Real Wedding – Casey & Shaun, Curlewis VIC
A sunny 38-degree day at the stunning Rusty Gate Estate set the scene for Casey and Shaun’s romantic open-air wedding celebration.
With the help of an amazing Tribe of talent to pull it all together, this gorgeous duo’s dream day has given them lifelong memories of the most wonderful kind.
Food and entertainment played an integral role and the relaxed vibe of their ceremony, lead by Erin of Sweet Wonderful You, headed up a fun-filled and rocking dance floor later in the night.
Tess Follett was on hand to document this darling day – check it out.
In their words…
The meeting.
The boring way… at work! At the end of 2015.
The ‘one’.
Pretty early on for both of us… we always got along well and were at ease with one another right away. It started as a friendship but developed into something more after a few months.
The proposal.
Shaun proposed at home, just before we took a holiday to NYC. He bought close to 200 roses and set them up around our lounge then got down on one knee with the ring. Classic romance! He got too freaked out about me finding the ring in our luggage, as he’d planned to do it in NYC… so the holiday was a really special one for us.
The process.
We actually used Ivory Tribe as a starting point for everything, though I knew I wanted Tess as the photographer so booked her almost immediately (and she was a hard get!). We were both working away from Melbourne/Geelong for most of the time we were engaged so it was all done from afar and pretty well in advance, we’re both pretty organised people. So we booked it all early and then relaxed and didn’t do a lot of planning for many months until it got closer to the big day!
Style inspiration.
For us, it was all about the food and the entertainment – it was really important our guests enjoyed themselves because we knew that way, we would. We wanted to go for an outdoor, relaxed ceremony and reception which is exactly what we had – the 38 degree day aside! We trawled through Instagram posts for a while too to get a feel for what we liked and didn’t like.
The dress.
I was initially all about the beading and detail on the dress, and then I tried on a couple of really simple, classic white ones and was surprised how much I liked them – I tossed up between two for a long time (the MWL one I chose and a beaded one) and I’m glad I chose the one I did, because the beaded one would not have fit my baby bump in! I was 17 weeks pregnant with twins on our wedding day.
Favourite moments.
Sitting at the bridal table at one point during dinner, and looking around and realising we’d pulled it all off! There’s nothing like looking around the room and seeing all your favourite people together, looking happy, and looking dapper!
Traditions?
Not really – we tried to minimise traditions and formalities as much as we could, so we could just enjoy it all.
Meaning of marriage.
We both equate it with commitment – we knew from very early on that we would eventually marry, so it was nice to take that final step.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: An acoustic version of Shiver by Coldplay
Reception entry: Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen
First dance: The Longest Time by Billy Joel – a sentimental song for us
Funny stories (or near disasters).
THE HEAT – we picked March for it’s nice weather, but leading up to the day realised we were going to melt everyone in our clear-top marquee on a 38 degree day. Our stylist/planner Laura and Claire from Truffleduck totally saved us though – last minute portable air-cons and fans made it bearable, especially once the sun went down. My dress and the baby bump too – I was seeing the lady who altered my dress almost weekly to see whether we were going to have to come up with a creative way for the dress to fit, but it was fine – my bump wasn’t actually that impressive at that stage!
Planning surprises.
In a DIY wedding like ours, how much communicating needs to happen between you and all the vendors – at first I thought hiring Laura from Wanderlust was a luxury, and soon realised it was completely necessary – she was a godsend!
Words of wisdom.
Know what aspects are important to you, and invest on those things. Also, trust the people who have been in the industry a long time – they know what they’re doing! To all the brides – WEAR FLATS! I never contemplated heels, but no regrets, and my shoes were hardly on view anyway.
The key to pulling of the perfect party can be enlisting the help of the perfect planner. For our Ivory Tribe favourites – click here.
CASEY & SHAUN’S TRIBE
Ceremony and reception: Rusty Gate Estate, Curlewis
Celebrant/Officiant: Erin McMahon from Sweet Wonderful You
Photography: Tess Follett
Styling: Laura Wills from Wanderlust Creative – our savior! Wouldn’t have pulled off the wedding without her.
Florist: Sarah from Botanica Fresh Flowers
Hair and make-up: Cassandra DeBruin
The Dress: Made With Love, purchased from Bluebell Bridal
Veil / head wear: I’m embarrassed to say I don’t recall, but also from Bluebell Bridal
Jewellery/Accessories: Lovisa (earrings)
Shoes: Jane Debster (flats)
Rings: All Diamonds in Elsternwick
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Adrianna Papell (ordered online from USA)
Menswear: Oscar Hunt Tailors
Groom’s shoes: RM Williams
Catering: Truffleduck – couldn’t have asked for better food, and better running of the day. We were blown away by the service. Claire was so good!!
Stationery / Signage: Neon and wishing well from Sketch & Etch, other signage from Sparklers and Confetti
Entertainment: Rutherford Entertainment – we had an acoustic duo and a DJ later on, and we had to rearrange our schedule a bit because of the heat, and these guys were all so flexible. SOCO (our duo) were amazing, and DJ Aki was heaps of fun
Transport: Wheels of Fortune Limos
Honeymoon: Baros Maldives
Other: Portaloos from Paddock Dreams
