Here is a lady passionate about what she does and who she loves. Lee Holmes, the woman behind Supercharged Food, a food revolution blog with her nutritious whole foods menu plans, recipe books, gut health programs and products sure to make you feel more lively. We are grateful to Lee and Justin for sharing their insights about planning their deliciously humble boho wedding.
They’ve learnt through the process that they are ‘simple people who value family and just being together’. The juicy richness of simplicity was embraced at their bohemian wedding on a friendly $5k budget. It wasn’t about following wedding cliches but an innate sense of “what is us” that steered their decisions. They choose to make a statement about love, family, community and friendship.
The environmental ethos of the wedding was particularly important around DIY decor, flowers and stationery. They refused to use anything that had to be flown in and chose to use sustainable, locally grown products. They scraped paper invitations, designing theirs online and emailing them. They realised throwing money at extraneous expenses or overcomplicated ideas was not going to make their day better and it became a fun challenge to see if they could create a memorable day within their budget.
The Clovelly Bowling Club with its old school village charm and salty sea breezes housed their community for the day. Lee accentuated its simplicity by honouring its wooden stage, vintage dart chart board, old piano and stool. They raided the green house of florist friend, Georgie Bridge of beautifully dried banksia, gymea lilies and coral ferns leftover from a sculptural artwork. Window-scapes were made from calendula, jonquil, stock and spray chrysanthemum in recycled juice jars dotted on window sills. Seed pods and street-shopped maple leaves sprinkled on tables completed the autumnal feel. Old rope from Fowler’s Gap research station rescued from certain landfill fringed the furniture. A display table with buckets of kale, celery, pumpkin and fresh fruit given to them by Harris Farm with foraged pine cones filled the space. In full community spirit, friends mucked in the night before helping to put the finishing touches on the hall. Lee loved the eclectic, thoughtful mix of design that came through group expression.
Lee and Justin share a minimalistic approach to their life together and did not want any wedding gifts. In place of gift giving, they asked guests to either get busy in their kitchens baking a favourite cake or bring a potted plant/herb they could plant in their garden. The sight of the tea trolley laden with everything from chocolate ganache to Justin’s brother’s legendary Christmas trifle received notable salivatory ovation. The food oozed love with ridiculously cute handwritten heart shaped labels. Lee’s old teapot collection brought from home was used for homemade chai tea and beautiful Oovio teas.
Local caterers Shuk with its mediterranean feel made slow cooked lamb shoulder with spices and local greens. And the menu wasn’t complete without Lee’s signature supercharged turmeric cauliflower dish. Stone and Wood Beer and Treehouse Cider were served for the thirsty and Remedy Kombucha and Organic Avenue Juices for the more health concious guests.
Being a foodie at heart, Lee chose food ingredients for her deliciously scented flower crown. Her edible bouquet was stuffed with kale, echinacea, parsley, wheat, mint with springs of baby’s breath and chrysanthemum. The useable bits were cooked up for family dinner the next day, whatever else found its way to the compost and put back into the garden. Instead of confetti, the flower girls threw collected rose petals from a local grower.
Lee was dressed in a second hand gown complete with op-shop boots. Her friend Emmily Banks from Depths of Beauty, an eco beauty advocate and natural makeup artist created her dewy skin tones, highlighted eyes and subtle cheek colours with a natural nude pink lippy using only organic and ethically made beauty products.
The guests were asked on the invitation to nominate a favourite song that meant something to them and these were complied into a playlist for the wedding entertainment. The mix of tunes covered all eras and they danced the night away in their best bowling club themed attire. At the end of the night guests piled into the kitchen happily scraping their dinner plates into makeshift compost bins and leftovers were delivered to Wayside Chapel and the homeless at Bondi Pavillion. Lee and Justin didn’t ask or expect their guests to clean up but everyone pulled together in the kitchen, washing and towelling dishes to get the place back to its Bowling Club best. This community camaraderie really defined the spirit of the wedding.
Through the planning process, Lee and Justin discovered that a boho wedding on a budget enabled them to explore and celebrate their creativity. What was most important was the acknowledgement of their bond to each other and their family.
Lee and Justin were married by Ben Ager.
