These two are deeply in love, guys. “From the beginning, there was always a sense of flow, passion, vulnerability and acceptance,” says Lilly. “What we have together has grown more over the years and is a deep, undeniable soul connection. Loving Bec and being loved by her in return has taught me so much about myself and about unconditional love – it is has been the most incredible, deep healing, and heart-expanding thing I have done in this life so far.” See. DEEPLY. And boy is it beautiful. Scroll down for all the deets and incredible pics by Isla of I.W.H.K photography…
THE VENUE “We got married on the family property in Lilydale where Bec grew up. The surrounding garden is this beautiful overgrown space with Frances Hodgson Burnett ‘Secret Garden’ vibes, originally designed and created in the early 1920s by Edna Walling. Edna was a conservationist, writer and a feminist who didn’t conform – keeping her hair cut short, wearing trousers, smoking a pipe, and living with her female partner in the house that she built herself. We love Edna. Bec’s parents spent nine months working with local gardeners to get the space back to its former glory, uncovering features that had been overgrown and hidden for years.”
THE VIBE “We focused on creating a space that felt warm, relaxed, intimate and full of love. The colour pallet was simple, with lots of earthy summer tones brought together with foraged local grasses, dried flowers, festoon lighting and big white paper lanterns. Our friend Tess, generously lent us all the ceramic vessels for our tables. The Japanese term ‘wabi-sabi’ – which can be described as a world-view centred on the acceptance of transience and imperfection – feels appropriate to describe the aesthetic we were creating.”
DIY “We worked on what seemed like an endless number of DIY projects. We didn’t have a large budget, nor did we want to go into debt to pay for our wedding – so we got creative and collaborated with friends and family to bring our vision together. We were also conscious of keeping waste to a minimum and for our day to have a low environmental impact. We foraged locally for wild grasses and flowers in the lead up to the day, and spent hours preparing leaf-etti from leaves found at Bec’s parents house, and from our own back garden. My mum sourced native dried flowers and grasses from her friend The Backyard Garden Enthusiast and the evening before our wedding we all came together to set up the bar, tables, chairs and lighting in the marquee. As gifts for our guests, I illustrated and hand sewed 60+ mini envelopes filled with fennel and sugar. Bec also wrote individual conversation questions which we placed with the table settings, and our friend Alex used calligraphy to write personalised place tags for each of our guests.”
THE OUTFITS “Finding our outfits was relatively easy. Bec picked out a pair of linen trousers from Seed Heritage and then settled on a shirt from Country Road, which we had tailored. She also found a lovely pair of Ahimsa vegan sandals and her outfit was done! I made her a little boutonnière from dried flowers, which she also wore on the day. My mum and I collaborated on my wedding dress, which was made from a soft, sheer silk cotton. It was important to me to feel like myself on the day, and so I went with something that was both classic and minimal.”
MEMORABLE MOMENT “Making our wedding bands together was also a particularly special moment. We worked on these with our friend Tess King at her home, and it was a beautiful process. We wanted something that we collaborated on together and that could become a family heirloom one day – an object that carried a story and significance for us both. Each of our bands were handcrafted in jewellers wax before being cast in 18k gold, organically shaped and left to show the patterns imprinted from both of our fingers.”
MARRIAGE MEANS… “Neither of us is overly drawn to the traditional institution of marriage, and for a while, we weren’t really sure if marriage was for us. We talked about it a lot during the Australian ‘marriage equality’ debate and finally came to the conclusion that we are the ones who get to define what marriage means for us. We get to create our future and a new blueprint for our marriage. Something which is uniquely us, and that doesn’t have to fit into any narrow bounds of what a traditional marriage may or may not look like. I am really excited about what we will get to create together in this marriage, as well as how we can use this foundation of unity to continuously grow together and show up for one another.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Locavore Studio created an amazing vegan grazing table and sharing platters for our guests to enjoy – everyone (even the meat eaters!) were impressed with how freaking delicious everything was. Our celebrant Precious Celebrations really lived up to her name and was the glittery thread that brought us all together with her warm laughter, vibrant energy and perfectly timed (in)appropriate jokes. We absolutely adore her. Fig & Salt who created our incredible cake. Cass lives locally and makes THE most amazing sweets and treats. Last but not least, was beautiful photographer, Ilsa. I.W.H.K was recommended to us through a mutual friend. She shot our wedding on both analog and digital and I cried when we got our photos back because they so perfectly captured all the love and deeply intimate moments from our day. Ilsa is an incredibly talented artist and photographer, and brought a level of warmth and professionalism, which we are so grateful for.”
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer I.W.H.K Florist Local Foraged (Flowers & Grasses), The Backyard Garden Enthusiast & Red Earth Flowers Stationery The Bride & Friend Ceremony & Reception Private Property Catering Locavore Studio Cake Fig & Salt Cake Topper Fig & Salt & Edward & I. Wedding Favours & Signage DIY Marquee & Hire Items Marquee Monkeys & Bespoke Event Hire Entertainment, Lighting & Sound Hire Caravan Sounds Celebrant Precious Celebrations Engagement Rings DIY Wedding Rings Naasicaa THE BRIDE (Lily) Bridal Gown Handmade Robes Deiji Studios & WORN Shoes Siren Accessories Vermeer Studio Hair Sarah Verschuur Makeup Lana Caitlin THE BRIDE (Bec) Shirt Country Road Pants Seed Heritage Shoes Ahimsa Accessories Vermeer Studio