Real Weddings

Article by

Laura Wilson

Posted on

25/09/2018

Posted in

Real Weddings

We like the sound of Lucy and Dave, guys… “On the outside, we look pretty conventional, but anyone who knows us knows that we aren’t conventional at all,” reveals the bride who wore Grace Loves Lace. “We tend to do things back to front, spur of the moment and love to have a good time. We wanted our wedding to be a reflection of us- relaxed, fun, a little surprising, a little riskay and most importantly, authentic!” Throw in that their wedding was shot by Joel of Barefoot & Bearded, and we’re sold! I mean, just look at these pics!

THE VENUE “The Hunter Valley was wine region and also close to all the vendors I had been stalking on Instagram for over a year. We’d also never been, so that made it even more exciting. We booked Mindaribba House before even seeing it in person. On-site accommodation for 12, BYO, arrive the day before, stay the weekend, on-site equipment and caterer and incredibly stunning… It ticked all of our boxes. The Hunter Valley was also in drought at the time, but they had access to water, so the property was a green oasis amongst the brown rolling hills. The venue set the tone from the get-go.”

FAVOURITE DETAILS “Can we say everything? The flowers- Ash’s work (Film and Foliage) reflects her personality. It’s organic, authentic, a little off-kilter and beautiful beyond belief. She exceeded all of our expectations. Signage- I wanted it to compliment the aesthetics of the venue, but also reflect us personally. Dave’s last name is Fowler, so of course, we had a ‘Fowler Power’ sign created by Sketch & Etch. I also wanted to keep our seating chart as a bit of a memento, so we opted for a sign that said ‘The A-List’. It’s now hanging on one of the walls in our house adjacent to our ‘Fowler Power’ sign. Dessert Bar- for something that was not much of a priority, it got a hell of a lot of love. From Dave’s doughnut stand to the Petit Fours from The Icky Sticky Patisserie, we are definitely biased, but it was the best dessert bar we’ve seen!”

THE DRESS “Dress shopping was definitely not my favourite aspect. I knew it was going to be a challenge because of our budget and five-month time frame. I started looking for a dress straight away but I still managed to give every bridal stylist a heart attack. I ordered a number of dresses online but nothing was a standout, so I returned them. Six weeks out, I still had no dress, and Grace Love Lace released their capsule collection. I took one look at the ‘Piper’ dress and ordered it. Fitted, sleeved but still fun. I loved it. It was fun, romantic, statement, a little sassy but still sophisticated and most importantly, I felt like myself when I wore it.”

REFERENCES “I followed Joel (Barefoot & Bearded) on Instagram after seeing his work on Hello May. That then lead me to follow Ash (Film and Foliage) on Instagram. I Googled fun, quirky celebrants and Sassy Celebrants came up. Dave and I went through the profiles and both agreed that Monty King Celebrations was the man. Our ceremony was so incredible, it was almost surreal. Monty is down to earth, charismatic and has a zest for life that is infectious. In the space of 15 minutes he had everyone in stitches (of laughter), then tears, then stitches again. Then there were ‘ooooos’ and ‘ahhhhs’ accompanied by goosebumps, followed by more tears. Again, we are totally biased, but it was hands-down the best ceremony we’ve ever attended.”

A WORD OF ADVICE “Everyone says it, but write it on your mirror, write it on a post-it and put it on your fridge. Anywhere where you can see it often enough to remind you through the process that it’s your day- do what you want! And one other- the guest list and the seating chart are two of the hardest things. They only get harder the more you overthink it. Go with your gut, be savage! Oh and spend the extra money on really great vendors, it is worth every penny!”

STANDOUT VENDORS “From the get-go, we said we wanted vendors that we would love to become friends with. Film and Foliage, Barefoot & Bearded and Monty King Celebrations were exactly that. They were chilled, down to earth, loved life and just rolled with it. Beyond being really great humans, they had also all worked together and worked at our venue, making the day completely stress free for us. Shout out to Prestige Inc. who performed as a duo and then a trio at our wedding. Our friends and family are a rowdy bunch who love to dance and those guys sure got us busting a groove.”