Real Weddings

Article by

Dani Connor

Posted on

04/03/2024

Posted in

Real Weddings

Dancing down the aisle to Dog Days Are Over by Florence & The Machine, “because that song is so happy and uplifting”, Charlotte and Lachy became Mr and Mrs in the beautiful Northern Rivers town of Clunes. A destination wedding was always on the cards for these two lovebirds, together for nearly 10 years. “We live in Melbourne but decided pretty early on we wanted a destination wedding, as the ones we had been to had been the most fun,” they share. “You get to live out the wedding a little longer because you’re away with everyone (less post-wedding blues)!”

Thankfully, camera king Brendan Back was along for the ride to capture all the wedding-day goodness, and we can’t wait to share with you below…

THE VENUE “We had been to Mallorca in Spain for a wedding about a month after we were engaged. It was the most beautiful wedding, set in the countryside on an orange farm with a beautiful castle. We toyed with a European wedding for a split second before beginning our hunt across Australia. We also wanted a venue that was already beautiful enough that didn’t require us to do a lot to make it beautiful. We stumbled across Nutting Hill Villa on Instagram one day and it encompassed all that we were looking for. It was just outside Byron Bay, had an incredible European feel to it and didn’t need much added considering how beautiful it was on its own.”

THE INSPO “Ideally we wanted our wedding to look like a Slim Aarons photo, so any venue that had a pool had caught our eye and we were so happy to go with a venue that did. We wanted it to feel bright and colourful, a bit retro and with a very relaxed vibe. We had our ceremony on the lawn at the villa, after which the party moved poolside for an afternoon of cocktails and canapes. As the sun began to set, the guests were moved down to the pavilion where the dancing would begin.”

FAVE DEETS “I loved our ceremony set-up so much – particularly our florals and the plinths. We contacted photographer Beck Rocchi about the plinths and found out she was based in Byron, had made them herself and was happy to rent them to us. Then came the flowers done by Panorama Events. I didn’t know much about flowers, only that I wanted colour and little to no greenery and smaller, simpler pieces where you could really see and appreciate the details of the flowers themselves. I have never been so obsessed with flowers until that day. Especially my bouquet which were purely stems of orchids in a blush pink.”

THE BRIDAL OUTFIT “I was very inspired by Kendall Jenner’s off-white jumpsuit from the 2018 Met Gala. I looked online at various bridal (and non-bridal) stores and didn’t find exactly what I was after, so I thought I would see if someone could make me a custom outfit. Mariam Seddiq was only the second designer that I enquired with. Whilst not typically a ‘bridal’ designer – at the time she had done one bridal collection (there are more now!), that collection along with her general collection in pop colours were in the style and silhouettes of what I was after. After I enquired, she instantly set up a zoom call to chat to me and sketched up a design on the call. It was a no-brainer after that. I loved helping to design something that was mine. Fabrics, buttons, cuts and silhouettes all decided with my input – not to mention it was made to fit my body perfectly. I couldn’t have imagined doing it another way.”

WE’RE GLAD WE… “Had fireworks. We didn’t tell anyone we were doing them, so at 9pm in the midst of the dancefloor, they started going off. They were amazing and definitely a highlight of the day for us and our guests. Worth every cent! Oh – and late night fries!”

STANDOUT VENDOR “I was so excited to have Brendan Back photograph our wedding based on photos I had seen and he did not disappoint. He is a legend! He was an incredibly laidback guy but so meticulous when it came to his photos – knowing where the light would hit best, where and how to stand etc. We had such fun working with him. A number of people have asked if we had more than one photographer on the day based on our photos as he didn’t miss a beat – everything was captured.”

Digging these photos by the super-talented Brendan Back (ofc you are!)? Hit him up on our directory here. Loving Charlotte’s gorgeous veil, get in touch with Moonstruck Bride here. Or, if you’re planning a North Coast wedding and wanna find some rockstar vendors, whether you are after a rad venue, a florists, event planner or stylist you’ll find more of our faves here.