Emily + Grant by Damien Milan - Together Journal

We were very relaxed about our ceremony. We knew we wanted to have it at a park, and so Arthur McElhone Reserve seemed the perfect spot, given we’d spent most Saturday mornings there drinking coffee and failing the SMH Quiz.

Emily —— I’m a graphic designer working in brand identity design and Grant is in the midst of a career change — he’s studying to be a social worker. I make things look good, and Grant will actually make things good. We’ve been together for nine years. We met as colleagues at a grocery store where we packed shelves during the night shift. Being in a grocery store in the wee small hours can send you a little loopy, and we definitely bonded over that experience.

We got engaged during lockdown on our nine-year anniversary. Grant and I have always been rather wedding-agnostic. We knew we wanted to be together, but had no plans to marry. In April, I was offered my dream job in the US and we’re moving there next year. Looking at our visa options, we realised that
marriage was the only way for Grant to join me. We talked a lot about it and came to the decision that if we didn’t care for marriage before, then it shouldn’t matter either way.

Grant and I had been questioning whether we even wanted to have professional photos taken, and if Damien and his partner Nastia hadn’t been available we may have skipped it altogether. In hindsight, they were the best decision we made. Damien and Nastia were naturally attuned to our energy and simply captured the afternoon as it happened. The photos embody how we felt that day, happy, relaxed, and super in love.

My dress was a simple linen midi dress from SIR the label. We organised our wedding during lockdown, so I had to rely on buying online. I knew I wanted the dress to be simple and elegant, and I wanted it to suit the Martiniano Pavone sandals I had my eye on. The first two dresses I bought were disasters. I wasted so much time on shipping and returns. Thankfully, it was third time lucky. My bouquet from Poho was really the only clear indication we were a bride and groom. The arrangement was elegant but relaxed, filled with orchids, hydrangeas and baby’s breath and tied with a simple white ribbon. Poho also helped me pin a bluebird locket (a family heirloom) to the ribbon.

We were married at 5:30pm in the park. After the ceremony, Grant and I talked, laughed, hugged, cried and toasted champagne with our nearest and dearest whom we hadn’t seen since before lockdown. It was the best. At 6:30pm we left the park to get dusk portraits. Afterwards, we assumed our family and
friends had left, but when we returned everyone was still there celebrating in the dark.