Hannah + Neasan by Richelle Casson - Together Journal

Tell us a little about yourselves, what do you do, what you love…

We both work in the wedding industry! Neasan’s a wedding photographer and has been in the photo industry for about 7 years. He loves listening to records and going out to take photos or film.

Hannah’s a graphic designer and is occasionally behind the camera too! She loves fashion and soppy rom-coms. We both love any reason to dress up and go out for dinner, a good bottle of wine, and a very full cheeseboard!

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We’ve known each other for over 10 years, we actually spent a long time at each other’s throats before we were dating to be honest — if you’d have told either of us that we’d be married 6+ years ago, we’d have laughed! Then one day, something clicked and the rest is history…

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

H – Not long after we started dating, I encountered a few health issues and Neasan was so supportive and understanding through all of this. I knew I wanted to share my life with someone who could take the good with the bad and make the best of any situation. Neasan certainly knows how to do this.

N – Hannah is a very independent person, she’s very driven and determined. These characteristics stood out to me for sure, but as we got to know each other she really opened up to me and showed me her softer side; which is very compassionate and understanding. I know she’s got my back 100%. Plus, she’s gorgeous!

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

H – The control freak that I am, had told Neasan exactly what ring I wanted and from when we first started talking about marriage I was always on edge – every date night, every time we were dressed up or anytime he made any comment that I could equate to the potential of a proposal. I was very adamant that I wanted a surprise, but I’m also a very hard person to surprise!

One night after we had dinner at my parents house, Neasan suggested we should go out for a drink and I should dress up and paint my nails. I should have been more suspicious with those instructions, but he had been suggesting these things whenever we would go out lately (all a part of his plan in hindsight) so I brushed it off and got ready. We went out for a drink and I think Neasan went to the bathroom about 5 times in the hour we were there. After we left, Neasan suggested we go for a walk down by the river. As we walked, there was a beautiful staircase with lamp posts lining each side and I saw some fairy lights and a little table with roses on it. I think I looked at Neasan and said ‘Aww look someones going to propose’ at which point he led me up the stairs, got down on one knee and proposed. I was very shocked, very excited and very impressed he managed to pull off the surprise part off.

N – I also had a full runsheet and gameplan written and printed out to give to my friends who helped me pull the suprise off. It looked like a secret mission, personally I am very proud of myself haha, I’ve never put so much effort into anything in my life.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…

H – Pre-covid and even before our engagement our plan had always been to get engaged and run off to France and elope. We got engaged in November 2020 and with the travel restrictions our plan couldn’t go ahead, so few months we kind of waited it out to see how everything played out. After about 5 months we decided we could be waiting forever and we’d just find the next best thing. We looked at multiple venues, none being quite perfect until we stumbled across Maison de Moon, a new little venue in the heart of Clarendon. We fell in love from the first visit and the vision fell into place from there.

We chose to limit our guest list to our immediate families to avoid having to have plan a,b,c,d if restrictions came into play. I was inspired by an elegant, romantic and old world aesthetic that came to life through a colour palette of soft blue hues complemented by subtle pinks and whites. I wanted it to feel like a garden party in the french countryside and so we opted for a short ceremony immediately followed by canapes and a luncheon on the terrace. The venue itself set the scene for the day and I chose styling elements that just enhanced what was already there.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

The invitations and stationery! I’m a details girl. I knew I wanted a calligrapher to hand-write our invitations and our small wedding allowed for this! We were so happy with how they turned out and now we get to keep them as keepsakes.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

It drizzled the whole day! We were hoping for beautiful sunshine, or at the very least that the rain would hold off since our luncheon was outside, but the weather had other plans! We can laugh about it now but at the time it was definitely a bit stressful. The incredible team at Maison de Moon, did everything they could to keep our guests comfortable and make the day run as smoothly as possible despite the weather.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

H – I had dreamt about my wedding dress for a long time and the very talented team at Shehzarin Batha Couture in Melbourne brought my vision to life. We took inspiration from my moodboards and their existing designs to create something new. I opted for a classic a-line silhouette and we fused this with beautiful details like exposed boning and delicate draping that tied into a soft bow at the back waist . The whole experience with them was faultless and their craftsmanship, expertise and attention to detail is like no other. Even despite not being able to make it to Melbourne for my final fitting, my dress fit me perfectly and was beyond my wildest dreams.

N – I wanted to go for something classic and fitting to the styling Hannah had put so much effort into, so I opted to go for a black tuxedo and bowtie. Nothing too fancy or eye catching, I wanted all the eyes to be on Hannah and her incredible dress! I did, however, get the shiniest shoes you’ll ever see — I collect sneakers and will often be seen in different shoes every day, so I thought the one thing I’d put a little personal touch on was my dress shoes. There was mixed opinions from the grandparents, but I thought they looked great!

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