A wedding that chooses joy over restraint
For Billy and Amy, their wedding was always going to be filled with colour, personality and plenty of fun. A classic, neutral celebration was never going to cut it for these two, who wanted a day that felt completely like them, with great food, live music, cocktails and their favourite people all together in one place.
The Shearing Shed was an easy choice, delivering everything they wanted in one beautiful location. Think a rustic barn ceremony elevated with vibrant florals and draping, courtyard drinks and grazing tables, followed by a lively reception where the dancefloor was never empty. With Emily Howlett Photography capturing all the colour, candid moments and joy throughout the day, there was no shortage of magic.
A few favourite details? Amy’s lace Grace Loves Lace gown, rose-coloured bridesmaid dresses and a live illustrator creating personalised drawings for guests to take home. And when it came to entertainment, live music was non-negotiable. The White Tree kept everyone dancing well into the night, before Billy surprised the crowd with a memorable performance of Angel by Shaggy. Let’s just say, it was the perfect finale to a day full of personality, laughter and love.
Style inspiration.
The biggest thing we wanted for our wedding was a day that felt like us. We wanted our guests to have fun, be relaxed, have a cocktail, enjoy great food, listen to live music and simply have the best time celebrating with us. We definitely didn’t want anything that felt overly formal or serious.
Styling-wise, I knew straight away that I wasn’t drawn to the classic, neutral wedding aesthetic. As beautiful as those weddings are, they just didn’t feel like me at all. I love colour, so we embraced and included it everywhere we could. From the bright signage and vibrant florals to the colourful napkins and little details throughout the day. I’ll admit I questioned my choices a few times during the planning process, but I’m so glad I trusted my gut. Walking into both our ceremony and reception and seeing everything come together was one of the best feelings. So many guests comment on how colourful, fun and ‘us’ it all felt made it even more special.
Planning process.
I honestly found the planning process to be mostly really enjoyable! Naturally there was a couple of moments of overwhelm, but I am an organiser by nature – I have always loved getting creative and putting in that extra effort for celebrations and parties. I think like most couples, we had a few surprises with how quickly our budget was blowing out. But I don’t think either of us regret that now because the end result was all we could have dreamt of and more!
Vendor vibes.
After spending time in Phillip Island on a family holiday, Billy and I purchased a house in Cowes in 2024. It quickly became such a special place to us, so choosing to get married there was such an easy decision. After visiting a couple of venues, The Shearing Shed was a no-brainer. We really fell in love not only with the venue but also with the awesome people behind it.
From there, it was honestly pretty easy! We found some of our dream team through recommendations from The Shearing Shed and I think I discovered the others just while scrolling on Instagram. We really just trusted our instincts and went with the people that felt right. Which ended up working well for us because we genuinely couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to bring our day to life.
As for inspiration, I kind of just worked it out as we went. I didn’t really come across many weddings that matched what I had in my head, so I kept things quite simple to start with. I had a couple of floral inspiration images and one table setting I loved and the rest just worked itself out. It ended up being more about making decisions as we went, rather than trying to replicate a specific look. I was so happy with the end result – it felt colourful, fun and just gave me so much joy!
The ceremony.
Honestly, the ceremony is such a blur! It almost feels like a bit of an out-of-body experience. I know we were there, but the build-up of nerves, anticipation and excitement got the better of us both! It really feels like it was over in a flash.
One of the things I did love was that we were able to surprise our Mums in the moment and have them sign our marriage certificate. I think Mums can get really overlooked on a wedding day, and with both of our Mums being on the shyer side, it was a really special way to include them (without them having to have too much attention on them!).
The outfits.
I got my wedding dress from Grace Loves Lace, and I absolutely ADORED it (when can I wear it again?!).
Over the years, I’ve been fortunate enough to be a bridesmaid a few times, so I’ve had plenty of exposure to wedding dress shopping. I always knew I’d end up in something lace, and Grace Loves Lace just felt like the obvious choice for me. In fact, I only shopped there, fell in love with my dress, and that was pretty much it!
Billy and the boys wore classic black suits, which turned out to be the perfect choice. They contrasted beautifully with the rose-coloured bridesmaid dresses, the vibrant florals and all the gorgeous greenery surrounding us in our photos.
Favourite detail.
I truly loved everything – it was just perfect. All the colour was so joyful and the room just felt perfect for what we wanted the day to be.
Favourite moment.
There are honestly so many to choose from – we genuinely had the best day of our lives, I really couldn’t narrow it down to one moment.
Having my 12-year-old daughter, Anabelle, walk me down the aisle was definitely a special moment for us. It was the perfect way to include her as we officially became a family and having her next to me was a really lovely mother-daughter moment.
Another highlight was asking my uncle – or “Uncle Ian,” as he is formally known – to MC the day. We’re so glad we chose to have someone who knows us so well instead of hiring a professional. His genuine happiness for us made everything feel so much more personal – and he absolutely nailed it!
But honestly, my favourite thing is probably that I remember being on the dancefloor closer to the end of the night and looking around thinking, how freaking amazing is this! It was just pure, overwhelming happiness to be able to look around and see your whole world in one room laughing, chatting, dancing and celebrating all together. It was a real moment of realisation of just how incredibly lucky we are – it just felt so, so special.
Song of the celebration.
I don’t know that there was one specific song that had everyone up and about, but the best decision we made for our reception was choosing live music. While this was somewhat of a controversial choice amongst some of our friends prior to the day, we both love the atmosphere that the live band brought. The band had such a good energy, especially with the sax player roaming through the crowd and getting everyone involved. There were always people on the dance floor. It created such a fun vibe, and it is one of my favourite things about the whole day.
While the band absolutely nailed the music all night, the grand finale belonged to Billy. He teamed up with one of his good mates for a performance of Angel by Shaggy. This has become a bit of a tradition whenever they are together and there is a microphone available (and a bit of dutch courage always helps). So, while Billy’s mates have come to expect a Shaggy performance, for the rest of our guests it came as a complete surprise. It was hilarious seeing the reactions of our loved ones watch a usually reserved Billy suddenly transform into the night’s entertainer. It had everyone laughing and singing along, phones out recording and was honestly the most perfect way to close out an unforgettable day for us.
Regrets.
Honestly, the whole day was so perfect. Not everything ran to schedule, but it honestly didn’t matter – in the moment you’re not even thinking about it anyway. The only thing I would say is I wish we had a group shot with all our wedding guests. But Emily did such a great job of roaming throughout the night, I think everyone was captured at some point anyway!
Words of wisdom.
The biggest piece of advice I could give is to trust your gut! If you love something, don’t second-guess it just because it’s not the current trend or because you think something else might look better for Instagram. It is your wedding and it doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s. I really second guessed myself at different stages of the planning process but having a space that felt so much like us was one of the best things about the day. And also, try not to over orchestrate every moment. The best parts of our day were the ones we never could’ve planned. So just make choices that make you happy and you won’t regret a thing!
Amy and Billy’s Vendors
Ceremony and reception venue: The Shearing Shed – Cowes, Phillip Island. The Shearing Shed was absolutely amazing from the day we first looked at the venue, throughout the planning process, on the day and even afterwards. When we picked up some bits and pieces the day after the wedding, I got a bit teary when saying thank you to Stacey, who ran our event for us. She got teary in return and it genuinely felt like saying goodbye to a friend. We just adored the whole team and they made it SO EASY!
Celebrant/Officiant: Lisa-anne. Lisa-anne was our celebrant and we just loved her! We only met with Lisa-anne and both instantly liked her. Billy especially felt so comfortable knowing that Lisa-anne was there to support us along the way if either of us struggled writing vows or had any worries about the ceremony leading up to the day. She even took the time to meet with us a couple of days prior to the big day at the ceremony space to run us through it all – this was really helpful for my daughter Anabelle who was a bit nervous about walking down the aisle!
Photography: Emily Howlett. Emily, our photographer was phenomenal. Again, from start to finish just such a professional and so easy to work with. And our photos – we could not have asked for anything more. They have exceeded every expectation. I don’t usually really like photos of myself but I just love every single shot she took on the wedding day. An absolute pro in her field!
Videography: Four by Four Films. Irwin and Jess from Four by Four films were also fantastic. They were such a fun vibe to be around on the day of the wedding. We haven’t received our final video yet, but the 90 second preview we got is just sooo good! I find myself watching it all the time and just reliving all the happiness we felt on the day! On the day, Irwin and Jess, along with Emily all stayed back later than we’d hired them simply to continue capturing moments that were still unfolding. I am forever grateful for this as some of the best photos and footage have come from the end of our night and could have easily not been captured had it not been for their generosity.
Florist: Morrie & Maisie. Corrie from Morrie and Maisie was also amazing – she really nailed my vision of bold and bright oranges and pink florals and brought the whole thing to life to spectacularly well. And that draping in the barn for our ceremony… stuuuuunning!
Hair: Colour – Gemma’s Hair Studio. Styling – Her Bridal Duo (Both are owned by the amazing Gemma Steeper)
Make-up: Makeup by Erin & Stephanie Miller Makeup
The dress: Grace Loves Lace
Veil: Grace Loves Lace
Shoes: I wore an old pair of comfy shoes I already had in the cupboard!
Rings: Custom made by Renee Pellizzaro. I do want to make special mention to Renee Pellizzaro who custom made our rings. My engagement ring is extra special though – it was a ring that belonged to my late Gran. I was incredibly close to my Gran and had always said to my Mum I’d love her sapphire ring if I ever got engaged. So Billy had it remade with white gold, but kept it as close to the original design as possible. It is truly so special to me – Renee did a beautiful job with it.
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Billy J Bridal
Cake / Cake topper: Custom made by Jessica Rees. Incredibly talented pastry chef – 100/10!
Stationery / Signage: All DIY thanks to my Cricut!
Entertainment: The White Tree Band
Live event illustrator: Yalina. One thing I would highly recommend is a live guest illustrator. We opted for this instead of favours for our guests and everyone LOVED getting their own personal drawing on the day! It was a huge hit!
Honeymoon: We flew to Bali for 9 night of recovery bliss! Split time between Seminyak and Nusa Dua
Audio Guestbook: Off The Hook
