Melissa & Timothy | Real Weddings Victoria
Real Wedding; Meet Melissa & Timothy
We were good friends for 7 years before Tim (known as Chang) plucked up the courage to ask Mel out.
The proposal
We were at the beautifu; Port MacDonnell in South Australia for the Australia Day weekend 2014 and on our last night we decided to go for a drive on the beach to watch the sunset. We were a little early so Chang decided to “fix” his fishing gear in the back of his ute then next minute he was on his knee asking Mel to be his wife. As he is normally hopeless at keeping secrets, Mel was so surprised she (accidentally) swore at him and then, when she realised he was serious, started crying and said yes!
Your Wedding Day
We decided early on to have a large engagement party with all of our family and friends, and a smaller, more intimate ceremony for our wedding.
Inviting just 80 people we utilised the front lawn of the beautiful , 100 year old Glenwillan Homestead and couldn’t have asked for a better day….the sun was shining and there was not a single cloud in the sky (lucky as we didn’t have a back up venue!).
From pre-wedding drinks with mates the night before to Mel, who is NOT a morning person, waking up at 5am on the day too excited to sleep any longer, everything went to plan perfectly.
Choosing a rustic chic theme to fit with our country lifestyle, we used hay bales as aisle ends, with native flowers, rustic handmade signs, stumps and birdcages as aisle runners and even a handmade altar – along with touches of Mel’s favourite colour, purple.
Stop stressing…seriously!
I was told so many times that the little details would work themselves out or not matter so much on the day….and the advice was 100% right.
Please take the time to stop, take a breath and take the whole day in…it sounds like a cliché, but after months or even years of planning, the whole day goes so fast that if you don’t stop and consciously take it all in you will feel like you’ve missed it all.
Try dancing in your dress….
I tried mine on with and without heels and it was fine but I didn’t try dancing and ended up tripping over it a few times (it didn’t help that I lost 3kg the week of our wedding due to running around so much either) – and don’t be afraid to fight for what you want in your dream dress. I initially wanted my bolero sewn on so it wouldn’t fall off my shoulders all day, I didn’t stick to my guns and ended up pulling it up all day.
If something goes wrong, just go with it.
The Monday of our wedding our cake maker ended up in hospital so Mel ended up making both the cutting and dessert cakes. Stuff happens, just chill out and work around it.
Seeing Chang tear up when I walked down the aisle, our beautiful friend Brett pulling triple duty as decorator, celebrant and MC, being pronounced husband and wife, seeing all of our hard work come to life, being surrounded by our closest friends and family, the sand ceremony our mum’s read out, the 2 readings Mel’s brother, Peter, and friend Nicole did, our first dance as husband and wife, being able to call Chang my husband for the first time, the photos we took with the beautiful vintage fire truck as a tribute to Chang’s late dad, seeing the “special” photos our friend Kim took of the boys getting ready and, for Mel, who is a confirmed jeans and t-shirt kinda woman, putting on a gorgeous dress and feeling beautiful.
