area by family, the intimate nuptials were witnessed by close relatives and friends from around Australia, followed by a daytime garden reception at Freeling.

With the styling inspired by Jane Austen’s, Pride and Prejudice and an elegant, soft watercolour palette, South Australia proved an ideal choice for the couple.

“Pride and Prejudice was my childhood favourite book and then later movie – where I fell in love with the simplistic beauty of English rose gardens,” Grace shared. “Scouting venues with Mum (Mel Siri) in the Barossa and seeing her and Pete’s insanely beautiful backyard made all of the pieces fall together.”

Tony and Grace’s niece Arlia threw home-collected and dried rose petals down the lawn aisle before Grace’s father David Ellis walked the bride down Anlaby’s front steps and across to the shaded Chinese Elm tree, where Tony and Barossa celebrant Cathy Chapple were waiting.

Grace was resplendent in the Duke gown by Khya, while her attendants, Rachel Ellis, Maid of Honour; Caitlin Martin, Meg Rowe and Hannah Barron wore romantic sage-hued dresses which complemented the location.

Tony, along with groomsmen Jack Laverty and Brennan Robson, all wore black tuxedos, adding a touch of formality befitting the historic venue.

Tony says watching Grace walking down the aisle was the most difficult and also his favourite moment of the day, with so many emotions coursing through.

Grace’s favourite moment was when she walked down the stairs and across the lawn to Tony, holding his hands while speaking their handwritten vows.

Grace added, “We also absolutely adored going back to the Church (a converted church home) and spending some quality time with our family and friends over the reception and the recovery breakfast. It was absolutely perfect and we cannot thank Mum and Pete enough.”

Nature and travel have been recurring themes over the couple’s nine plus years together, Tony proposed to Grace beside a little waterfall overlooking Lake Wanaka, while the couple travelled New Zealand in a campervan. They flew to Thailand and Cambodia for their honeymoon – and look forward to the many adventures to come!