Modern romance and baby blue bridesmaids style at Barwon Edge
Set within the stunning grounds of Barwon Edge, Hannah and Jackson’s wedding was the perfect blend of timeless, elegant, and modern style. If you’ve ever visited Barwon Edge, you’ll know just how special it is – lush, incredible gardens paired with a contemporary reception space and unforgettable food.
Leaning into the natural beauty of the venue, their styling was kept intentionally minimal, with florals in soft whites, fresh greens, and hints of blue enhancing the surrounding landscape. The result was a refined aesthetic that felt effortless and beautifully cohesive.
The ceremony was made even more meaningful, led by a family friend and accompanied by Jackson’s best mate on acoustic guitar. Choosing to skip a first look, the moment Hannah walked down the aisle was truly unforgettable, looking stunning in her strapless gown with a structured bodice, alongside bridesmaids dressed chicly in baby blue.
Their advice for couples planning their own day? Lock in your vendors as early as possible to help bring your dream wedding to life – something they prioritised themselves, securing photographer Ryal Sormaz early on to ensure every moment was captured perfectly.
The meeting.
We met in 2020 at the gym, UNIFY Fitness. We were friends for a long time and eventually went on our first date – which was gate crashed by Jackson’s best mates’ family, including our celebrant Paul.
The proposal.
The day before Jackson proposed, he travelled six hours to ask permission from Hannah’s dad. His plan was to travel there and back while Hannah was at work to keep it a surprise. However, Hannah’s dad working late meant he returned later than expected, but he still managed to get home a couple of minutes before Hannah and kept everything a secret.
On the day, Jackson recruited the help of his best mates’ dogs, Ari and Lloyd, and conjured up a fake shoulder injury to get Hannah down to Breamlea Beach at sunset without her suspecting anything. With not a single person on the beach and the perfect sunset, Jackson proposed.
Planning process.
The planning for the wedding went very smoothly. Our approach was to organise and book in our key vendors as soon as possible – venue, photographer, content creator, makeup, hair, florist. We found that even though we were enquiring for a wedding 12+ months away, a lot of our vendors were already booked out – we even moved our wedding date back a month to make sure we could get our photographer! Once we had all vendors that were a priority to us locked in, we kept up the momentum and booked all our other vendors.
We also tried to find vendors which were new to the industry to support the future of their business. We found these vendors by going to wedding expos.
Style inspiration.
Barwon Edge is a beautiful venue that requires very little styling. Our approach was to incorporate florals – mainly whites, greens, and hints of blue – to enhance the natural beauty of the location and its gardens.
We kept the styling minimal to align with this vision, allowing Barwon Edge to shine. Our aim was to create a wedding that felt timeless, elegant, and modern.
The ceremony.
We were so fortunate to have a close family friend, Paul, to marry us on our big day. Paul has been part of Jackson’s life since he was a child and gate crashed our first date! Having Paul marry us was so special and he really helped to bring a relaxed and calm atmosphere to the ceremony.
One of Jackson’s best mates, Jack, also played the acoustic guitar and learned the harmonica for our ceremony music.
The outfits.
I had started my search for “the dress” in Melbourne, going to a boutique and a designer store. While all the dresses I tried on were beautiful, none of them felt like me. One weekend, I was travelling back to my hometown and decided to book an appointment at Michele’s Bridal, where I had bought my debutante and Year 12 valedictory dresses. Walking in the door, Michele instantly remembered me and the dresses I had purchased years ago and made the experience amazing. I tried on so many dresses in that one appointment, and for each dress, Michele and her team gave options on what we could do to change the dress or find another that might suit better. The dress I picked was simple, matched the vibe of our wedding (simple, elegant, and timeless), and felt entirely me.
For the bridesmaids, I really wanted to make sure they were comfortable and were wearing something they would want to wear again – from their dress and shoes to their hair and makeup. I chose a light baby blue shade, and it was up to the girls to decide where they wanted to get their dresses from and whether they would all go for the same style or different styles.
Favourite moment.
A little cliché, but one of our favourite moments was when we saw each other at the aisle. We didn’t want to do a first look and wanted to keep that super emotional moment of seeing each other for the first time on the day at our ceremony.
One of the things we really wanted for our wedding was cocktails! Barwon Edge was amazingly accommodating, and we had limoncello spritz and Pimms during canapés, and espresso martinis and groppino as the dance floor started. We also really wanted homemade cannoli to be served as part of our desserts, which Barwon Edge made in-house and tasted incredible.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: XO by John Mayer
Signing: Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac
Recessional: Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer
First dance: Spin Me Around by Morgan Wallen
Funny stories (or near disasters).
We nearly only had one of three bridesmaids at the wedding! Two of my bridesmaids were travelling overseas the week before the wedding. The day they were due to travel back was the day the war in the Middle East started. While one bridesmaid was already on a plane nearly back in Australia, the other was stranded in Egypt with cancelled flights and was unsure whether any new flights would get her back in time. Fortunately, after travelling for over 75 hours and multiple cancelled flights, she landed safely back in Australia two days before the wedding.
After arriving back in Australia, the same bridesmaid tried on her heels, only to discover they were too big. We took what we thought was a left and a right size 7 wide back to the store to get a smaller size. The night before the wedding, one of the other bridesmaids decided to get all the shoes out of their boxes and lay them out…she then discovered we had a left size 7 and a left size 7 wide, and her shoes were also too big. My dad then had to spend the wedding morning running around town trying to find the right pair in the right size.
Words of wisdom.
Book in your vendors early. It feels crazy to be enquiring about a vendor’s availability for your wedding that is over a year away, but popular vendors book out 12-18months in advance. Booking early makes the planning process so much easier!
Hannah & Jackson’s Vendors
Ceremony and reception venue: Barwon Edge, Geelong
Celebrant/Officiant: Paul Nolan
Photography: Ryal Sormaz
Content Creator: Bridal BTS
Florist: Bonnie Blossom
Hair: Bec DeBruin
Make-up: Caitlin Roe
The dress: Michele’s Bridal
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Billy J Boutique
Suits: Eddy Elias Menswear
Cake: Original Cyn
Stationery / Signage: Xanthe Blyth Co
Entertainment: Canapés and reception acoustic – Abe Anderson / Ceremony acoustic – Jack Harman / DJ – Riley Harman
Transport: Murrell Group
Honeymoon: Bali
