When it comes to quirky, cool big day deets, Maggie and Dane’s day is a treasure trove, and just like the bride and groom (affectionately called Magpie and Dingo among mates), their Wollongong wedding was relaxed, fun, and laid-back. The Servo, Port Kembla was the place to be. Once quite literally a servo, it’s since been reno’ed into the retro event space/watering hole you see below. Road trip anyone?
Channelling that easy-breezy energy we love, Maggie and Dane say, “Not everything goes to plan, and you have to just take it as it is.” They also told us that all of their vendors (including camera-wiz Damien Milan and queen of non-tradish nups Jacqua Celebrant) were amazing and that they would “choose them all again.”
There’s raffles, there’s custom merch, there’s pizza. Okay, no more spoilers! Scroll on for the rest…
THE VENUE “We didn’t want a typical wedding venue, and just wanted to create a party vibe. We didn’t see any other potential venues.”
DIY “We made some custom matchbooks as favours, using some of the designs Luke Player had created. We made a cookbook guestbook that included a collection of our guests’ favourite recipes. We made a piñata that looked like a little buggy with beer cans trailing behind. It said just married, but was completely forgotten about and didn’t make an appearance. We painted a skateboard deck as a kind of welcome sign [with] our initials and the magpie and dingo symbol.”
REFERENCES “We came across most of the vendors online, and they all seemed to fit the vibe. We saw great reviews on the pizza place (Oliva Pizza), and we had seen that they had been at [The Servo] venue before. The cake was purchased from a local bakery (The Patisserie). We chose Damien as our photographer after seeing and appreciating his previous work. We asked Jacqui (Jacqua Celebrant) to be our wedding celebrant because Maggie had built a great friendship with her when teaching her son the year prior. It made the ceremony intimate and special.”
MEMORABLE MOMENT “We got ready together in the morning so that it felt like any other day. We both wanted to make sure we were calm and could enjoy the experience. Before the ceremony, we met up with some of our friends at a bar up the road (The Iron Yampi). It was a good chance to settle our nerves and have a drink. We had a raffle to select our witnesses, with a second chance draw for a meat tray. We had a pool comp running for most of the event, which was a good opportunity for our guests to meet new people. Consequently, this made the games go pretty slow because there was more talking than playing. We let a couple of our friends who had celebrated recent birthdays cut the cake during the cake-cutting.”
South Coast, Southern Highlands and Sydney lovers! If you’re laid-back, love to laugh and are “a bit left of centre”, we highly recommend chatting withJacqua Celebrant about leading your big day’s official bits. Then click here for more quirky flavoured ‘I do’s or, if you’re also getting wed in NSW, you can check out our favourite local vendors here.
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Damien Milan Bouquet Pepe’s Garden Other Flowers/Decor Sydney Flower Markets, DIY Invites Paperless Post, Luke Player Venue The Servo, Port Kembla Grazing Table Charlotte Owen (Friend) Food Trucks or Carts Oliva Pizza Cake Maker The Patisserie Wedding Favours Kountry Expressions via Ebay, Vistaprint, Luke Player Entertainment Greg Alfaro (Family) Celebrant Jacqua Celebrant Rings Kate & Kole, Never Never Ring Box Claya Transport Uber THE BRIDE Bridal Gown Designer Flora Bridal Shoes Tony Bianco Hair Amanda Ackerman – Studio Amé Makeup Alli Rush Fragrance Lumira via Luca Luna THE GROOM Suit Oscar Hunt Tie Anthony Squires Shoes NoSKIN
