Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
We both love to travel and our dog Peppa. I work in mental health and Aaron is an analyst.
We try to spend our weekends mostly outdoors exploring new places to take our dog or on weekend getaways down the NSW South coast.
Recently we’ve been spending a fair bit of time taking Peppa on walks around the neighbourhood and to parks, due to COVID restrictions. We love taking her to the beach in summer and watching her play in the water. We also love to have dinner and drinks at our local pub, and try out different restaurants around our local area.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
I met Aaron six years ago in a bar around Christmas time. We were both out for boozy Christmas lunches with our friends. Aaron had a huge beard at the time and was wearing sunglasses inside on the dancefloor so that was my first impression!
We initially bonded over our travels in South America. Turns out we were both there at the same time and almost crossed paths! We hit it off immediately and never looked back. My first impression was that she was funky and fun.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
We went down to Kangaroo Valley for the weekend for our anniversary. Erin knew I had bought the ring already but she didn’t know when I was going to propose, and I told her I wasn’t going to do it on our anniversary since that was too predictable. When we got to the house, we sat on the deck outside with some wine and cheese, enjoying the view out across the valley. After a few minutes made an excuse to go back inside and grabbed the ring. I went back outside, came up behind Erin and put my arms around her, then told her I loved her and asked her to marry me. Initially she was speechless, but eventually she said yes!
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
We had originally planned to get married in Queenstown, NZ but then Covid hit. We were two weeks away from leaving but had to cancel all our plans. We decided to stick to staying local for wedding round 2 a year later and found our venue by a simple google search, Aaron and I realised we didn’t have the energy to plan a completely new wedding so we brought on Laice from LB Styling to help out. Our wedding was by the sea, so we wanted a really relaxed vibe and Laice nailed it. We really wanted it to feel like a summer BBQ but elegant and I think Laice hit the brief perfectly.
We really wanted our wedding to be heaps of fun for everyone, and to have a relaxed, party atmosphere with heaps of drinks and food.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
My sister and maid of honour left my hotel to go to hers to finish getting ready. In the rush of leaving the hotel (with her 6-month baby in tow), she left a bag behind in the lobby which had her heels and the flower crown for my niece/flower girl. My phone network was also down that day so she had no way of contacting me for help. Thankfully my sister in law is the same size in shoes as my sister so she gave her heels to wear for the ceremony. It was so stressful at the time but my sister didn’t tell me any of it until after the ceremony.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
I had loved the Joni dress from Rime Arodaky well before I got engaged but there aren’t any stockists in Aus to try it on. I was told about a website called Still White where you can buy second-hand wedding dresses so I would occasionally look there but never had any luck. I went wedding dress shopping with my mum and sister one day and just didn’t love the experience/ couldn’t find anything that felt like my style so decided to give it a rest for a little while. One night I hopped back on Still White and found a girl selling the Joni, in Australia, in almost identical sizing to me and bought it straight away. Risky given I hadn’t seen it or tried it but I’m so happy I took the risk because it was the perfect dress for half the price!
I had initially wanted to buy a pair of Thomas George boots for the NZ wedding, but they were out of stock and I didn’t end up getting them. So when we had to reschedule, I made sure to buy them well in advance! I love a good pair of boots and these did not disappoint! For the jackets, I had initially picked a light blue colour for the NZ wedding. By pure luck, the colour ending up being a great match for the light blue colour of the Vaucluse Yacht Club and the water, which made the wedding photos look amazing.
Location: Vaucluse Yacht Club / Photographer: Sam Riles / Celebrant: Victoria Pearson / Entertainment: DJ – Edgar Lattouf (friend) / Styling & planning: Laice Bollen at LB Styling / Stationary: Lettering by V / Hire: Simply Seated / Flora: Dandy Flora / Catering + Beverages: Shared Affair / Cake: Black Star Pastry / Wishing Well: Glass shadow box from West Elm / Bride’s gown – Rime Arodaky from Still White / Groom’s attire: Brent Wilson / Groom’s shirt: COS / Bride’s rings: Natalie Marie / Groom’s wedding band: Rory Rea Jewellery / Bride’s Shoes: Senso / Groom’s shoes: Thomas George collection / Bride’s earrings: Enesea / Hair: Kayla Goss Bridal / Fragrance: Le Labo Santal 33 (bride) and Patchouli 24 (groom) / Bridesmaids: Bec and Bridge and Hansen and Gretel / Groomsmen: Brent Wilson
