Real Wedding - Megan & Johnny, Camp Lovetron

December 8, 2015 In Real Weddings By Ivory Tribe

Real Wedding – Megan & Johnny, Camp Lovetron

Meg and Johnny – sweethearts from the moment they met – wanted a wedding day that would blow their guest’s minds. Little did they know, Mother Nature had every intention of making this happen.

Their guests gathered under a fierce sun to watch Johnny and Meg declare their love before they rolled into an afternoon soiree of drinks and festival food, surrounded by rolling hills and gum trees.

Then came the storm. The first gust sent every paper cup swirling, the second almost sent their marquee flying and by the third gust of wind – every man, woman and child was holding on for dear life. Then came torrential rain.

However, what could have been deemed a disaster was not viewed in this way at all as Johnny and Meg, and their much-loved family and friends banded together. What could have been crushing was made joyous and hilarious. A camaraderie was established and when the winds finally died down there wasn’t a single person without a smile on their face.

See the magic of Meg and Johnny’s day, as documented so perfectly by Louisa Bailey.

In Meg and Johnny’s words…

The meeting.

Meg: We met at high school, started dating at 16 (but our mothers had worked at the same hospital when they were pregnant so we met at the beginning of time). Johnny had a band called The Galvatrons, so the nicknames Galvatron and Megatron have stuck ever since. Our friends call us “The Trons,” and so the wedding became “Camp Lovetron.”

The proposal.

Johnny: We both have a long history with Meredith Music Festival. I had stepped out onto the stage, and Meg had watched me beneath the lights. In the following years Meg would be running Heaven 11 (a festival shop), and I, along with many of our friends, would be working over the festival weekend. Many of our fondest memories linger in those fields. The night before Meredith, beside the pink tree in the Supernatural Amphitheatre, below the reams of festoon lighting and a neon flamingo, I asked Meg to marry me. I said, “Megatron, I have never tried to write a song about you, or base a character around you, because characters need faults and flaws, and you are too perfect to be believable. That’s why I love you, and why you’re terrible for literature.”

The planning.

Johnny: We wanted a high school camp-meets music festival, with a sprinkle of Camp Ivanhoe from Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom. A music festival scout jamboree, if you will. While we had a year-long engagement most of the wedding plans happened in the month prior.

Meg: We approached a school camp and they agreed to us having 100 people on the camp oval and sleeping in bunk beds. It felt like us as we met at high school and have memories of sitting on basketball courts and eating lunch together. We also love our annual festivals – Meredith and Golden Plains – and wanted to share that festival love with friends and family.

Style inspiration.

Meg: A lot of DIY! Johnny designed the invites, camp rules and stickers. I did the flowers, styling and garlands. Pretty much everything was created/up-cycled/sourced by us and our talented family and friends. All in all, our team made the bar, the tipi and the signage. At the end of the evening we used many various light stands to repair the collapsing marquee as hurricane strength winds threatened to launch our wedding 30 miles into the bush!

The dress.

Meg: I went to one bridal store but had dreams of a pale blue dress that I knew I wouldn’t find on the rack – the whole bridal dress shopping experience wasn’t for me! I found the tulle in my hometown Geelong, Mum found the lace in Brunswick and my sister found the dressmaker. The dressmaker started the dress two months prior to the wedding and totally understood my brief – epic skirt, simple top and attention to detail. The veil was a last minute addition, I had it made the week of the wedding and unsure if I would wear it. However, when I put it on and it made my skirt look even bigger, it was a yes!

Favourite moment/s.

Meg: I felt totally blissed out walking down the aisle looking at Johnny and really excited that we were actually getting married and spending the weekend with all our favourite people. After the epic storm that was named ‘Love Hurricane’, the DJ dropped Africa by ToTo and everyone jumped on tables, hugged and danced. It was our moment of victory after we had conquered the hurricane of love and came out stronger as a group and more determined to party all night in the mud under the stars!

Traditions.

Meg: We wanted an un-wedding ceremony, so one of our best friends and my mum conducted the service and our bridal party read our love story from a picture book Johnny created. Our readings were song lyrics by David Bowie, Queen and Mariah Carey. Although the day wasn’t traditional it was full of sentiment – such as the roses I planted with mum at my family home, that were then picked and used in my bouquet.

Funny stories.

Meg: We had an epic storm that changed the course of our evening from traditional running times to a whole lot of drinking followed by dancing, speeches, dinner and cutting the cake at 1.30am! One of our funniest memories is of our bar man James (who dressed as the sheriff from the film Moonrise Kingdom, but looked more like a stripper) standing on the bar as the storm was erupting, holding the roof up with one hand serving drinks like a gentleman with the other. Like most nights out we went on a 3am chicken nugget mission to the kitchen with our best mates. I’m sure I was a vision eating chicken straight from the oven tray in my wedding dress.

Meaning of marriage.

Johnny: A lifetime of midnight snack runs, impromptu treasure hunts, shooting nerf guns at the TV, all the terrible dancing and even more terrible dancing.

Words of wisdom.

Meg: Have fun and trust the vendors you choose to do what they do best. Every single vendor we used was an absolute legend. With our carefully selected ‘Camp Lovetron’ team we made magic and the stories of our team became important stories of our day and our lives – we love that!

Don’t stress the small details and invest your time and money into something epic!

Choose a photographer that is relaxed and fun to be around. Louisa felt like family and she brought a wave of calmness when she arrived and made having 100’s of photos of my face bearable – maybe even fun!