Real Wedding - Cassie & Luke, Geelong VIC

October 4, 2017 In Real Weddings By Natalie Drum

Real Wedding – Cassie & Luke, Geelong VIC

Cassie and Luke wanted their wedding day to be simple.

Keeping it convenient for their guests by ensuring their ceremony and reception were in one place, they focused on the importance of their wedding ceremony and throwing a party that all of their loved ones could enjoy.

It was a Tribe of talent that pulled this day together. Styled with gorgeous greenery from Olive Green Plant and Prop Hire, light up letters by Love Light Letters and captured by Tribal talent Jake Hogan, this relaxed and oh-so-fun celebration has a distinct 70’s vibe, and really is a beauty.

In Cassie’s words…

The meeting.

We met back in July of 2013. I was on Facebook when an ad for a free dating site trial came up. I was a couple of hours away from starting night-shift so decided to download it to keep me amused during my shift. Upon going through the endless amount of extremely undesirable men, I stumbled across Luke’s photo. After I flicked past him, I decided I was going to send him a message. However to my dismay, I was unable to flick backwards and spent half the night continuing through the profiles hoping that I would run into him again. As I was doing so, an alert came up. To my surprise, it was him! We chatted for a couple of days and then two nights later we met and have been together ever since.

The ‘one’.

We both admitted to each other that we knew that we were meant to be together from the very beginning and we knew that we had found the ‘one’.

The proposal.

Luke proposed in Hamilton Island in November 2014. We had spoken about it for so long that I knew it would happen and every time we went somewhere I anticipated it. This particular holiday, I thought there was no way he would as it would be far too obvious (I even noticed that he had left the suitcase unattended in the QANTAS lounge to go and get drinks, so I ruled out the prospect completely). He took me up to a lookout overlooking the ocean and got down on one knee within the hour or two of arriving. I was so surprised. Later that night he had organised a special private poolside dinner for the two of us, it was absolutely beautiful.

The planning.

We both decided that the wedding prep wouldn’t start for a while. We were trying for a baby and I certainly wasn’t going to get married pregnant, so we decided to wait. The whole baby making process took a lot longer than expected. We also decided that if we were going to have a honeymoon we wouldn’t want to have it with a baby in tow so we did a trip the the USA in Sep 2015. I ended up getting pregnant over there and about halfway through the pregnancy we decided to set a date! We knew that we would have it in April 2017 as I hate the warm weather, so it couldn’t be in the Summer time! We both knew exactly what we wanted so the planning was super easy. I think I had everything organised in about two weeks.

Style inspiration.

Luke and myself are both very relaxed and knew that we would opt for that style of wedding. “Nothing formal”, we always used to say. We didn’t want anything traditional, and have always been into the 70’s, I love that era. I wanted to incorporate that real boho feel into the wedding.

I was also wanting an outdoor ceremony but given the time of year, wasn’t sure it would be a good idea. We chose a venue with an undercover outdoor area and decided to hire in lots of plants and greenery to make it look and feel like being out in a garden We knew that we also wanted the ceremony and reception at the same place. We both hate the awkward time there is to fill in between ceremony and reception and going from place to place and wanted something that flowed.

We both share a love for 70’s music, so we also knew that was what we wanted to incorporate into the day, and both had a very similar mindset from the beginning. We wanted something intimate that was fun and enjoyable for our guests, we wanted a party.

The dress.

My dress was an amazingly unique piece by designer Rue de Seine. Again, I always knew I wanted a real 70’s style dress with bell sleeves; something really relaxed and easy to dance in. A girlfriend was working in a boutique in Armadale at the time I was engaged and shared a similar style. She suggested I look at this particular designer and as soon as I saw her work I fell in love. When I came across the dress for the first time I knew it was the one. I organised to have it sent down from Sydney and went to try it on. It was the first and only dress I had tried but I knew I would never find one like it. I ordered it right away and had it for about a year and a half leading up to the wedding! We hadn’t even set a date before I had ordered the dress. All that time and a baby later, it still fit so it was meant to be. All I wish is that I could wear it again!

Favourite moments.

My favourite moment of the day was walking into the ceremony and seeing my husband standing down the end of the aisle with our daughter in his arms, waiting for me. It was such a surreal experience. A moment you dream of your whole life and then suddenly it is happening. It was so lovely seeing everyone we loved there for us and to celebrate with us.

Traditions.

The only real tradition we included was a first dance. We only danced alone briefly before inviting everyone up to join us. We wrote our own vows and had a huge input into how the ceremony was written.

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage to us means getting to do life with your best friend by your side.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Beloved One by Ben Harper

Signing: Wasted by Angus and Julia Stone

Reception entry: Jungle by Tash Sultana

First dance: Tiny Dancer by Elton John.

Words of wisdom.

Do what YOU want not what others want you to do. Don’t go too over the top. Stay true to yourselves and what you want. Keep it intimate, invite only those nearest and dearest to you. If you don’t like tradition, then don’t involve it! A wedding can be exactly what YOU want it to be. Take it all in and take many photos and videos. It goes by so quickly and all your left with are the memories. Smile, relax, whatever will be, will be. Don’t get let down by things that may not go to plan. Just enjoy it, its the best day of your life!

Oh, and remember to never to let your champagne glass be empty. Sometimes you can get so caught up in conversation, so don’t forget about the important things.