Real Wedding - Sarah & Joe, Silvan VIC

March 7, 2017 In Real Weddings By Jessica Brawn

Real Wedding – Sarah & Joe, Silvan VIC

Sarah and Joe didn’t need a lavish wedding, they simply needed their family and friends by their side and an overwhelming feeling of love.

With barely a dry eye as they exchanged vows, Sarah recalls that heading off for post ceremony photos with their photographer, Tribe favourite Michelle Pragt of In Photography, was one of the best moments of the day. They enjoyed the golden glow of dusk as they relished in the fact they had just been married, and what a blissful start to the celebrations it was!

In Sarah’s words…

The meeting.

We met 5 years ago at the Groovin’ the Moo festival in Bendigo. We had only ‘known’ about each other through friends of friends. So meeting Joe defiantly had me feeling nervous. Joe made me feel comfortable instantly as if I had already known him for years. Talking to him was easy and I found myself enjoying his company instantly. Before I knew it the weekend was over and I wasn’t ready to stop talking to Joe. The next day I bit the bullet and got his number off a friend of mine. I swallowed my pride and messaged him the very next day and we never looked back from that moment.

The proposal.

Two years prior to Joe popping the question we built our first home together. There were several setbacks that caused delays in the build which is why the build took two years. Finally, it was time to settle on the house and we were over the moon. Marriage had been discussed between us before, however Joe was very convincing when he would say ‘that marriage was something we just couldn’t afford yet’, which was easy to believe as building this house consumed majority of our savings.

While I was back at our old rental cleaning Joe was at the new house setting up the proposal.

He blew up balloons that spelt out ‘WILL YOU MARRY ME? Y N’

When I got to the new house Joe was upstairs and called me up. I walked up the stairs and instantly saw the balloons. I froze. I couldn’t believe what was happening. All I remember saying was ‘what are you doing?’ over and over again. When I walked over to the balloons Joe asked which letter I wanted to pop. He popped the Y balloon for me and my ring came flying out. He then got down on one knee and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him.

We were both blubbering exhausted mess’s after spending the entire day moving house. We drank champagne and fell asleep in our new house together. Being on cloud 9 was an understatement.

The planning.

I found majority of the planning process quite easy and stress free. We had an 18-month long engagement. I booked all of our main suppliers basically straight away, but after that sat on most things for about a 12 months. The last 6 months did become a little hectic and stressful as the lead up to finishing work for 6 weeks was also hectic and stressful. I am still so extremely thankful for my beautiful bridesmaids as they helped in every way they possibly could.

Style inspiration.

Relaxed Chic? Is that even a style? I wanted a style that was relaxed without being too relaxed and stylish without being too over the top. I must admit I based a lot of the style around the venue. It was a rustic style barn so I didn’t want to have anything too glam for it as I thought it would be too much over kill.

The dress.

Finding my dress was easier than I thought it would be. Originally I wanted a really boho dress, something that didn’t look like a ‘wedding dress’. My maid of honor suggested that I go to some bridal shops to try wedding dresses on just to make sure I was 100% sure I didn’t want a ‘wedding’ dress. My mind was instantly changed. Never had I felt as beautiful as I did as soon as I put ‘my’ dress on. I fell in love instantly and I couldn’t stop thinking about the way I looked in it. Two weeks later and I was back putting a deposit on it.

Favourite moment.

During our reception our photographer took us to a meadow which was about a five minute drive from the venue. We were there for about 15 minutes and watched the sun set while getting some more photos together. This was our favourite part as we got to take in the day that we were having. It was our little moment just the two of us and we got to laugh and enjoy our wedding together.

The meaning of marriage.

Marriage means that you get to annoy the same person every day for the rest of your life. Haha, not really! Marriage to us means that you have committed to work hard at your relationship with the person you love more than anything for the rest of your life.

Wedding soundtrack.

Isle song –Teenage Dream by Katy Perry (That’s right! It was done by an acoustic singer though)

Reception entry –24 Carrats by Bruno Mars

First Dance – Northern Wind by City and Colour

Planning surprises.

The only surprise I came across was how many people (mainly family members) wanted to dictate who and how many people came to the wedding. We were able to work through this with all parties and compromise.

Words of wisdom.

Don’t compare what your wedding is going to be like to the weddings you see in magazines and blogs. Your wedding is what you make of it and no matter how much money you spend and how you style the day it will be perfect no matter what.

SARAH AND JOE’S TRIBE

Ceremony venue / location: Gum Gully Farm, Silvan

Reception venue / location: Gum Gully Farm Silvan. I can’t even put into words how amazing our venue was. I feel like Sue was on call 24/7 for me. Every email and phone call was answered straight away. They brought a real family feel to the entire wedding which was even commented on by guests of the wedding.

Celebrant/Officiant: Linda Hamill. Linda was so beautiful. She was extremely friendly and made us feel so comfortable throughout the entire process. People had asked us if we knew her previous to her being our celebrant as she was so easy to get along with.

Photography: In Photography by Michelle Pragt. We hit the absolute jackpot with Michelle. We knew our photos would be amazing but we really didn’t realize just how AMAZING they would be! Her work is beyond incredible, every shot she took is just magic.

Videography: Burgess Video. Annette was great to deal with. She never seemed in the way and from the Instagram preview we have seen we cannot wait to see the real thing!

Styling: Myself

Florist: Flora Basics

Hair and Make Up: Hair by Image Hair by Amy Monty & Makeup by Makeup by Rhilee

The Dress: Purchased from Raffael Cuccia and the designer was Caleche Bridal.

Veil / head wear: Veil by Julia Belles Veils. My flower piece was done by my florist

Shoes: Purchased from Mirror Mirror Boutique in Frankston.

Rings: Michael Hill

Bridesmaids dresses: Country Road

Grooms suit: Peter Jackson

Grooms Shoes: Peter Jackson

Groomsmen suits: Peter Jackson

Bow ties / ties: Peter Jackson