Tatyana + Michael by Enchanted Wedding Photography

We met at a local football club… became good friends for a couple of years and friendship turned into more. We have been together now for 9 years and time flies when you’re having fun! The rest is history! Oh and I must say Michael’s blue eyes may have had something to do with it.

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

I ( tatyana) am a nail technician with a love for gel colours and I own my own gel nail brand Gelicious. I own my own small salon in Geelong and have for 7 years. I used to be a flight attendant for Emirates which I absolutely loved but when I moved home from living abroad I took up nails again and sparked my passion for it and it is still something I love every day. My husband Michael works as a sales consultant. Michael has a big passion for football which he coaches part time as well as playing golf. We love to travel and spend quality time together and have recently had our first baby boy Etien. He is the love of our lives and we cannot imagine our lives without him.

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

When we did long distance relationship while I worked and lived in Dubai for 2 years and Michael stayed in Victoria – Geelong ( our home town). It was tough but I think it made us better and stronger and it was kind of nice to plan to see each other in different countries and is each other and crave to be with one another. It definitely  was fun and exciting but also challenging which I guess all played a big role in what we ended up feeling for one another and how strong our relationship got

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

We went for a weekend away in Apollo Bay. Michael took me to a seafood fair on the beach where I couldn’t find any seafood – I didn’t manage to get to the right area so we left and went to the beach. Haha! Michael played music on his phone and asked me to marry him. It was so beautiful and I still remember how calm and still the  afternoon was that day at the beach and how nervous he was and I had absolutely no idea why. The proposal was so complete surprise and I loved it and I remember how happy we both were. It was surreal!

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

We wanted something classic but casual. We had white roses and lots of greenery at the property which was an Estate that used to be an old boarding school. We ended up having our good friend Amy style it and we turned the tennis court into the reception  after the canapés were in the garden. We made the walls around it full of greenery and set up the band and dance floor and lighting there. It was amazing!

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

We loved our 6 piece band and saxophone, the photography and videography and styling too.

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

Setting it all up and making huge walls of greenery from the property on the tennis court – amazing but it was 38 degrees the day of set up. Haha! And also we had traditional Serbian rakija shots on arrival for all 220 guests. Funny thing is we smuggled so much rakija into the country from Serbia when I took Michael to meet my family over there. It was hilarious ! It was home made !

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

My dress was second hand – I had loved that style for years but Maticevski had stopped making that style at the time. I stumbled across a girl online that was selling it ( she wore it down the isle and then had a dress change) with my girlfriends – tried it on and it fit like a glove. Then we went out for dinner and ate and drank and laughed about the fact that it was the only dress I had tried on and it was meant for me!

| Reception location: Harrison Estate | Videographer: Popcorn Films | Photographer: Enchanted Wedding Photography | Celebrant: Priest | Entertainment: Like This Band | Styling, Hire, Planning: Friend | Catering + Beverages: Steampocket1 | Cake: Friend | Stationery: Proxyluke | Grooms Attire: Hugo Boss | Brides Attire: Tony Maticevski | Ring/s: Charles Rose | Shoes: Hugo Boss and Jimmy Choo | Makeup: Hilary Holmes | Hair: Grace Dunne Hair | Fragrance: Le labo