Real Wedding – Ashlee & Paul, Kyneton VIC

Ashlee and Paul’s wedding is an intimate, sun-drenched celebration stripped back to focus on those elements most important to them. Bright, light-infused aesthetics, their nearest and dearest around them, and carefully considered personal touches.

With only six months to plan, Ashlee and Paul lent on the expertise of their gorgeous venue, Camp David Farm, to pull together their micro-wedding. Sorbet shades of florals, Ashlee’s boho-chic look and the garden party vibes of the celebration are all captured to vivid perfection through the lens of White Shutter Photography and Ellena Louise Weddings videography.

Ashlee and Paul’s key pieces of advice post the dreamy, pastel-infused day? Do your day, your way, stick together and choose vendors you love. For Ashlee, selecting a non-traditional gown felt perfectly on brand for her and elevated much of the financial pressure around her fit. The result? Simply stunning.

Scroll on to see this blissed-up day unfold.

The meeting.

We met 11 years ago. We always had mutual friends through different schools, but I would say that we met at Pauls work, which is at Snap Fitness. We caught up for an ice cream date, and the rest is history.

The one.

It took us almost a year to call it official due to being in previous long relationships, but there was just something different about us; we took it very slowly but just couldn’t be apart and somehow just kept coming back to each other. We both admit that we just felt it was right!

The proposal.

We were almost at the handover stage for our new build and Paul was being super sus on handover dates and would never give me much information.. one random Saturday morning he told me to meet him at the house after work.. there he was inside with the keys to our first home and rose petals all over the floor… he definitely surprised me and it was one of the best days of our lives.

Planning process.

To be honest, we had no plans on organising anything too soon as we wanted to enjoy the house first, but not long after we moved in, I fell pregnant (obviously a little excited). We were then so concentrated on our baby that we didn’t start organising anything until after he was born. I absolutely loved the planning process; I found it fun researching and going to look at all the different venues. I did a lot of Instagram stalking, and we finally found our venue at Camp David Farm.

I would have loved a huge wedding with everyone I’ve ever met in my life, but Paul wanted to elope – so we met in the middle and decided a micro wedding was what we were going to decide on. It was difficult choosing only 24 people to attend the wedding but it made everything so much less chill knowing we didn’t have to worry about pleasing everyone and the day was actually about US and us only as a couple. We started planning the wedding in July 2023 and got married in January 2024, so I had to get the ball rolling pretty quickly to organise a wedding in 6ish months.

We locked in on our date as we wanted a summer wedding, and the rest just flowed. Camp David Farm (Lori) was super helpful with sending suppliers and vendors.

Style inspiration.

We knew we wanted everything to be outdoors and as bright as possible!

A summery garden wedding with lots of bright colours. We didn’t want it to be plain whites and greens, even though this is absolutely gorgeous, colour is just more us. We had mismatched bridesmaids’ dresses and bright, colourful flowers.

I also started following a lot of stylists and florists, which helped me form a clearer view of what we wanted the day to look like.

To be honest, the most useful thing I found was through Instagram, and Ivory Tribe was a massive help! Scrolling through all of the real weddings was super helpful!

The ceremony.

Our ceremony was very relaxed considering we only had 24 people. I was still super nervous to walk down the aisle though! The most special thing to me was knowing that my son was going to be in my husband’s arms at the alter. Having him there was just so special. We did things a little differently by having our bridal party sit down when our celebrant started talking. We wanted it to be just us up there, which made it super special. We were both so relaxed and present once we saw each other. Also special was having my dad walk down the aisle and my mum walk down with my bridesmaids as the mother of the bride. I wanted them to both be included. We also had designated seating with personalised hand fans placed on all the seats.

The outfits.

Finding a dress was difficult. Knowing that I was very time-poor with my son, going in to try on dresses in the city was a task in itself. I was emailing brands regarding costs, etc., and everything was way out of the budget. I couldn’t justify spending all this money on a dress I was wearing in front of 24 people for only a few hours – so I bought a dress online from Shona Joy, tried it on at home, and it fit perfectly! It was so me; it didn’t involve much fuss and it was so simple.

Paul, on the other hand, left his suit very last minute. Luckily enough, he and the groomsmen all found their suits from Politix! A few of them got their suits taken up a couple of days beforehand.

Favourite moments.

This is a very tough question! The whole day was incredible. I’m still out of words to explain the magic of the day seven months later. The ceremony and speeches would have to take the cake, though. They were both full of laughter and tears, and seeing everyone so emotional/happy is so special to us. To have all our favourite people there meant the world to us. The dance floor also topped the night off with lots of drinks and dancing to end the night!

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage is a choice to love wholeheartedly and with everything you have, to have a best friend to experience life together. It’s the start of the next chapter!

Wedding soundtrack:

Aisle: To our Daughter (lullaby) by my best friend Jacob

Recessional: Send Me On My Way by Rusted Root

Signing: Signed, Sealed Delivered by Stevie Wonder

First dance: Freeze by Kygo

Funny stories or near disasters.

It’s funny, actually, because I was very chill about my dress; I tried it on the week before the wedding and realised it was WAY too long and needed to be taken up. It was the summer holidays, Christmas and New Year were before the wedding, and I slightly panicked, thinking I wouldn’t find anyone to take it up in time. Luckily, I did, and it was so much better. We also both got sick the week of our wedding with a cold; luckily enough, on the day of our wedding, we were so much better.

Planning surprises.

None, really! It was super fun seeing everything come together and ticking things off the list! I’m a pretty organised person, so I had things organised months in advance. We hoped the day would reflect who we are as a couple, but most of all, we just wanted everyone to enjoy themselves!

Words of wisdom.

The day is YOUR day, so don’t try to please other people. You don’t have to invite a friend you spoke to six months ago or your cousin’s uncle’s best friend. A micro wedding was honestly perfect and so much less fuss.

Choose a photographer and videographer you love, as I cherish these so much.

You don’t have to do everything the traditional way, wear a different dress! It doesn’t have to be white, either. Choose beautiful accommodation and stay a few nights to just relax and soak it all in. Take a moment on the day to stop and just take it all in.

Oh, and also, don’t leave your husband’s side. You get so busy talking to guests, but make sure you do it TOGETHER.

Have the wedding, however you want to but have the wedding, you won’t regret it. Money comes back, but memories don’t.

Love Ash’s sherbert hued bridesmaids? Choosing gowns for your girlies can be a mammoth task, but don’t despair – we’ve got you covered. Here’s our round-up of favourite bridesmaid brands, real wedding looks and colour combos.

ASHLEE & PAUL’S VENDORS:

Ceremony & reception venue: Camp David Farm, Spring Hill Kyneton VIC

Celebrant: Emma Browne Celebrant. Nailed the short and sweet ceremony. Super chill throughout the whole organising process, and we did everything through a few Zoom calls, which was super convenient.

Photography: Anne from White Shutter Photography. Anne was perfection. I got recommended to her by a few friends; she was the exact vibe we were after. She went above and beyond and even gave us 30 sneak peak photos the next day. Her vibe was what we needed for a full day of being behind the camera!

Videographer: Ellena Louise Weddings. Ellena was so easy throughout the planning process. Our video was basically like a movie, the editing was perfection and told our story perfectly. She is such a sweet soul, and I highly recommend her for your day!

Styling & florist: Lori from Camp David Farm did most of the styling – from florals to seating, ceremony, and dance floor. Her work is amazing!!! Unfortunately, Camp David Farm has just recently stopped offering weddings. We were one of the lucky last.

Hair: Her Bridal Duo. Gemma and Brittany from Gemma’s hair studio in Sunbury. The girls made our morning so much fun and did all our hair to perfection!

Make-up: Steph Maree Make-up. Steph was exactly what I envisioned. Absolute perfection. She works out of a shop in Gisborne called Brows by J. Steph is such a sweet soul, and I highly recommend her for your day. She made sure I was comfortable and gave us all a top-up before she left.

The dress: Shona Joy: La Lune. A ruched bodice balloon sleeve maxi dress long sleeve. My dress was only $600!  You don’t need to spend thousands on a dress.

Veil: Harriett Falvey is a custom designer in New Zealand. She was so efficient and a perfectionist with her work. We worked together over Zoom calls, and it was shipped out to me in a matter of days. You send her your vision, and she works her magic! It’s absolutely amazing, and I’m so glad I found her. My dress was cream, so I needed a cream veil, and nowhere had cream veils. It was just meant to be.

Shoes: Loeffler Randall. The most comfiest heel you will ever wear and the most perfect wedding shoe in my eyes.

Rings: all our rings were from Solitaire Jewellery. Their quality is perfection.

Bridesmaid dresses: House of Cb.

Suits: Politix

Catering & Bar: Camp David Farm and Master of Munch.

Cake: Migone Cakes in Kyneton. AMAZING, and she delivered for us.

Stationery: Elle Creative Studio, of my best friends – absolutely amazing! And Atelier Creative.

Entertainment: Hay Bax. The boys were INCREDIBLE. If you’re after live, upbeat, fun, chill vibes, the boys are for you.

Decor: Camp David Farm

Honeymoon: we booked Sky High Mount Franklin in Daylesford for three nights and then two nights at Crown Towers in Melbourne.