Hey beautiful people! I hope you’re having a great start to 2020. Can you believe we are already half way through February? It’s crazy how fast time is flying. We got our wedding photos back last week and my heart is full reminiscing on our magical day, with our nearest and dearest.

After sharing our photos with our friends and family I thought it was only fair I kept my promise and shared all the details with you too (especially for you engaged ladies out there planning weddings - I know there is lots to organise and things we want to pick other brides brains about), so hopefully this helps.

Before I do share all the highlights - you guys know I am all about being real and raw. I don't just want to show you the perfect bits of life (because let’s be honest- that’s not reality). And despite our day honestly being the best day of our lives and everything we could have wished for (which is the honest truth)… everything leading up to it was pretty much a disaster!

No word of a lie - it was a shit fight!

You know how they say planning a wedding can be ‘stressful’? Well I think I got to experience that on a whole new level! I am a positive ‘get shit done’ kind of girl, but I would be lying if I said this didn’t test me. I won’t go into too much detail (maybe a VLOG for another day) BUT just to put some things in perspective, I will summarise it for you.

THE BLOOPERS

• We booked our wedding at the Fig Tree 18 months prior, after falling in love with it at first sight. It was slightly out of our budget, but it was gorgeous, so we paid our deposit and worked out a way to make it work, and then started saving.

• A few months later The Fig Tree lost its licensing for outdoor dining, which was a massive reason why we booked the venue, wanting our dinner to be under the stars. We were a little disappointed but it was still a beautiful venue so we changed our vision and kept our booking.

• Six weeks before our wedding, (after we had finally finished all the planning and started to relax and get excited for the countdown) the Fig Tree Venue burnt down and we had to find a new venue (for the Wednesday before Christmas) and plan a new wedding in 6 weeks. We honestly contemplated calling the wedding off, but we had friends and family who were flying in from all around the world to be in Byron Bay for that day.

• The Kombi van we had organised for our wedding canceled on us 4 weeks out. 

• The owner of the AirBNB we had organised for our bridal party to stay in the week of the wedding decided to sell 3 weeks out. 

• The week before the wedding I twisted my ankle.

• The week of the wedding Jetstar went on strike and some of our guests flying in had to book new flights to ensure they would get there for the day.

• And then a few days out, a vendor that we had never spoken to, that was involved with the new venue, contacted us to chase up an invoice we had no knowledge of, or had agreed to. This was never part of our budget (which had already blown out over the series of unfortunate events!) and caused Dan a few anxious moments!

WHAT IT TAUGHT ME

In saying this - I don’t want to turn you off. The day honestly was the best day of our lives (the photos are amazing, and reflect the many memories we will cherish from the day) but they still don’t do the vibe and energy any justice. I can’t wait to share the wedding video with you when we get it!

I would do it all over again in a heart beat and it was a really good reminder of what the day was about in the first place. LOVE. We knew we would never get the opportunity to have all our friends and family, that are scattered all around the globe, together in one place (and in such a beautiful location) ever again, (unless maybe at our funeral) and we wouldn’t even be there to enjoy it!

The process built my belief in Dan and I as a team, and our ability to lean on each other when life throws a few challenges at us (which it will continue to do so). I was grateful for the process because it shook me, reminded me that I am not in control and to not be attached to things or objects.

All that matters is family, friends, love, experiences and memories. I was so so grateful that on our day we both had our immediate families there, happy and healthy, to spend our wedding day with us, and for that alone - we are truly blessed and I would choose our ‘challenges’ out of a hat any day!

THE NIGHT BEFORE

Most of our guests arrived a couple of days before the wedding. Dan had organised a boys day playing golf, then headed to the the Stone and Wood brewery whilst us ladies sat by the pool eating cheese, biscuits and drinking cocktails (my fav).

The night before we had a dinner with all our guests who had flown in at the Tree House in Byron Bay. We had wood fire pizzas, along with a drink or two, before I left with my mum and the bridesmaids. We stayed at the Fig Tree the night before (as the dairy accommodation hadn’t burnt down, just the restaurant) and left Dan and the boys at our airBNB.

THE DRESS + VEIL (P.S I am selling these if you would like them).

I went dress shopping with my mum and my best friends a year before the wedding (I would suggest doing this as soon as you can as most places suggest at least 6-9 months turn around to make/order your dress).

We went to a few shops… I knew my style and that I wanted to feel flowy, boho, hippy and carefree (and just be me!) I had always known that the Grace Loves Lace dresses symbolised my personality (and everyone had always said that they saw me in one of their dresses).

Mum begged me to try on the Alexandra dress, which I honestly did just for her because it wasn't what I saw myself in… yet it was the only dress that I lit up in and felt like ‘the one’ when I tried it on.

It’s so true what they say, you might have a picture in your mind but you often end up in the complete opposite! I opted for the 120 cm train in Ivory. It was perfect, boho, elegant and had a butt tussle so I could dance (and you know that’s always my number 1 priority!)

I wanted the best of both worlds: to feel like me with my hair down with a flower crown, but also feel elegant and timeless with my hair up with a veil. So my Girlfriend Chani gifted me with her 3 metre cathedral length ‘Chani’ Veil from Made with Love, which I wore for the ceremony then let my hair down afterwards!

BRIDESMAID DRESSES

I knew I wanted all natural earthy tones and I wanted all of us girls to feel stunning but more relaxed like the ‘girl next door vibe’. So loose curls, natural make up and a champagne or oyster coloured dress. We had 2 hours together in Melbourne and were on a mission.

We found the perfect dresses in Shieke. Not just because it was what I envisioned, but because it fitted my besties perfectly. All four of them have sexy curves and great butts! It also hugged them in the right spots! I was pretty chill and said wear whatever jewellery and shoes you like as long as the heels were beige.

THE FLOWERS

I have no idea about flowers! I spent hours looking on Pinterest to work out what I liked and then tried to find a florist who could make it happen. Despite starting to look for vendors 12 months out, I had difficulty finding someone who was available that day.

Therefore, couldn’t go with anyone that had been recommended to me. However, I stumbled across a beautiful lady named Kerilyn from Lavish Floral Design Gold Coast, who understood my vision and put together a quote that was reasonable compared to the ones I had seen online.

I had no idea flowers could be so expensive! She told me to trust her and leave it up to her. I did and I was so happy with them. She delivered and put together our bridal bouquets, a throw away posie, button holes for the boys and my dad, my flower crown and flowers/vases for the tables.

Originally, we weren’t going to have an arbor because the big Fig Tree branches created one naturally, but with the new venue we opted to get a tipi arbor. So Kerilyn made two flower features for that as-well.

THE HAIR

I have had so many compliments on our hair and make up with people asking for referrals, but I didn’t get professionals to do either! One of my best friends Sarah has always been great with hair as a dance teacher, so we had a hair trial and played around with it a few weeks before the wedding. She came over to share the morning with the girls (gotta love some girl time!), helped us get ready and did our hair.

THE MAKE UP

I never really wear make up or pay to have it done professionally, and when it has been for other peoples weddings, Dan has never liked it on me. So I didn’t see the point in paying to get my makeup done, however my bestie and bridesmaid Gretchen - loves that shit!

It’s her jam and does it for fun! So a few months before the wedding when I was visiting her, she played around and we bought a palette from Mecca with all the natural peachy tones I wanted and she did mine and all the bridesmaids makeup. She rocked it with a champagne in her hand and time to spare!

THE GROOM AND HIS MEN 

To be honest Dan dresses better than me, so I let him organise the boys. I think he always looks sexy in suspenders so I suggested that, but he did the rest. We looked on Pinterest for some styles he liked.

We wanted to keep it in the earthy tones, and be mindful the boys wouldn’t want jackets, as it was on a Wednesday in mid December, in the height of the Australian summer (so it’s hot!). Dan got his jacket and pants from Politix, the shirts from Country Road, shoes from Universal and belts from Myer.

THE WEDDING VENUE

When The Fig Tree burnt down, Byron Bay Weddings (who we had booked through initially) helped us find an alternative venue. To be honest there wasn't much available with limited notice and being the week before Christmas (we were lucky it was on a Wednesday), however we had previously viewed The Byron View Farm, and although it was a little out of our budget, they did as much as they could to help us transition everything we had already organised to this venue. I couldn’t fault it!

It was a little tricky, as with the Fig Tree everything was pretty much included being a restaurant already. But with the Byron View Farm…it was just that. A farm. So every chair, table, knife, fork, light, serviette, bin etc had to be hired in.

Byron Bay Weddings did an amazing job organising it all, setting it up and helping us with styling. All we had to do was show up on the day! So like I said the lead up to the wedding was chaos but the day itself was stress free. We didn't have to lift a finger and we ended up with the ‘dining under the stars’ after-all! The universe works in mysterious ways.  

OUR RINGS + VOWS

Both Dan and I wrote our own vows and wanted thick gold wedding bands. We got the rings specially made with some gold that I had inherited over the years in jewellery I would probably never wear.

This was particularly special as it makes the rings even more sentimental having been passed down through generations… not to mention also cheaper. So something I suggest looking into if you have some old gold jewellery laying around the house!

THE CELEBRANT 

Our good friend Anthony (who has become such a big part of our lives since being together) is great with words, speaking and bringing people together to create experiences. He actually isn’t an official ‘celebrant’ but he had run the ceremony for our friends Chani and Matt who got married the year prior and we loved how he did it.

Dan and I aren’t particularly religious but we definitely have faith and wanted spirituality as part of our ceremony - but more than anything we wanted it to be intimate, personal and interactive. We also wanted to involve all of our beautiful friends and family that have been weaved into our love story ….which he delivered (like we knew he would).

It was the best ceremony I have ever been to (and I am not even being biased!) haha. We also had an official celebrant there on the day, Christina Blanchard was so easy to work with and let Ant run the show, whilst she took care of all the official paper work!

THE CAKE

I don’t like cake so I didn’t see the point in me spending heaps of money for everyone to enjoy something I don’t! Its my wedding, I am paying for it and I don’t like cake! BUT I DO LOVE DONUTS!!! haha! So we just bought 80 Krispy Kremes and my girlfriend Caity, who is amazing at cakes (you need to check her out), did her thing and made it look pretty. That was really all I did and her being the wizard she is - did the rest! She is the best!! P.S I was having too much fun I didn’t even get a donut in the end!. 

THE VIDEOGRAPHER/PHOTOGRAPHER

I am all about vibes. So when I was looking for a photographer and videographer online, I stumbled across Beccy at BXCSMXTH and immediately decided I had to have her! I love her stuff. It always looked fun and real rather than too glossy, posed or glorified.

Having her there on our day was even more special as her energy is beautiful and makes everyone feel comfortable (especially Dan who hates photos and rarely smiles in any I have with him… if you follow me on social media and watch my stories you know this!). She was lots of fun, we even begged her to stay and party with us!

THE MUSIC

When planning the wedding I turned to Facebook and asked friends for recommendations when it came to vendors. A friend from university recommended Josh Lovegrove. We did our social media stalking (like you do) and loved his tone! I’m an old soul and grew up on James Taylor and Josh sounds just like him, so I was sold.

He was amazing! He played acoustic and does some crazy looping. All our guests commented on how much they enjoyed his music. We had him play for three hours as canapés and Pimms were being served, whilst guests mingled and played lawn games.

We made our own playlist, which was playing over the AV whilst dinner was served and in between speeches. THEN IT WAS PARTY TIME! We had all our guests RSVP with their favourite song that they were committed to dancing to, so everyone was up and boogyinggggg!

I walked down to aisle to: Paper Kites by Bloom

Our first dance was to: Babylon by Boyce Avenue 

I danced with my dad to: You’ve got a friend by James Taylor

The last song of the night was a family anthem (such a special moment): Jackson Browne: The Load out

THE TRANSPORT 

We knew how difficult it was going to be, getting all our guests to the Byron View Farm with taxis and Ubers in Byron. It’s a pretty small town and crazy busy at that time of the year. Also, not that any of our guests would drive because we like to parttyyyy and drink, but even if they did, there was limited car parks on site.

So we organised A double decker love bus (London Style), which seemed fitting considering Dan is from the UK and all his family had flown in from London. We asked our guests to bring $10 each if they wanted to be picked up from two locations in town. It would pick them up and drop them off at the end of the night (if they were going home).

We had organised an after party venue at The Bolt Hole in town for those who wanted to party on! As a dancer (and most of my friends are too), I hate when I leave a wedding and it’s just starting to get going with good music… then I have to go to bed - so we didn't! We kept partying and dancing the night away.

We did end up organising a new Kombi van through Byron Bay Kombi’s, which picked me and the Bridesmaids up from the Fig Tree and took us up to the Byron View Farm. We were hiding inside in the cottage with Champagne as all the guests arrived in the bus. We also had the Kombi for photos after the ceremony. 

THE FOOD + ALCOHOL

When we were picking venues Dan was pretty chill, he just wanted me to be happy (you know what they say a happy wife, happy life haha). But the only thing he really wanted was good food. I’m not sure if it’s a cultural thing but him and his family have always really appreciated good restaurants.

Whilst me and my family on the other hand… if there’s alcohol there, we are good! So that was another reason we chose The Fig Tree Restaurant. Even with the change of venues, The Fig Tree were still able to cater for us at Byron View Farm.

Byron Bay Weddings helped us work out how much alcohol to bring for 76 guests as it was BYO we just had to pay for corkage and their staff would serve it. My only request was Espresso Martinis and Pimms!

When we had our guests RSVP they replied with their dietary requirements and their alcohol of choice, which helped us cater rather than guessing. We did well - the alcohol kept flowing all night, I never saw an empty glass and everyone loved the food!

The Fig Tree were great at catering for dietary requirements too which helped, as we have lots of health conscious friends including vegans, vegetarians and even the coeliacs were able to enjoy a feast!

Canapés - to begin 

• Byron bay mozzarella, basil oil, fresh fig (GF) 

• Mushroom & truffle Arancini

• Ballina prawns, garlic & lemon (GF, DF) 

• Grilled chicken skewers, mirin and ginger (GF, DF) 

Mains - served on platters for guests to share 

• Dutch cream gnocchi, pumpkin & sage (GF, DF) 

• Bangalow Sweet Pork, apples & eschallot (GF, DF) 

• Lamb shoulder, celery, mint & pomegranate (GF, DF) 

Sides - to share 

• Garden carrots, thyme & rosemary (GF, DF) 

• Puy lentils, leeks & red wine (GF) 

• Rocket, roast vegetables & Persian feta (GF) 

Sweet canapés 

• Figtree chocolate and raspberry brownie (Vegan, DF) 

• Garden citrus frangipane tart 

WHAT DID IT COST?

I know a lot of the time, the thing on most brides minds planning the wedding, is money - despite not feeling comfortable enough to talk to others or out right ask about it. But as you know I am an open book, and I don’t think its fair to talk about all the amazing stuff without also talking about how much it cost to make it happen.

Like I explained at the start we knew it was going to be expensive going into it, but we also got clear on why we were doing it and what we wanted it to be for us. What we were willing to spend the money on and where we were willing to try and save.

All up the wedding cost close to $40,000 AUD. We got clarification on the final quote (before all the mishaps) around 12 months out and then we altered our budget to make sure we were saving $800 a week to be able to afford it.

We wanted to pay cash and not have to get a loan, or put ourselves in debt, all for one day. Which I know most people have to do, so I am not ignorant or unaware of how fortunate we are to have built our businesses to a point we knew that we could afford that.

My Mum and Dad wanted to buy my dress and flowers, and Dan’s parents helped us by hosting an after party BBQ the day after the wedding.. 

SOME OF MY FAVOURITE MAGICAL MOMENTS:

So many people had given us advice before the wedding day, to ensure we were present and to take opportunities throughout the day, to stand back and take it all in, as it goes so quick.

I am actually really proud of us because despite being present and amongst it all, we had lots of moments together experiencing it, as what could have seemed like a third party observer looking at the bigger picture. Just being so grateful and having our hearts explode with love for how big of a deal it was for people to travel from far and wide, from around the world, with two families, multiple countries, two lives with lots of different chapters - all coming together smiling, dancing, laughing and having fun.

This combined with my love for my new husband was a feeling I can’t explain and why I would do it all over again and can’t put a price tag on it!

I had a reveal in the cottage before my ceremony with my Mum, Dad and two brothers and it was such a beautiful moment. I don’t have words for it. The photo’s captured some special memories but the real water works started once the photographer had left the room and my Mum and Dad broke down (I had never seen my dad cry like that before). They had me, my brothers and the bridesmaids all in tears!

Our MC and best mate Casey, had organised the King boys VS the Kerr boys in an AUS VS POM boat race as it was equal teams (…we both have two brothers!) It was the funniest thing to see as I thought my family had it in the bag for sure (… considering Dan had never seen his Dad skull a beer in his life!), but it seems like Australia brings out the best in all of us and it was a dead heat!

At the end of the night the last song, ‘the load out’ played by Jackson Browne (the photographers had left so it wasn’t captured). This song holds a special meaning to my family. We had our arms around each other swaying together and belting out every lyric whilst the rest of the guests had no idea what was going on but could feel the love and created a circle around us. It was one of those moments that gave me goosebumps. 

The Love bus (double decker bus) on the way home was PUMPING! It was so much fun! I think we were all jacked up on espresso martinis - it was like a two level night club. The bottom level was fun where everyone was singing and dancing… then you went upstairs and it was NEXT LEVEL! I could have just partied on the bus and never gone anywhere and still have had the best day! 

So my advice… LET GO + TRUST

As cliche as it sounds, it all happened for a reason. The day was a fairytale. We ended up having the day we had originally envisioned - it might not have been the way we planned it but sometimes the universe knows better than we think we do.