The Romance
Jeremy and I met whilst out on the town with mutual friends in September of 2008. For both of us there was an instant attraction and as we spent more time together, it felt comfortable, it felt right and we both knew that we were meant to be. Jeremy had a 1 year old daughter when we met so I gained my beautiful step daughter Mia.
The Proposal
We purchased our home together in 2012 and Jeremy proposed during our house renovations in 2014. We decided to hold off on marriage until our family was complete so that we could share our special day with our children. Our son Koby was born in 2015, followed by our daughter Billie in 2018.
The Planning
I started planning for an intimate Bali wedding in 2019. I put a lot of thought, time and planning in to what exactly we wanted our dream wedding to be. Early 2020 COVID arrived, borders closed and I had an unpleasant experience with a wedding planner, where we lost a lot of money. With my Father-in-law having cancer, my Grandmother being almost 80 and not knowing when the borders may reopen we decided to keep our wedding date, being 14/10/20 and have our wedding in Tasmania. It was stressful planning and paying for the wedding a second time, especially with COVID restrictions changing daily. I planned, coordinated and styled the entire wedding myself, with the help of my clever brother-in-law, Matron of honour and Bridesmaids. Jeremy assisted also by nodding at every photo idea that I ran past him.
The Wedding Day
Traditionally, Jeremy and I spent the night before the wedding apart and did not see each other until the ceremony. My Bridesmaids, Matron of honour and I stayed in the most amazing little Airbnb, perched on the clifftop above our local surf beach, alongside our ceremony location. The Groom and his Groomsmen stayed in a Beachfront Airbnb at the opposite end of the beach (within binocular view of the bride).
I woke to the sound of waves and my Bridesmaids cheering as they opened the blinds to sunshine. We were incredibly lucky as it just so happened to be the only day that it didn’t rain that week. Our day started with a breaky date, where the girls showered me with gifts and wedding day letters, including heartfelt messages and memories. After reminiscing and many happy tears we headed back to our Airbnb. The girls had everything sorted so all I had to worry about was enjoying the moment and taking it all in. First, my makeup artist Liv arrived followed by my Hairdresser Ben, these two were amazing! Such a fun duo that created a great vibe for the day, whilst working their magic on us. With a celebratory drink or two and platters passed around our Photographer Tracy and Videographers Beth and Tom arrived to capture the preparations.
My Mum, Step Daughter Mia (13) and Daughter Billie (2) arrived to get ready with the girls, whilst my son Koby (5) went to get ready with the boys.
I didn’t feel nervous at all I just hoped that everything went to plan and came together just as I had imagined it to be. The girls were running back and forth making sure everything was in order and communicating with all involved to ensure everything was going accordingly, unbeknownst to me there were a number of hiccups that they handled like champs and got on top of very quickly... which is why they are the best friends ever!!
Before I knew it, It was time for Liv and Ben to leave, we were looking our best and absolutely beautiful if I may say so myself! Things were happening quickly and the moment arrived where they assisted me in to my dress. I wore a Made with Love dress ‘Riley’ it was perfect!
The Ceremony
Mum and the girls headed for the ceremony and Dad arrived to accompany me in the wedding car. We shared a beautiful moment together whilst affixing my late grandparents photo charms to my bouquet, had a quick hug and it was time to get going. The boys arrived at the ceremony in Jeremy’s Fathers SLR Torana which is sentimental to the family. Dad and I arrived in a classic FJ Holden.
As I stepped out of the car and saw all of the people that are so dear to us and the ceremony setting that I had been dreaming of for months so perfectly set, I felt an overwhelming sense of excitement. I couldn’t wait to get to the end of the aisle. The acoustic duo began singing ‘A thousand years’, the flower girls led followed by my bridesmaids and matron of honour. I remember Dad suggesting that I slow down. As I walked through the white chapel shaped arbour and locked eyes with Jeremy it was very special, he gave me a cheeky grin realising that the wedding dress that I was wearing wasn’t the one that I had left for him to find in the pictures on my phone hehe.
As I reached the end of the aisle the scenery was dreamlike. I took Jeremy’s hand and I could tell that he was nervous, knowingly about having to say his vows out loud. We both looked out to the sea away from our guests and I said to him “this is it the moment we have been waiting for” and held his hand a little tighter. Our ceremony was very intimate with immediate family and 2 friends each only attending. The presentation was unique, including individual thanks and appreciation messages to loved ones who have contributed to our lives. We shared our personally writtten vows with each other before asking our son to come forward with the rings. When he arrived he advised us that no one had given him the rings, I laughed it off and asked him again to present the rings.. “Mum I don’t have them” his little voice said. My Matron of Honor (identical twin sister) kicked off her heels and said “who has a car” my Mum threw her the car keys and she was off in a flash back to the Airbnb to search for the rings. About 5 minutes later she returned rings in hand and we picked up where we left off before sharing our first kiss. After signing our marriage certificate we walked back down the aisle through a guard of honour, showered by rose petals from our nearest and dearest, it was beautiful.
Following the ceremony we had family photos before Jeremy and I headed off with the photographer and videographers on a private boat, with one of my favourite places being the destination. It was quite choppy on the way over and when we arrived, very windy. I was a bit disappointed that we were unable to get the drone up in the air to capture some Ariel footage of us walking along the dunes, however as you can tell by our photos, the wind absolutely worked to our advantage! With our photographer capturing photos better than we ever imagined and our wedding video equally incredible, we feel so blessed to have chosen Tracy, Beth and Tom to be apart of our special day and will treasure their clever work for our life time!
Following our little boat trip we were collected from the boat ramp by our ride - a classic FJ Holden, who drove us to our reception, which was in picturesque Richmond, TAS.
The Reception
Our reception was held in the function space at Wattlebanks. The venue is a garden setting surrounded by willow trees, with sandstone wall features and an open fireplace. On arrival we were greeted by family and friends, just inside the entry was a beautiful picture table of our late loved ones. We got ourselves a drink, had a (seated) mingle and then headed off for some photos with our bridal party whilst our guests enjoyed some canapés. On return, we had our main meals plated and the Matron of honour who was also the MC kicked things off, starting with speeches by family and our bridal party. Following speeches we mingled some more having Polaroid pictures with guests to include In our guestbook. Moving on to cutting of the cake, followed by our first dance. Our first dance took place in the middle of the garden, under festoon lights surrounded by our friends and family holding sparklers whilst we two stepped our way through Ed Sheerens ‘Perfect’.
We finished for the night at 10pm, when Jeremy and I headed back to the Airbnb. To our surprise my matron of honour and bridesmaids had set the bed with Mr & Mrs pillow cases, covered it in red rose petals and candle lit the room for us!
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The Honeymoon
With the borders closed we made the most of the opportunity and explored the North West Coast of Tasmania in a campervan with our children. We saw many amazing sights, stopped at beautiful places, enjoyed experiences and made many memories along the way.
Wedding Advice
Make your wedding day ‘Your wedding day’. You don’t have to be traditional or have a big wedding if that isn’t what you really want. Do what feels right, makes you happy and... remember the rings ;) |
