For Hannah and Ben, their love story started in a pub in Newcastle, and 11 years later- on their anniversary, no less- they were married in this beautiful Byron Bay wedding. However, it was touch-and-go for a minute there, folks. “It was raining heavily and flash flooding in Byron for about two weeks before the wedding. It was cold, raining and miserable the day before and it rained the day after, but on the day of our wedding, it was perfect,” says the bride. Phew! The groom disappeared at one point, too. To take his three-year-old niece to hospital for breaking her arm! Safe to say the wedding wasn’t boring then, right? Scroll down for all the details, shot by the talented Lucas & Co.
THE PROPOSAL “We had just come back from our first overseas holiday in Bali to celebrate our 10th anniversary. To continue our holiday, we travelled to Byron Bay. Every morning we would walk along Belongil Beach. The morning of our anniversary, I could sense Ben was acting a little weird. There was no one on the beach (which was perfect), and when we started walking back to our accommodation, he proposed. I immediately said yes! We have always wanted to get married on our anniversary. Ben proposed on a Saturday. So the next year our anniversary fell on a Sunday, and that pretty much made our decision to marry on our 11th anniversary. Plus, I waited 10 years! I wasn’t going to wait another five for our anniversary to fall on a weekend…”
THE VENUE “The night of our 10th anniversary we had dinner at Three Blue Ducks, Byron Bay. We love this place and go there whenever we’re in Byron Bay- the staff remember us every time. I said to Ben (jokingly), ‘I wonder if we can get married here?’ I sent an enquiry soon after, and that was our decision made. Plus, we knew the food at our wedding would be amazing, which was the most important thing about our venue. It was just a bonus that it’s beautiful, they have a florist and all the cute farm animals. What’s not to love? Our wedding planner/ stylist, Stephanie Brodeur from Three Blue Ducks recommended pretty much all of our key vendors, helped us liaise with them and made our wedding planning experience super easy, too.”
DIY “Ben and I got a bit crafty for the wedding. We had wood slices for our cake stand and coasters for place cards. Ben wood burned all of our guests’ names on the coasters and the cake stand with our names and wedding date. I made the invitations and necklaces for my nieces. I have a degree in Natural History Illustration, so I always wanted to illustrate and design the invites. I did the botanical illustrations of similar plants and flowers that were in my flowers. I designed the layout, picked the papers, printed them and got a wax stamp with our initials to seal the envelopes.”
THE DRESS “I wore the ‘Colette’ dress by Grace Loves Lace. I didn’t want anything too ‘bridal’, or too difficult to move in, put on, and most importantly, eat a whole bunch of food in without it becoming uncomfortable- food baby struggles. Communicating with the girls at Grace Loves Lace was so easy. They got me to pick five different designs I wanted to try on and go in for a fitting. Tina was my consultant, and I was so pleased with her service- she was so helpful.”
A WORD OF ADVICE “Plan your wedding exactly how you want it (within reason). Try not to let others influence your decision-making when it’s not something you want, or you know it won’t work. You will come across personalities and attitudes that change, even when they have nothing to do with the wedding. Try to not to let that get to you. It’s one of the only moments in your life where you can just think of yourselves.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Lucas & Co. captured everything, exactly how we wanted! We are so happy with our photos. They also had them back to us in no time. I highly recommend Steph from Three Blue Ducks, our celebrant, Michelle Shannon and Katie Larkey from Sweet Obsession Cakes to anyone getting married in the Byron Bay area. It is so obvious that they are so passionate and love what they do. Also, the food at Three Blue Ducks… holy moly! And the girls from Flowers at the Farm did such a beautiful job with the arbour, mixing the large Monstera and palm leaves with Australian natives and Proteas.”
For more gorgeous wedding venue inspiration from Three Blue Ducks, head here and if you love a boho wedding look (don’t we all?!), check out more real brides in Grace Loves Lace, plus shoes from Forever Soles.
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Lucas & Co. Ceremony The Farm Byron Bay Styling, Reception & Signage Three Blue Ducks Byron Bay Florist Flowers at the Farm Photo Guest Book Starboard Press Cake Sweet Obsession Cakes Decorative Elements & Hire Items Frank & Joy Wedding Favours Candle Supply Himalayan Salt Tea Lights, Photobook Shop Bottle Opener & Centaur Packaging Calico Lolly Bags Lighting North Coast Events Entertainment Pat Tierney Celebrant Michelle Shannon Celebrant Wedding Rings Hoodooloulou Transport Byron Bay Coaches Horse & Carriage Fairbrooke Horses & Carriages Accomodation Cactus Rose Villa BRIDE Bridal Gown & Veil Grace Loves Lace Shoes Forever Soles Earrings Spell & The Gypsy Collective Hair Suki Hairdressing Engagement Ring Jewelry By Johan GROOM Suit Ben Sherman Shirt Fred Perry Tie OTAA Shoes Red Wing Shoes
