Sarah + Ned by Carly Kelly - Together Journal

I leant over and said ‘’I think I need to make this easier for both of us right now… Sar I am about to propose to you on this beach, but I want us to enjoy every second, so let’s just take a few deep breaths together before we do this.” The rest, as they say, is history.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
S – I work as a midwife which I love. On our day’s off we catch up with the family (we have seven nieces/nephews who we adore!), hang with friends, or just potter around home. I’ve been getting more into cooking lately so love spending my days off in the kitchen too!
N – I’m a complete finance nerd. I love all things business. Outside of work, I get my joy from hanging out with our families on lazy Sunday afternoons and having fun eating experiences around Brissy with Sar.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
S – Ned was one of my sister’s husband’s close friends and I’d met him a couple of times before through them. I always thought of him as being funny and sweet. We talked properly for the first time at our mutual friend’s engagement party and soon after he MC’d my sister’s wedding. I thought he was the funniest person alive. We grabbed a coffee together soon after and from there we were inseparable.

N – I knew Sarah through my mate for years, but as she was quite a bit younger, never really thought too much about dating her until down the track. I obviously thought she was the hottest thing since sliced bread, and her physical beauty turned out to be just the start. When we finally started to chat at mutual friend events, I found out she wasn’t only stunning, but she was also the sweetest girl I’d ever met with a great sense of humour and was very cheeky which made our first date lots of fun.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
S – I love watching the sunset at the beach. It was our anniversary and Ned had organised a dinner at the Gold Coast and planned to take me to watch the sunset beforehand. It was an overcast day and it wasn’t looking like there’d even be a sunset but he insisted we head to the beach. We were sitting on the sand just chatting for a little bit before he took me down by the water and popped the question!

N – I’d already planned to propose watching the sunset on the beach and pre-arranged my sister Breony, to take photos of the moment from a distance to avoid any suspicion from Sar. Sar obviously picked up something was about to happen, so while we were sitting watching the sunset, and as her suspicions started to become unavoidable and our emotional mix of joy, excitement, and nerves started to bubble over and overwhelm us, I leant over and said ‘’I think I need to make this easier for both of us right now… Sar I am about to propose to you on this beach, but I want us to enjoy every second, so let’s just take a few deep breaths together before we do this.” The rest, as they say, is history.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
S – We’d always loved the idea of an intimate wedding with our immediate family. We wanted it to be relaxed, fun, and easy to plan. Because it was so small (24 adults + 6 kids) and our guests were our family, it took away any pressure that we may have felt from perfecting the day and our whole wedding day was genuinely SO enjoyable. We had our wedding at Ned’s parent’s beautiful house in Manly. We’d put all the furniture from the bottom floor on a truck so we were able to work with an empty patio/kitchen/living room. The ceremony was on the patio outside by the pool, and we had set up a long table inside for the reception. Our celebrant was our brother-in-law, and our videographer and photographer were our friends. This kept the day feeling so intimate which I loved. We had a private chef come in to cater and she was incredible. It was honestly the most perfect day and exactly how we pictured it.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
S – Definitely having the day captured. It truly is one of the best days of your life, and to be able to look back on the photos and video and relive it all is so special (it’s been 3 months and I still look back at our photos on a weekly basis haha). Carly and Michael Kelly were our photographer and videographer and they were amazing! So much fun to spend the day with and so talented! 110% recommend splurging on a good photographer/videographer.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
S – White Lily was the first bridal shop I went to. When I first put on my dress, I liked it, but I wasn’t tottttally sold. The initial dress had a panelled corset bodice, which was beautiful, but I was after something softer. I also loved the idea of sleeves. The stylist brought out a tulle topper and detachable sleeves and with a bit of pinning, our imagination, and a phone call to Erin Clare to confirm the customisations, I fell in love. My favourite part of my gown was the sleeves. They were so fun, looked beautiful, and I loved being able to change my look slightly by just taking them off for the reception. Special note – My sister bought her wedding dress from White Lily and my fitting room was the same one she was in when she found her dress! Only a couple of years prior my mum and I were sitting on the couch watching her say yes to her dress, so it was special to have her and mum sitting on the same couch when I said yes to mine.