Coachella Inspired Beach Wedding

Coachella was our initial inspiration. We wanted the two days to feel like a festival, a celebration. To be honest we didn’t want anything to feel like a Wedding, initially, we both weren’t even interested in having a cake.  It had to be outdoors and natural.

We were actually matched together by a mutual friend playing cupid.

I had finished working on a site in WA and had moved to Sydney. Two months after I had moved a work college contacted me to let me know he had just met the male version of me! He sent me his Instagram details and told me to contact him, which I refused to do. This friend was also insisting Chris get in contact with me.

Eventually, we became social media friends, silently following each other on Instagram, with an occasional heart here or there for each other’s photographs.
One day I shared quite a personal post about my past struggles and things I have overcome in life to be where I am today. Chris read it and his heart said: “I need to meet this girl!” He sent me such a lovely message the day he read the post, that melted my heart and we began to message daily. Over the course of a month we began to talk on the phone and eventually, it became daily Facetime calls. My Dad worked on the same site as Chris and met him before I did; I still remember the day he phoned to give me his stamp of approval. We have been inseparable since the day we finally met in person.

How did he propose?

The proposal was at sunrise at Sealy Lookout in Coffs Harbour on Good Friday. It was followed by a weekend of romantic activities which included staying at the gorgeous Establishment Hotel in Sydney and watching Tash Sultana live. We had three whole days to ourselves in our little bubble of love before we announced the proposal to anyone.

What do you love most about your partner?

What I love most about Chris is unwavering faith that things will be okay, no matter the situation. He is steadfast, always. Life has thrown us some tricky curveballs, but he always has this big smile and this amazing confidence as he says “It’s all good!”

What’s your most important piece of advice for creating and maintaining a strong relationship?

To consciously choose to love and respect your partner daily, don’t let how you feel dictate how you treat each other.
Also, I highly recommend learning your partners love language.

Tell us about your wedding gown and how you chose it

Finding my Anna Campbell dress is actually a story of fate! I had created a ‘Wedding Dress Inspo’ album on Pinterest and I had pinned a photograph of the Anna Campbell dress design ‘Sydney Dress’ but at that time I didn’t know who the designer was and hadn’t looked into it further.

A few months later my Aunty and I decided to meet in Melbourne for my birthday, I thought it would be the perfect time to look at wedding dresses.
So, I went straight to Google and typed in ‘Melbourne Wedding Dress’ as I scrolled through judging bridal boutiques by their names, there was a link for Anna Campbell, the tagline read ‘bohemian bridal’, just what I was looking for to suit our Wedstival themed day. Scrolling through the design gallery I found the dress from my Pinterest album! The ‘Sydney Dress’

I booked my appointment right then and there for the Armadale boutique.

What was your favourite moment from the day?

It was actually later in the evening, I stepped back and I saw all the glittery faces around me, every single one of our guests was smothered in glitter and I just smiled. It warmed my heart to see everyone had embraced our vision, however different and weird it was, everyone joined in and for two days they were free spirits with us.

Any tips that you can give to future brides?

Enjoy the wedding planning process, savour it. This is a time that really reveals you and your partners’ ability to work together. I was working on a remote mine site for 10 months of our planning period while Chris was travelling working/surfing in Chile and we still planned our perfect wedding.

How many guests? 140

Wedding Budget (Optional) Our aim was to keep it under $30,000. We succeeded.

The Team

Wedding feature thanks to: Giant Invitations

Dress: Anna Campbell @annacampbellbridal

Makeup: I am a qualified makeup artist so I applied my own makeup, my bridesmaids all work in the fashion, modelling and makeup industries so they also applied their own.

Hair: Studio Luxe @studioluxehair

Shoes: Windsor Smith
Accessories: Mimco

Bridesmaids Dresses: Shona Joy
Grooms Suit: Zara Man
Cake: Grooms Mother, Anka Crooke

Food:

Smokey Dans @smokeydans
JJ’s @jjsatthemarina
Wandering Wood Fire Oven @wanderingwoodfireoven
Merciers Gelato @merciersgelato
Flowers: @liliesandlaceweddingsandevents

Photographer: Nathan Lapham @nathan.lapham

Ceremony Venue: The Woods of Jervis Bay, Tomerong. @thewoodsfarm
Wedding Reception Venue: The Woods of Jervis Bay, Tomerong. @thewoodsfarm

Our hired items came from @southcoastpartyhire
Band: Mild Manic @mildmanic

DJs: Exstrax @iamexstrax
Indiana @djindianaxx