The mood was a romantic, garden-styled wedding, keeping it a little bit country with a touch of elegance.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
We are parents to three beautiful children, a toddler and our almost one-year-old twins. We live on acreage in Brisbane and are in the middle of renovation of our dream home. We love pottering around our property, having coffee in the local village, collecting the eggs from our chickens and walking with our dogs. We are in our “parenting era”, so our main focus is navigating each week with the kids and surviving the late nights and new milestones. We love to take a moment to slow down when we can due to Mikes work being very busy when in season. Michael is a professional sportsman, and I’m a stay-at-home mama to our little ones. Before I became a mum, I worked in the jewellery industry at a beautiful boutique named “By Baby” My engagement ring was designed in-store, and I was lucky enough to design my wedding band with the team. Working in Jewellery is where I found beauty in all things bespoke, especially with engagements and weddings. Helping couples find and or create their dream rings was a really special job.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We met over ten years ago through close friends and have been together for eight. We hit it off immediately and had eyes for each other from that first date. We never really had a moment that our relationship was “official” I guess as we were so serious about each other from the get go, so we picked our very first date and now celebrate it as our anniversary every year.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
Mike: I had a feeling after our first date that we would spend our life together; each date after that, I became even more sure.
Olivia: I remember coming home after one of our dates and telling my roommate, “This is the guy I’m going to marry.” It feels pretty crazy to see how far we have come and what we have achieved since then.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
A very special proposal. Mike popped the question while we were in a two-person plane flying over the ocean near Bribie Island. The whales were surfacing in the ocean below us, and he managed to slip the ring box out of his pocket when I wasn’t looking. The best part was Mike was actually flying the plane, so it was just us! He invited our closest friends over for some champagne and celebrations to follow the proposal later that evening; it felt like the perfect end to the day.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.
When we found Mona Farm, it just ticked all the boxes.
A working farm, a beautiful marquee for the reception and onsite accommodation to keep family and friends close. The mood was a romantic, garden-styled wedding, keeping it a little bit country with a touch of elegance. As this was a destination wedding, we wanted our guests to feel relaxed and unwind over the course of the three days. Starting with the welcome dinner, which was a perfect way to reconnect everyone and settle into the slow pace of the sleepy Braidwood township and countryside. The wedding was a late one, so relaxing with a lakeside Recovery lunch was just what we all needed! We ate, played lawn games, and some even slept in the sun! Guests could choose their mood with either the spritzer bar or the little coffee cart. Watching all of the children play together while the parents relaxed was the perfect way to finish off our wedding celebrations.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Mike and I really wanted to treat everyone to a memorable feast, so the dining experience was always the main focus for us. We look back on the day, and both agree that the delicious food was one of our greatest investments. Our favourite pastime is a big Sunday lunch with the family, so we used this as our inspiration to create and choose our wedding menu. Sitting amongst our guests was a great choice to keep it feeling romantic and relaxed. We opted for big share plates with mains of Riverine ribeye, braised lamb shoulder and snapper fillet. An espresso martini tower overcame that after dinner feel and kicked off the party. We finished off the evening with a late night snack of mini burgers, and wedding cake or banoffee pie was on hand for a sugar hit during the night of dancing – I think we all rolled home after all the food we consumed.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
Our wedding day was forecasted to rain, and it absolutely poured down a few hours before our ceremony. I cried that morning over discussions of the day’s plan; they then had to move our ceremony to the reception area in front of the dining tables. Our vendors worked tirelessly and rushed to make it happen, we may not have had the green garden ceremony we had our hearts set on, but wow the team pulled it together! We just laughed when the sun came out shining, and the skies completely cleared after we said, “I do”. To top it off, Our cheeky toddler, Hugo, raced to the nearest muddy puddle during the signing and had a good splash in it!
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
For my dress, I had actually picked the most divine, silk bias cut gown, with an open organza back from Harriet Gordons range at Bloom Bridal. I was six months pregnant with the twins at the time; due to this, we were going to do final measurements once they had arrived. I really had not considered the “Breastfeeding friendly aspect” of my chosen gown. So there we were, a few months before the wedding, making a mad dash to organise a new Harriet gown style that would accommodate both extra support and a cup to hide the breastfeeding pads!! Harriet is a mother herself, and completely supported the journey to giving me a perfect dress, Sam at Bloom was quick to help turnaround this new mum request and accommodated me at every turn. Once we had the new dress sorted, Harriet Gordon’s team created a stunning, custom organza trailing bow to give my new gown something special. For Mike’s look, we wanted something with more texture and colour that was a little different to what we had been seeing in wedding looks. We chose a darker oatmeal linen suit from MJ Bale and teamed it with tan RM Williams boots to bring a little country to the look.
LOCATION Mona Farm, @monafarm_ PHOTOGRAPHER Florido Weddings, @Florido_weddings VIDEOGRAPHER Houndstooth Films, @houndstoothfilms FLORIST Mrs Gibbons Flowers, @mrsgibbonsflowers CELEBRANT Aniella Batten, @aniellabatten_celebrant ENTERTAINMENT Band – Stellaire, @stellaire.ent; DJ & MC – DJ Shortstar, @djshortstar CATERING Wedding Day – Simon Ekas Catering, @simonekascatering; Recovery Event – Tristan Rebates – Mona Farm, @monafarm_ CAKE Poppy Wilison – Mona Farm, @monafarm_ STATIONERY Creative Line & Co, @creativeline_andco RINGS By Baby, @_bybaby SUIT MJ Bale, @mjbale GROOM’S BOOTS RM Williams, @rmwilliams GROOM’S ACCESSORIES Hat – Akubra, @akubraofficial BRIDE’S CEREMONY SHOES Amina Muaddi, @aminamuaddi BRIDE’S CEREMONY ACCESSORIES Earrings – Saint Valentine, @saint_valentine_jewellery HAIR & MAKEUP Georgia Hull, @beautybygeorgiahull BRIDE’S FRAGRANCE Jo Malone, @jomalonelondon BRIDE’S RECEPTION DRESS Prea James, @preajames_bridal BRIDE’S RECEPTION DRESS Jimmy Choo, @jimmychoo BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES Zimmermann, @zimmermann BRIDESMAIDS HEELS Billini, @billinishoes BRIDESMAIDS ACCESSORIES Earring – The Traveller Series, @thetravellerseries GROOMSMEN SUIT MJ Bale, @mjbale GROOMSMEN BOOTS RM Williams, @rmwilliams GROOMSMEN ACCESSORIES Hat – Akubra, @akubraofficial
