Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you, and your relationship:
Dan works in HR and I’m a health care practitioner. Interestingly we did a pre-marriage course soon after we got engaged and it was very fascinating to see on paper who we are as individuals and what our relationship strengths and weaknesses are.
Dan is definitely the one who plans for the future and I plan for the now. Hence, when we got engaged I was budgeting and planning for the engagement party and wedding, where as he was considering what house we’ll live in when we have kids.
Dan and I technically met through the dating app Tinder but our first date was at a bar on Southbank in Brisbane. Dan is a Queenslander, whereas I grew up in Melbourne. At age 25, I decided to take a chance and move myself to Brisbane to experience life outside of what I had always known. Roughly 3 months into living in Brisbane, we met. Our first date was filled with excited nerves, lots of ‘I can’t believe we get along so well’ smiles and to finish with espresso martini’s (on a Wednesday night), I would say it went quite well. We caught up for dinner 4 days later and from then on we barely went a day without seeing each other. Dan knew from the very beginning that I didn’t have plans to stay in Brisbane for long, but this didn’t phase him in the slightest. In fact, I believe that he secretly chose to stick with me because it was a ticket to a life in Melbourne where we could consume as much AFL as he could possibly dream about.
3 months after our first date we moved in together, on our 3rdyear anniversary we moved to Melbourne, soon bought a house, then a puppy and almost a year after that he proposed (can you tell I was waiting not quite so patiently?!). We were about to head off to Bali for 2 weeks and to be perfectly honest I would have been disappointed to come home without a ring. Little did I know he was planning for it sooner. It was 2 days before we left for Bali, our first day of annual leave, coffee in hand, walking our dog on the beach and I turn around and he’s on one knee. Before I said ‘yes’, I cried, I mumbled ‘OMG is this THE MOMENT I’ve been dreaming about?!’ Then finally said ‘yes’ and it was just magical. The timing was perfect because I then proceeded to spend the entire 2 weeks in Bali in sitting by a pool researching and planning our wedding. Within a week of being back home we had already visited 3 potential venues.
Dan loves the simple things in life. A pizza or burger with a craft beer when the GC Suns are playing footy is his ultimate indulgence. His Queenslander bones require frequent visits up north to thaw out as well as get a top of up vitamin D, I’m not complaining! Dan is thoughtful and considerate and knows how to make you feel loved by making a cup of tea or already stocking the cupboard with dark chocolate without having to ask. These traits make it so easy to love him and it’s why we just kind of fell in to life together.
I am an allied health practitioner and spend most of my days face-to-face with clients. I love to spend my days around people but when I’ve reached my limit I can very easily slip in to couch potato mode. Dan knows that I need to fill my days with lots of catch ups and appointments and lots of things on my to-do-list. But he’s also the first one to tell me to slow down and take a day to rest before I’ve done too much.
Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling, and some of your favourite details:
Our wedding day – original plan:
On May 9th, 2020, we were expecting roughly 100 guests to arrive at my high school Chapel to witness our marriage in a place that is very sentimental to myself and my extended family. We would then have our reception in a modern warehouse venue run by a well-known catering and events business. I was planning on setting the vibe for the night with lots of scattered candles and gorgeous autumnal tones of deep greens, magenta, and navy in the floral arrangements and table settings. Dan and his Groomsmen would be in Navy suits as my bridesmaids would have been in a silky wrap style navy midi dress.
None the less, our plans changed. Roughly 6 weeks before our wedding day we got the news that weddings could only go ahead with the couple, celebrant, and 2 witnesses present. This set our minds into a spin, weighing up whether we should postpone the entire day or go ahead without our loved ones present. Our decision to go ahead was based on a true gut feeling that the most important thing we wanted to share with each other was our love and commitment to our relationship going forward and we didn’t want to put this on hold. We could foresee that even if we postponed for 6-12 months, that day might come and there still may be restrictions in place which would still prevent us from experiencing our day as originally planned. We do not in the slightest regret our decision to get married without friends and family there to witness. An elopement neither of us had considered or planned for!!
Given the restriction to the number of people present at our wedding, we chose Dan’s Best Man, Sam, and our videographer, Michael from Native Wedding Videos, to be our witnesses. Without much notice, we sourced a new ceremony location, Churchill Events in Taradale, which was an absolutely magical location and truly set the scene for a romantic and intimate ceremony. We arranged for our photographer, Niki from Niki Photographer, to be around after the ceremony once our celebrant had left. The intimacy of our wedding magnified so many emotions for both of us. I cried through all of my vows, although Michael edited our video perfectly so the slobbering runny nose sniffles were cut out. Overall, our day was emotional but relaxed because we had no pressure on greeting guests nor a timeframe to stick to or anywhere to be that evening.
Our decision to film the ceremony was priceless as we got to send the video to all of our guests so they felt as though they were in some way part of our special day.
We have plans to go ahead with our reception at a later date, however at this stage, who knows, maybe we’ll just have a baby first?!
Tell us about your main outfits:
Dan was dressed in a navy suit, a white shirt, and a magenta tie to reflect the colours in my bouquet. His no-fuss attitude to footwear meant that the night before he was buffing and shining his well-loved black R.M.Williams boots. Even when I said there was money in the budget for a new pair, he insisted on wearing the ones he loves. Dan’s Mum posted his Scottish family pin down from Queensland and he proudly wore this on his suit lapel.
I wore a made to measure gown from Chosen by One Day Bridal. The timing for my fittings meant that I had only one fitting in the studio and the finished product was mailed to my home just days before our wedding. Although I didn’t get the full experience of fittings followed by lunch and champagne with my bridesmaids, when I got into my dress on my wedding day, it was magic! My dress was super simple, elegant, and timeless. I cannot wait to be able to wear it again at our reception, whenever that may be. Our wedding day was a wet, windy, cold 10 degrees so when my Mum came over in the morning and handed me my maternal grandmothers’ mink coat, it was perfect! I also had my paternal grandmother’s sapphire pinned to the inside of my dress so when I wasn’t wearing the mink coat I still had ‘something old’ on me. I borrowed my sister’s veil and wore a pair of simple strappy heels from Bared Footwear with initial plans to dance the night away and not worry about sore feet, but ended up walking through a paddock not worrying about sore feet.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
Our wedding day started by waking up together and taking our dog, Winnie, for a walk and to get a coffee.
It was pouring rain, but the whole walk we kept saying to each other “I can’t believe we’re actually going ahead and will soon be married in the middle of a global pandemic’’.
We parted ways in the late morning so that we could arrive at the ceremony location separately. We asked my parents to drive me to the ceremony location so they could be involved in some way. We had about an hour and a half in the car. It was a really nice time to sit and take in all of my emotions and thoughts about the day. My Dad and I are similar in many ways, and I have always said that if you don’t want to cry at weddings, funerals, milestone celebrations, don’t look at my Dad. He brings me to tears every single time! In the car, I had to tell Dad to stop looking at me through the rear vision mirror because every time he did I would start crying.
The general vibe from our Best Man, Celebrant, photographer and videographer was that they were so happy and honoured to be involved in a true celebration of love. The fact that we went to the effort to make late notice plans to continue with our wedding day, to them showed our intent to marry was honest and true.
One of my most favourite parts of the day was right at the end when we sat in the back of our best man’s car after having a photoshoot in a paddock on the side of the road. We drank champagne, ate from a cheese platter my bridesmaids had organised, and started to make phone calls and send messages to our closest family and friends to announce our marriage. We ended our day with more champagne over zoom with our immediate family and bridal party, followed by a little dance in the loungeroom to songs we had shortlisted for our DJ.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Do what makes you happy. We had originally planned a fairly traditional catholic ceremony and formal reception, but when life forces you to consider other options, it reveals the raw emotion and intent of marriage. When it comes to now being married our advice is – be kind, be gentle, be considerate, be understanding. You are two different people who share a love for each other. You don’t need to want to be the other person, but support them and make them shine!
Ceremony Location: Churchill Events | Videographer: Native Wedding Video | Photographer: Niki Schuch Photographer | Celebrant: Bianca Paliaga | Flora: Floral Architecture and Prunella | Bridal Gown: One Day Bridal | Groom’s Suit: MJ Bale | Rings: Diamond Line Jewellery | Shoes: | Bride’s Shoes: Bared | Groom’s Shoes: RM Williams | Makeup: Anna Thiele | Hair: Amy at Dry and Tea | Best Man Attire: MJ Bale
