“We just wanted our day to feel like a massive party, a big celebration of our love,” today’s couple, Ange and Adam, tell us. And these guys have seen a fair few weddings between them. After all, she’s a wedding planner at Lovers Co. and he’s a marriage celebrant and MC (Married By Adam) – so between them, they had a good idea of how to make their dream day a reality.
“We wanted to show how much we bloody love each other and say thank you to our family and friends for coming along the journey with us,” they say, adding that “nothing traditional was really on the table” for their nups.
Of course, a killer team of vendors was the main requirement for pulling off the day they wanted and luckily they’re friends with a few of the best in the biz. From Samantha Heather Photography on snaps to Oliver Thomson saying those magical official words, and The Vintage Stylus providing tunes – not to mention gorj outfits by Lilia Cass for Ange and M.J. Bale for Adam, this crew of pros nailed the “big, silly, party vibes”.
THE VENUE “We both grew up holidaying around the Smiths Lake area and felt that somewhere around there would be the perfect place to bring our two families together. Since being together, we also head up there once or twice a year to get away. The moment we drove into Wallis Lakehouse we knew it was the perfect venue for us. Beautiful green rolling lawns reaching the lakefront, with a huge house and a pool/ entertaining area for recovery drinks.”
THE VIBE “We had a full festival style wedding – ‘Splendour with the Seeneys’. Many of our guests glamped on site and the days leading up the big day were spent un-bogging city cars that shouldn’t have been driving on mud! The whole wedding day had this incredible sense of community. SO many of our friends and family came together to help bring our day to life. It’s exactly how we wanted it to be.”
THE DRESS “I actually wore a silk top and skirt from the beautiful Lilia Cass . I went to a few bridal shops with my mum and sister and while I liked the dresses I tried, I just didn’t feel like myself. They were all a bit glitzy for me. I went to Lilia on my own feeling pretty deflated that I hadn’t found anything that made me feel like myself. As soon as I walked into her studio I felt a sense of ease. She talked me through all her pieces and how she makes them. From memory, the skirt and top were the first thing I tried on, I fell in love with the pieces. I felt like myself but an elevated version!”
THE SUIT “My suit was from M.J. Bale. Ange and I knew that I wanted to wear a pink suit but we were having a bit of trouble finding the right colour. Luckily, our neighbour works for MJ Bale and told us about a cherry pink suit that had just dropped there. I went in to the MJ bale store in Woollahra with my groomsmen and Ange to try it on, and it was an instant hit!”
REFERENCES “Our celebrant (Oliver Thomson), on-the-day coordinator (Planning with Purpose) and photographer (Samantha Heather Photography) are all good friends of ours through the industry and we knew from the moment we got engaged that they were all going to be involved. To be honest, I have been a long-time super fan of Samantha Heather so I would have moved mountains to have her at our wedding. And boy, did she deliver!”
MEMORABLE MOMENTS “Highlight by far was when Abork, our wonderful drag queen from Timber Productions, came out and performed. She tore the house down and really set the tone for the rest of the night. We chose to have Abork as Adam and I didn’t want to do a first dance (It just didn’t feel very us), we knew that we still needed to have that ‘moment’ that opens the dance floor. Once we met Abork it was a no brainer.”
LITTLE LOL “We had my [Ange] grandma do a surprise reading of Lose Yourself by Eminem during our ceremony. She had spent weeks practicing it beforehand. She started out speaking really sincerely about Adam and I and then launched into the reading. It was very funny watching everyone pretty quickly clock onto what she was saying. When she dropped an F-bomb, I have never heard such a loud scream – our friends and family went wild! They absolutely loved it!”
A WORD OF ADVICE… “Get yourself an on-the-day co-ordinator! They take all the stress of the day off your shoulders so you can enjoy the day you have planned.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “We were very lucky, being in the industry, to put together our dream team. Every single one of them went above and beyond. But a huge shoutout has to go to Brooke from Planning with Purpose, who battled the rain all day. Our celebrant, Oliver Thomson, took all of our ideas and put them in a ceremony that was authentic, ridiculously funny and ever so romantic all at the same time. Adam from The Vintage Stylus is a DJ God. He knows how to read a crowd and keep the party vibes going all night! And Samantha Heather Photography captured memories so incredibly well that we will treasure for the rest of our lives.”
These guys weren’t kidding when they said they put together a vendor dream team for their big day, and you can find a whole bunch of these great peeps over on our directory. We highly recommend checking out and getting in touch with such fabulous folks as Samantha Heather Photography, M.J. Bale (tops guys’ gear), celebrant Oliver Thomson and the DJs at The Vintage Stylus.
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Samantha Heather Photography Event Planner, Stylist, Florist & Signage Lovers Co., On-the-day Coordinator Planning with Purpose Stationery Married AF Club (invitations), Little Laser Co. (drink tags) Printer Girls That Print (vinyl sign decals) Ceremony & Reception Wallis Lakehouse Catering Lauren Seeney (groom’s sister) Bar/Drinks Unexpected Guest Distillery, Wayward Brewing Co. Cake Matilda Heys (groom’s cousin) Hire Items Jack & June (tables & chairs), Martin & Ko. (rattan furniture) Marquee Martin & Ko. Lighting Hire Jack & June Entertainment The Vintage Stylus, Abork via Timber Productions Celebrant Oliver Thomson Rings Baby Anything Glamping Tents Simple Pleasures Camping Co THE BRIDE Gown Lilia Cass Robes Piyama Shoes Billini, Kmart (gumboots) Earrings Baby Anything Hair & Makeup Anna Jackson THE GROOM Suit & Shirt M.J. Bale Shoes Converse Barber Atticus The Barber Groomsmen suits M.J. Bale