Real Weddings

Article by

Laura Wilson

Posted on

26/06/2018

Posted in

Real Weddings

“It was the scariest, loveliest and most genuine moment I think I’ve ever had,” says one part of this beautiful bride duo, Amy of her favourite moment of the day- the personalised vows. Held in Kangaroo Valley, the girls say they fell in love with Upper River Hall – it was exactly our style – and list their photographer, Thomas Stewart as just one of their standout vendors. We can see why!

MARRIAGE MEANS… We had set our wedding date & planned most of it when the marriage equality postal survey was still a glimmer in the Prime Minister’s eye. We entered the plebiscite thinking ‘great, about time, let’s get this over with!’ and we exited it completely broken. We had no idea how difficult public debate about our worth as a couple was going to be or how strangers would blatantly start letting us know their opinions whenever they felt like it. It was harder and more debilitating than I could ever explain, but the outcome – being able to legally marry my wife – was the most exhilarating feeling.

THE DRESS I always wanted a vintage wedding dress. I had kept an eye on Maggie May Bridal and I got my dress before we even got engaged– it was love at first sight and I couldn’t bear to miss out on it! Amy found her jumpsuit and cape online at BHLDN and it was the same story– her face lit up and we just knew it was the one!

DIY We were working with a reasonably small budget, so we saved money by DIY-ing. Bec designed our invites using Canva– we printed them at home. We personalised the bridesmaids gowns with patches from Etsy and collected all of the vintage amber glasses and decorations for the tables from op-shops, along with olive branches and eucalyptus from my mum and Nanna’s gardens. Amy’s sister did all of our flowers, a friend hand-painted our signage and my Nanna altered my dress and handmade my sash. And our friends made our wedding favours from produce grown in their own backyard.

WE’RE GLAD WE… We cut out a few of the more expected wedding traditions like entering the reception formally and doing a first dance, because when we were planning we realised these things were one of the only sources of our anxiety about the day – so why do them? We made our ceremony incredibly personal – writing our own separate vows, including a Bible passage which was important to many members of our families, but also including a quote from Penny Wong which meant a lot to us and so many of our friends who had helped us fight for marriage equality.

REFERENCES Hello May! We were also lucky enough to already know a lot of our vendors from meeting them at friend’s weddings and convincing them to jump on board to our wedding. Every vendor became such a good friend!

STANDOUT VENDORS The help and advice My Little Peony gave us was above and beyond our expectations. We also cannot speak highly enough about our photographer Thomas Stewart. He had a huge role in planning our day- we literally booked the whole day based on his advice! Tom has a knack for making his couples fall in love all over again. Every conversation with him would leave us so much more excited for the big day and full of ideas and inspiration. Working with him was a privilege and we cannot recommend him highly enough. Our hair and make up team (Makeup by Megan, Niki Simpson and Boho Hair and Makeup) were absolutely incredible. Our superstar celebrant Nina de Borde also deserves a huge mention and Nick Rigby did an amazing job of getting everyone on the dance floor after dark- it felt like a house party from our youth!