Real Wedding – Adam & Hayley, Lakes Entrance VIC
The phrase ‘mother knows best’ took on a whole new meaning for Hayley and Adam, as it was Hayley’s Mum who first spotted Adam at a music gig he was playing at and thought he would be absolutely perfect for her daughter Hayley. Lo and behold, she was right.
Hayley and Adam’s wedding day, or shall we say weekend, revolved around being one big celebration. A celebration of their love and having all their friends and family in the one location – the picturesque grounds of Eight Acres. With a quiet, rustic charm, it provided the perfect backdrop to host their guests and reflected the relaxed vibe they wanted their day to encapsulate.
Hayley chose a modern asymmetrical cut dress from Bluebell Bridal, whilst Adam donned a three-piece tailored check suit. Their colour palette of sage greens for the bridesmaids and taupe suits for their groomsmen toned in amongst the subtle bushland and native surrounds.
Everything was topped off with a standout performance that they themselves had orchestrated for their guests. A highlight for the evening and a highlight they will replay time and time again for the rest of their lives, all captured through the lens of Matt x Jacques.
The meeting.
We met in 2017 when Hayley’s Mum spotted Adam singing at a bar. She knew after speaking with him that we would be a great match, so she forced Hayley (who was at home studying for her exams) to come inside when she picked her Mum up later that night. When Hayley walked in she was dragged straight over to Adam and we hit it off right away.
The ‘one’.
We both always say our “the one” moment was on our first date. We went out for dinner and stayed for hours and hours just chatting and laughing. On the way home we took turns showing each other our favourite songs in the car. We both went to sleep that night feeling like we’d just experienced something magical.
The proposal.
Adam popped the question on our road trip in WA. He had been planning to propose at Osprey Bay campground which was the part of our trip we were looking forward to most. We woke up at sunrise and walked along the beach and Adam proposed. Straight after that he whisked me away to Sal Salis Wilderness Resort for a few nights which he had planned from the beginning – I had no idea!
Planning process.
Our planning process was heavily based around our venue. We had such a specific idea of what we wanted out of our wedding, and that was a whole weekend of celebrating with our family and friends (essentially, we wanted a ‘Wedstival’). We scoured the internet and finally came across Eight Acres, we knew instantly this was where we wanted to get married. Meeting and speaking with Pete and Ellis (the owners) really sealed the deal for us. They were so easy going and we knew they were the type of people we wanted to be involved in hosting our day.
We chose Labour Day weekend and had the entire venue from Friday – Monday sleeping 60 guests. From there, we worked our way through vendors we had interacted with and thought would be an asset to our day. We were so lucky that they were all available (especially being a long weekend). As the venue was quite rural, the rest of the planning really centered around the location and local suppliers. We sourced a lot of the items for the wedding ourselves (champagne cart, signage, stubby holders, glassware) and carted up two trailer loads of items with us from Melbourne.
Style inspiration.
We wanted the style of the wedding to reflect who we are, so we focused a lot on creating a relaxed vibe with rustic styling. Eight Acres is so naturally stunning as a venue so we really didn’t have too much styling on the day, instead we leaned into what the venue had to offer with its scenery and we believe it really worked in our favour.
Pinterest was a game changer for us. There were so many ideas and points of inspiration that we were able to collate together to make a mood board for what we wanted. Everything down to guest party favours and hangover kits.
The ceremony.
Our ceremony was raw and emotional. We felt Carolyn really captured the essence of our love story and she told it with such grace. Our vows were incredibly emotional, we both had a lot to say and really took in the moment with each other.
The look.
Adam had dealt with Mark and Marco and Menzclub Richmond on many occasions. He knew these guys were who he wanted to fit and tailor the suits. Adam went with a three-piece check suit, while the groomsmen had taupe suits with brown suspenders.
Hayley knew her dress was the one as soon as she put it on. She had tried on so many styles and just loved the a-symmetrical style of the dress. She loved the experience at Bluebell Bridal. Rhia was so helpful in picking out the right dress and the experience was fantastic all round.
Favourite moments.
Our favourite part of the day was surprising all our friends and family with a performance together. Adam got up as a surprise and dedicated a song to me, singing and playing guitar. I acted completely surprised like I knew nothing about it. Then I jumped up in the second verse on the drums and the guests went absolutely crazy. The screams were so loud we couldn’t hear a thing, we loved every second. We got our sax player to start off his set for the night with a sax solo in our performance, so he jumped out of the crowd and absolutely nailed it. This was a huge highlight for not only our day, but our lives in general.
Another favourite part of the day was when the sun went down. Everyone was completely covered in sweat (especially all the men in suits!) but when the sun went down and everyone had a few drinks, the pride around being sweaty went completely out the window. We had a giant mosh pit of everyone we loved, all dancing together and covered in each other’s sweat. No one cared, everyone was just so immersed in the moment dancing and singing at the top of our lungs, laughing and hugging, it was so beautiful.
Meaning of marriage.
Unity, solemnising who you are as a couple and celebrating everything you are as a couple. Solidifying our love for each other.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Love You Anyway by Luke Combs
Signing: Love on the Weekend by John Mayor, Love you for a Long Time by Maggie Rogers
Recessional: This Will Be (an everlasting love) by Natalie Cole
Reception entry: Adore You by Fred Again
First dance: Wild Love by James Bay
Surprise Performance: Simply the Best by Tina Turner
Funny stories or near disasters.
Our wedding day was perfectly imperfect! We had couch cushions lost off the back of a trailer on the freeway from Melbourne – luckily not too many! It was 38 degrees on the day, and the pool house where I chose for the girls to get ready had no aircon – we somehow managed to survive (I had a pedestal fan up the front of my dress before walking down the aisle!) My dress sleeve/glove wouldn’t attach on one side the way it was supposed to as I was sweating so badly, so it kept sliding down all day! I also have naturally curly hair and bangs, so between that and the sweltering heat, my hair didn’t stand a chance!
None of this had any effect on our day, looking back it really made for an authentic representation of us – ‘perfectly imperfect’. We never really put any pressure on ourselves to get every single thing right and we knew that on the day there were bound to be things that didn’t go to plan, so we found ourselves feeling very lucky to only have such minor issues thrown into the mix.
Words of wisdom.
Plan everything for your day according to exactly who you both are, individually and as a couple. Your wedding day should be an authentic representation of you, when both parties are heavily involved in the planning process it makes for such an authentic day.
We’ve put together a stellar lineup of other idyllic outdoor Victorian venues that you can check out here.
ADAM & HAYLEY’S VENDORS
We chose a lot of our vendors based off the vibe and energy they brought to the day. We knew many of them would be spending a lot of time with us on the day, and that their energy and vibe would have an impact on the day. Many of our vendors were people we already knew from the industry, however, a special shout out goes to Makeup by Annalise who stepped in pretty last minute when my original makeup artist cancelled 4 months out. She ended up being the perfect addition to the bridal party suite on the day, and between Annalise and Maddison (our other makeup artist) the vibe was so relaxed and fun.
We had so much incredible feedback about our photographers Matt x Jacques, we had worked with these guys before at other weddings and knew they were going to have a huge part in how incredible our day was. They were such a vibe from start to finish and even popped in to the venue the night before to step things out with us. We’re eternally grateful to Matt x Jacques for not only capturing some beautiful photos for us, but for being able to capture the magic that was our wedding day.
Ceremony & reception venue: Eight Acres, Lakes Entrance
Celebrant: Carolyn Sanderman
Photography: Matt x Jacques
Videography: Directors Edge
Florist: Foliage and Fern
Hair: Pley.Huis
Make-up: Makeup by Annalise and Maddison Whykes Makeup
The dress: Hera Couture from Bluebell Bridal
Veil: Bluebell Bridal
Shoes: The White Collection
Rings: Arman Jewellry & Cartier
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Billy J
Suits: Menzclub Richmond
Catering: Mr D & D Catering
Cake: Blue Wave Cakery
Entertainment: Joey Cirillo, Sarah Stone and Jarrod Sax
Décor: Pepper Sprout Hire
Honeymoon: The Philippines and Vietnam, then Europe
