After close to a decade together, structural engineer Mike popped the question to Bridgette on the couple’s eight-year anniversary. “He proposed on the beach at Cabarita and then we headed to Paper Daisy, Halcyon House for dinner,” the forensic accountant tells us. Sweet and simple – we love it.
Speaking of sweet, we’re loving Bridgette’s sheer Lola Varma blouse, which was giving total ‘conservative-cute’ vibes, while Mike was a total dapper Dan, dressed by our mates at Joe Black. Not so sweet, however, was the sprained ankle Bridgette copped a few weeks before the big day! “I had my ankle strapped on the day and Mike had to carry me to some of our photo locations!” she shares. But all in all, it was an epic day, documented by one of our all-time fave photographers, Janneke Storm.
THE VENUE “The minute we drove into Bellingen, we knew it was the place. We love visiting the area for holidays, the landscape is breathtaking and there is fantastic food and shopping. We wanted all our guests to experience this location!”
THE VIBE “We wanted to embrace the natural surroundings. We chose minimal decorations and let the venue and landscape speak for themselves.”
FAVE DETAILS “Our floral arrangements, by Paper Leaf Press, were amazing. The bouquet, arbour arrangement and hanging installations were so much more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. It was a nice surprise to find a succulent in my bouquet, which I have now planted at home. Another favourite was our invites made by Hello Petal. They were made from recycled daisy seeded paper so our guests could plant the invites after the wedding.”
THE DRESS “My dress was actually a top and skirt by Lola Varma. I knew I wanted to wear something different yet timeless. When I tried on the two-piece, I instantly fell in love. I loved the contrast of the conservative design with the sheer blouse. My outfit was 100% silk and made in Australia, which was another bonus.”
REFERENCES “We used Hello May, internet search and spoke to locals in the area to find our vendors.”
COOL CUSTOM “My aunty and uncle had just finished restoring my pop’s Ford Fairlane. It was really special to arrive at the ceremony in Pop’s old car. We also had photos of our parents and grandparents on their wedding day at the reception. We thought it was a good way to remember where we come from.”
WE’RE GLAD WE… “We are really glad we made our wedding last for the entire weekend. The day before, we organised canoeing with our guests followed by dinner and drinks at the local pub. We also hosted a recovery brunch.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Janneke Storm was amazing to work with and very professional. We absolutely love our photos and enjoyed spending the wedding day with Janneke driving to stunning locations. The food and service supplied by Cedar Bar & Kitchen were impeccable. The staff were very professional and our guests still rave about the food. I’m so glad we had Naomi from Paper Leaf Press create our floral arrangements, she is incredibly talented and really brought the styling to life. We’re also glad we hired Clare Bath to be our celebrant, she was very supportive and helped ease our nerves!”
Bridgette and Mike’s big day first appeared in Issue 32 of Hello May print mag and if you’re looking for heaps more inspo, we suggest you head straight to our online store to pick up a copy of the latest mag. (Plus, we’ve got all the past issues there for you, too. Winner.)
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Janneke Storm Florist Paper Leaf Press Stationery Hello Petal Ceremony venue The Lodge Bellingen Reception venue & Catering Cedar Bar & Kitchen Cake Sugar Plum Cakery Wedding favours Honey Hunters
Hire Items Hampton Event Hire Entertainment Jake Davey Celebrant Clare Bath Celebrant Rings Natasha Schweitzer Transport Bellingen Shire Taxi Service Accommodation Weilhouse Living THE BRIDE Gown Lola Varma Shoes Bared Footwear Accessories Holly Ryan (earrings), Scanlan Theodore (bralette) Hair Outpost Hair Makeup Madeleine Mills Makeup Artistry Bridesmaid dresses Zimmermann Bridesmaid shoes Frankie4, Jo Mercer THE GROOM Suit Joe Black Shirt Calvin Klein Tie Staple Superior Shoes Florsheim Watch Balmain Groomsmen suits Joe Black Groomsmen gifts Happy Socks, Staple Superior
