Real Wedding - Ria & Billy, Bellarine VIC

December 11, 2016 In Real Weddings By Jessica Brawn

Real Wedding – Ria & Billy, Bellarine VIC

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It’s clear that cool and cruisey couple, Ria and Billy, were meant to be together when their stars aligned two years later after they first initially met. Fast forward seven years to their wedding day, held at The Barn in Wellington. With two years and a half years up their sleeves before the big day, Ria and Billy had plenty of time to plan the perfect occasion. The couple enlisted the help of Annabel from BelCo Events who styled this beautiful barn by fusing rustic and art deco elements together seamlessly. The reception was followed by a casual cocktail party to celebrate with their nearest and dearest and all fun was captured beautifully by lens legend, Tom Rawlins.

In Ria’s words…

The meeting.

We initially met when we were 18. Billy played in a band and my best friend took me to watch them play. At that point in our lives we were both in relationships, however, two years later the stars aligned at my best friends birthday party when we were both single. Seven years later we’re happily married and more in love than ever.

The one.

The first 6 months of our relationship were ‘long distance’. I lived in Melbourne and Billy lived in Sale. We’d try and spend every weekend together. I would get that empty feeling when I got back to Melbourne. From this moment on I knew he was the one so I was willing to make the sacrifice to move to Sale. Best decision I’ve ever made.

The proposal.

Billy had a truck that needed to be sold, but it had been sitting around depreciating, with me half-jokingly suggesting to Billy that he sell it, put the money in a high investment bank account and buy me an engagement ring. Finally, the truck was sold and I was on cloud nine as surely my ring would be arriving any day, until Billy informed me a few weeks later he was now the proud new owner of a boat. Little did I know that Billy, and my best friend had been scheming and a ring had been purchased. When I returned from a trip to Byron Bay, nursing a rather filthy hangover, I arrived home to find Billy had set up cheese platter along with a bottle of wine, that I really didn’t really feel like. While that wasn’t out of the ordinary, it was certainly unexpected. When Billy handed me a book, I opened it to find the pages had been hollowed out into the shape of a heart and the most perfect engagement ring and the words saying ‘will you marry me’. My heart stopped as I looked at Billy, then back at the book, then at Billy, then at the book with Billy’s heart racing hoping that I would hurry up and say yes! Finally, with tears in my eyes, I said yes!

The planning.

We had an engagement of two and a half years so the planning process was really cruisey for us; just how we like it. We booked The Barn two years in advance and then started booking in the big things from then onwards. Once we got closer to the wedding all the details fell into place. We also had the very talented Annabel from BelCo Events do the styling for our wedding which allowed us to enjoy the lead up to our big day and made the process enjoyable and stress free. She is absolutely amazing!

Style inspiration.

All we wanted was our wedding to be a fun, casual cocktail party with all the people we love, and that it certainly was. The rustic feel of The Barn worked perfectly, incorporating a modern, art deco feel that we were after. We gave Annabel from BelCo Events a brief and budget and she ran with it, creating a styling concept beyond anything we could’ve imagined.

The dress.

My beautiful dress is ‘Theia’ from Bridal Atelier and was certainly not what I thought I would wear. My maid of honour picked this dress out which did not look that appealing on the hanger but I thought I’d give it a go. Luckily I did! it was exactly how I imagined I would feel when I found the prefect dress with all those bride emotions. The dress was simple, elegant and most of all comfortable. The girls at Bridal Atelier were lovely and created a great experience.

Favourite moments.

Walking down the aisle to the love of my life was a surreal moment. At one stage I forgot about our wedding guests surrounding us as I was just so excited to get to the end of the aisle to be with my soon to be husband. Our ceremony was perfect! It was casual, funny, romantic and emotional all in one. My cheeks hurt from smiling so much through out it. Also, the speeches were great! Hearing such beautiful words from a special few was really lovely. Oh, and crowd surfing was defiantly a favorite moment! I saw Billy do it and thought well if he can do it, why can’t I?

Traditions.

Billy and I tried to steer away from wedding traditions however being walked down the aisle by my proud as punch dad was a traditional moment that meant a lot.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle – Latch by Sam Smith (Acoustic version)

Reception Entry & First Dance – Latch by Disclosure

Funny stories/ near disasters.

All was going seamlessly leading up to our day so of course there had to be a little near disaster. Billy almost forgot to pick up our wedding cake the day before the wedding. It was scheduled to be picked up at 4:30pm however with finalising the last of a few wedding duties it slipped both our minds. Ashlea from That Place Patisserie had been trying to get in-touch and lucky for us she didn’t leave her kitchen until 8:00pm that night when we finally realized.

Planning suprises.

Another bride has said this and I have to agree; I was surprised by how non-stressful the process was. This was defiantly because we had two years to plan our wedding with wedding stylist to assist.

Words of wisdom.

Enjoy your day! Things might not go to plan but you just have to embrace it. All that matters is that you’re marrying the love of your life.