#RCREALBRIDE Hannah looked like a goddess in her long sleeved bold lace Demetrios fit-and-flare gown in style 717. Hannah + David’s rustic wedding was located in the picturesque Goulburn Valley Region. Surrounded by birchwood, grazing cows and fruit trees this venue screamed warmth and love. You can tell this wedding was filled with laughs, love and good vibes only. https://vimeo.com/276384729 Photography: Ashley K Photographer THE FIRST SIGHT David’s friend was the DJ at my year 12 social and David came along to help his friend. I was on the school council organising the year 12 social and was the one who chose the DJ through a friend. Long story short because I helped organise it I went and introduced myself. We only briefly spoke but I thought he was a hot surfy looking guy and he managed to hunt down my mobile number and eventually convinced me to go on a date with him. I was in the middle of working on all my year 12 studio art paintings so had limited time but he managed to steal some of it. He was 5 years older and my mother was pretty strict but took a liking to him straight away. I do remember he wore a bandana on our second date which really put me off. Somehow 10 years later we are together. His humor is his best asset and that’s what managed to win me over. THE PROPOSAL We were heading up on a road trip to Fraser Island with two other couples who were our closest friends. I was very verbal on not wanting to get married until we brought a house. He wanted to get engaged for years but had never popped the question and I had assumed it was because I had been so clear on wanting to have started a life together in a home first. It still surprises me till this day that even though we had a joint account for our home he managed to get my dream ring made without me noticing. After getting to Fraser Island and setting up our camp site on New Year’s Eve 2015 with our friends, we went for a drive with just the two of us to locate where the bins where. We went passed an old ship wreck (which he was going to pop the question at but there were too many people) and then found this huge sand dune that Dave suggested would be great for photos. We pulled the car over and went running up the sand dune. I had my bundle of cameras and in the process of getting it ready to take a snap, I turned around and he was down on one knee. I’m pretty sure all I said was “What are you doing? What are you doing?!” … I was completely shocked! I cried a whole lot and then I finally said yes. The ring he had made was amazing and special mention to the way he got my ring size was grabbing an old broken ring I used to wear, he brought it to the jeweller and got all the sales ladies to try it on until he found out my ring size. That’s a man with a plan! THE VENUE We looked at two venues, this was our second one we looked at together. I’m a visual merchandiser, so I spend a lot of my time setting things up, looking up styling, events, interiors and all the rest. I had no idea where and what I wanted for my own wedding though. One night when I was on Instagram (not even looking for venues) I somehow scrolled onto a page, that went to another page….. an hour later I found our venue ‘Byrchendale’. Not knowing of the suburb I didn’t bother looking at it again. Then about 5 months later when I was away for work in Shepparton I found the picture I had saved and thought I wonder if this is anywhere near the venue…. It just so happened to be 20 mins from Shepparton. So after work one day that week I went and looked at it and fell in love. I took Dave back a week later and so did he! Some main reasons for choosing the venue was; – It was dog friendly. Our beautiful fur child Gus the Weimaraner was definitely going to be a big part of our day. – Mini destination wedding. It was far away enough for people to make a weekend of it and stay up there, without being so far away that people could still drive there just for the wedding and head home if needed. – I really wanted to do all the styling myself. Most venues if open to public only allow you in on the day of or a few hours before. These restrictions make doing the styling yourself totally impossible. This venue is owned by an older couple. They have lived on the property for 30 odd years and when their daughter decided to get married they were looking for venues and then decided to just build something instead. It has this stunning outside chapel with floating birch branches in the shape of windows and beautiful vines and a barn for the reception. The rest is a totally blank canvas and they allowed me to pretty much do anything I wanted. – Dave had always said we need to get married near a lake so he can have a water ski the morning of the wedding…. Murchison is about 20 minutes from Lake Nagambie – I wanted a beautiful house to get ready in… we found an amazing house ‘Hide and Seek winery – Nagambie’ for me to get ready in and have the bridal party stay back at for the week. Dave and his groomsmen got ready at the Nagambie Lakes Leisure Park which meant he could have a Ski in the morning. FAVOURITE MOMENT The ceremony and going off just the two of us to get photos. We are super social people, always do things with big groups of friends and family so I think the bits that just felt like it was the two of us were the most special. THE DRESS The first day I went dress shopping I just took my mum. I booked in 4 places and Raffaele Ciuca was the first stop. It was probably the third dress I tried on. I had tried on all of the Demetrios gowns in a similar style. My mum and I both had a little tear together when I put this dress on. There was so much I loved about it. The bold lace, the sheer section around my collar bone which made it fit to perfection and also look as though it wasn’t there. There was a tiny fleck of a matt sequin which occasionally caught the light… and THE BACK! The back is seriously amazing. It fitted me almost perfect. I proceeded to try on more dresses that I really liked all day but that was definitely the one. Additionally, having been to many stores that day I found the service and vibes at RC was by far the best. FINDING THE ONE The consultant I had initially I didn’t have the second time when I took my girlfriends back but all the women I dealt with were amazing. They made me feel fabulous and really went above and beyond. The alterations team was exceptional in their effort and attention to detail. Nothing but an amazing experience. ADVICE FOR OTHER BRIDES I won’t tell you not to worry about the little details because I love the little details but make sure you do exactly what you want to do. Don’t ask for to many opinions because then you feel awful if you don’t take them. Do plenty of research and grab all the inspiration you can and create something that is special to you and your future husband. Also, if you can, make it somewhere everyone goes away and organize a house with your bridal party and partners afterwards. At no point did we feel like it went too fast and it was all over after ‘all that planning’. We celebrated the day and week after with our nearest and dearest and it was the best thing we could have done. Everyone was still buzzing for it all. We all shared stories and photos and the good vibes didn’t end! Also, can you give us a tip on how to keep a happy relationship? Just keep thinking about the magic you felt on the wedding day and how those special moments felt like they were just about the two of you. Tell each other you love one another and make sure you both keep each other smiling always. VENDORS Photographer: Ashley K wedding photographer Link: www.ashleykweddingphotographer.com Videographer : Tim O’keefe Link : http://mrmrsfilms.com Venue: Byrchendale Link: www.byrchendale.com.au Flowers: Simply Stems Link: www.simplystems.com.au Cake: Sweets for Tilly Link: www.sweetsfortilly.com.au Hair: Serena Lee- Kloet Link: www.facebook.com/hairbyserenalee Makeup: Eve Gunson Link: www.evegunson.com.au