Real Wedding - Kirsten & Gareth, Daylesford VIC

January 17, 2017 In Real Weddings By Jo Betz

Real Wedding – Kirsten & Gareth, Daylesford VIC

Wanting their guests to enjoy a weekend away, a wedding in the spa town of Daylesford was the perfect choice for Kirsten and Gareth.

Choosing to have a wedding that was natural in style, yet also elegant, they loved gathering their loved ones to celebrate a once in a lifetime moment. Choosing to have a ‘first look’ at each other prior to their ceremony proved to be the highlight of their day and ease any pre-wedding jitters, all the while captured beautifully by Louisa Bailey.

In Kirsten’s words…

The meeting.

Our first meeting was through a mutual friend. Out in the city with different groups, our first meeting was a hello and a quick passing by. It wasn’t until some weeks later, we the officially met. Gareth had been asking my friend Tarryn for my number and it wasn’t until this second meeting where we actually spoke. It was obvious Gareth was trying to impress. I will never forget that first meeting. Gareth seemed to be very interested in me, smiling the entire time. I walked away thinking he was a little odd, as he just kept staring at me.

The one.

There certainly is an element where you just know. Our relationship was something that grew and made sense. It wasn’t an immediate he/she is the one story. We met when in our first year of Uni and have been together for 12 ½ years before getting married. We have been through various up’s and down’s as well as some time apart; we somehow always came back together. I think those were the defining moments which have brought us to where we are today.

The proposal.

We had shopped for a ring together, so I knew he had one. It was just a matter as to when the proposal would happen. Gareth had planned on proposing during our holiday to America though he didn’t really have an exact plan as to when. Subsequently he had the ring in my pocket everywhere we went. Through customs in airports, during the day and even evenings, he did a good job keeping it low key, I’m a snoop and he doesn’t get much past me easily. After travelling to New York, Boston, New Orleans, Mexico, Las Vegas – still nothing, I was starting to think he left the ring back in Melbourne. One day in San Francisco, walking from our hotel to the Golden Gate Park, we hired a row boat and then it happened. Very casual, calm and quick he asked me to marry him. I was caught off guard (not easy for Gareth to achieve with me) it was of course a yes!

Style inspiration.

The inspiration behind our wedding style was to be relaxed and natural, yet elegant.

We very much wanted to do it our way. There were certainly touches we wanted as a part of the day. Having worked within the wedding industry years ago, I knew what I liked and what I didn’t. This certainly helped to focus our style. We wanted it to be out of town so that we could make a weekend of it, we planned something which was completely us.

The dress.

It took only two shopping trips to find the dress! Mum was in town from interstate and we were heading back to a previous store to try on a dress we thought was going to be the one. Browsing before the appointment, we stumbled across The Bridal Atelier and had a look at their collection – I found the dress but didn’t try it on. We went to the appointment and as soon as I put on the dress, we thought was the one, we knew it wasn’t. I had the other dress in my mind which we had seen earlier that day. We went back and they were kind enough to let me try it on just before close and that was that, dress was ordered.

I didn’t do much research prior to shopping, was trying to stay open minded to try on various styles/designs. I knew I wanted lace, no bling and something which was relaxed, a little vintage but modern too.

Favourite moment.

Our first look. We did one of these prior to the ceremony to enable more time for photos to be taken due to lighting and timing. This was our favourite part of the day as it was only us (& our bridal party). It was intimate and enabled us to relax after seeing each other for the first time.

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage has always been an important step in our lives. It symbolizes commitment and a sense of moving forward. As we’ve been together for many years, initially there was no rush to live together or settle down. As we’ve gotten a little older our perspective has changed and the want to settle down is now stronger than it was previously. Marriage is taking on new adventures and continuing to see growth within us individually but also as a couple.

Wedding soundtrack.

Processional: Heartbeats, Jose Gonzalez (singer/acoustic guitarist)

Recessional: Better Together, Jack Johnson (singer/acoustic guitarist)

First Dance: Horses, Daryl Braithwaite

Words of wisdom.

Do it your way. We had an uneven bridal party and we opted for a Cheese tower instead of a wedding cake. There are no rules. Making the day a reflection of ourselves made it more special for us.

Recommendations are great. Our photographer recommended our florist. Our make-up artist recommended our hair stylist and it took the stress out of planning a little.

Gareth would say, that if something goes wrong or isn’t as expected, don’t tell the bride until after the ceremony (of course, fix it but she doesn’t need to know). The male vocalist for our ceremony was changed a week prior to the wedding and he didn’t tell me until after the ceremony. It made no difference and in fact he was perfect for our ceremony.