Real Wedding – Chloe & Brent, Lorne VIC

The epitome of the dreamiest childhood sweethearts, Chloe and Brent’s wedding day was destined to be one to remember. Perfect personal details, stunning style and sun-kissed oceanside surroundings make for a celebration as gorgeous as it is romance-filled.

For a couple who’ve enjoyed the beach vistas of the Great Ocean Road throughout their years together, having their wedding at The Peak in Lorne was an instant yes. Soft theming in creamy sand, textured linens and hints of muted tangerine blended with the backdrop, while decor in fresh vanilla uplifted the entire effect to aesthetic harmony.

We love Chloe and Brent’s fits; she in a sheath-like, off-shoulder stunner by Marquis Bridal, and he in a three-piece linen suit in the perfect shade of taupe, contrasted with crisp chocolate shoes. But it’s the total bliss radiating from these two in every sweet shot by Maegan Brown Moments that really hits our hearts. Scroll on to see every light-hearted, loved-up moment unfold.

The meeting.

We always giggle when we get this question because we honestly can’t remember the day we met because we actually grew up together as kids, living only three streets apart. We were even at each other’s first birthday parties, attended the same primary school together and spent a lot of our weekends as kids together down by the beach in Anglesea or hanging around the local footy club together. Our families are very close, so we spent a lot of time together.

The one.

Although it sounds crazy, we were both in primary school getting ready to head into high school when we became ‘girlfriend and boyfriend’, even if we were only 12. From that moment, even though we were kids, it never stopped growing into more; we were always by each other’s sides. No breaks or pauses along the way. We have been given a very special, once-in-a-lifetime friendship and love; we still kind of pinch ourselves to look back on photos and think how long we have really been together.

The proposal.

We both spend all our spare time down the Great Ocean Road. Brent and his family have a caravan that we love to escape to, it’s our very special place down the beach. So much like many trips there have been for us, a walk on the beach after dinner was how he popped the question. We were in our hoodies and barefoot, and it was a beautiful beachy summery night in our favourite place in the world.

Planning process.

We looked at some beautiful wineries in the Yarra Valley, but ultimately, the beach and the Great Ocean Road were where we both wanted to be. When we walked into The Peak, despite the clouds and rain, we thought it was the perfect, beachy wedding. We opted not to get a wedding planner, but thankfully Bridget from The Peak was an angel at organizing absolutely everything – canapes, shared mains, dessert table, drinks list, lawn games post-ceremony, and so much more. We honestly were in such good hands from a planning perspective. The planning was so chill; all our amazing vendors just had their jobs and ran with them with all their amazing talent, which allowed us to really sit back and watch it all unfold. It really was an enjoyable time.

Style inspiration.

We just wanted an intimate, relaxed and ‘us’ kind of day, not a lot of bells and whistles or too many frills. Everything was neutral and soft and almost like a fancy little garden party by the sea with lawn games, fairy lights, and simple florals. Brent’s favourite colour is orange, so we threw splashes of it around the event. It felt like our day from start to finish.

The ceremony.

We are so blessed to both be twins! Chloe has a twin sister, and Brent has a twin brother. The four of us are really great friends, and it felt right to only have our twins as our maid of honour and best man and stand up there with us on the day, so we opted not to have any additional bridesmaids or groomsmen. For the four of us to stand up there together as two sets of twins was so special.

A very special addition to our ceremony was having our beautiful, old friend Cam who we both used to work with once upon a time, as our celebrant. Chloe is a midwife and had the pleasure of reconnecting with Cam and his wife Em. After years of not running into each other, one day Chloe walked into their birth room and supported Cam and his wife Em through the birth of their first baby. To then have Cam, Em and baby Indie present at our wedding and have Cam officiate our ceremony was
pure magic.

The outfits.

I had no idea what kind of wedding dress would suit me, but walking into Marquise Bridal sorted that out really quickly. They had a gorgeous dress called the ‘Harvey’ that I tried on, and I loved the style, the fitted skirt with the knuckle length sleeves and the off-shoulder top, however, it was fully beaded. It seemed a little extra for my beach wedding, so being the legends that they are Marquise Bridal decided to make the dress for me in silk; it was perfect.

Brent walked into one shop, Peter Jackson. He knew he wanted a linen look, so tried the first linen suit on that he found and loved it! Being a twin makes the shopping process easier, he just had to order two of the same suits that fit like a glove and were the perfect outfits for the relaxed beach wedding vibe we had in mind.

Favourite moment.

We both share so many family friends and loved ones from growing up together, and naturally, many of those people have watched us grow into the couple we are and have had such a beautiful and profound impact on our relationship. So, we decided to write individualised notes to each of our guests. Watching some of our guests read their notes was one of the most special moments of the day for us; it generated a real sense of love in the room.

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage to us is the moment/time in our lives to take everything we have learnt about each other and our relationship and elevate it again. To dedicate this next chapter in both our lives to each other and continue to grow our very special bond and relationship. Ultimately, it’s about making promises about how we are going to love and support each other in every season to come.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Time After Time
Reception entry: Shooting Star
First dance – Acoustic version of Cinema that our DJ then transitioned into the party version of Cinema by Gary Go.
A special song that we played as friends and family had us both up on their shoulders was Wish On An Eyelash Pt. 2 by Mallrat.

Funny stories.

Chloe’s Mum and best friend noticed on the morning of the wedding some very thin little threads just under the top of the dress near the bust. They thought it looked like the threads needed to be cut or pulled out. They nearly pulled them until they first called the wedding dress designer, and she said, ‘Do not touch them!’ as the roughing of the top of the dress will come apart. Luckily, they checked in before touching the dress. That could have been a very big problem having the dress unravel hours before the ceremony.

Planning surprises.

The only aspect that we maybe underestimated was the seating arrangements, it’s very easy to stew over seating charts for hours and hours. Like a complicated game of human tetris!

Words of wisdom.

Firstly enjoy it, try to take in all the little moments together as a team and don’t leave it to just one person to do all the organising and decision making. Invest in and do your research on each vendor, and if they are the right fit for your personality and your day, then everything will come together with not too much fuss.

On the hunt for the perfect wedding venue that ticks all the boxes? We have rounded up some of our favourite wedding venues to help with your search.

CHLOE AND BRENT’S SUPPLIERS

Ceremony and reception venue: The Peak Lorne; we could not have possibly found ourselves a more chilled out, relaxed venue. With 360 beach views of the stunning Great Ocean Road. It was so important for us to get married and then party all at the one venue. Planning a wedding without a wedding planner at first felt a bit scary, and we felt out of our depth, but Bridget who takes care of all the wedding enquiries at The Peak was a legend from start to finish, she was just a huge breath of fresh air, totally relaxed and honestly took so much of the stress out of what I thought planning a wedding would be.

Celebrant/Officiant: Cam Micallef, a beautiful and dear long-time friend.

Photography: Maegan Brown – where to even begin. Meagan is hands down the coolest, most stunning human being we have ever met. A true ray of sunshine. She was the energy and calm we didn’t even know we needed until meeting her. She was so chilled and relaxed and brought all the beautiful vibes to our day. She captured such stunning, candid moments that we can’t believe we are lucky enough to hold close forever.

Videography: Pia  – High Up Films

Florist: Bernadette from Botanical Roots

Hair: My beautiful Mum Meagan is a hairdresser and I was lucky enough to have her do my relaxed messy bun / beachy wedding hair for me on the day.

Make-up: Stephanie Jones Make Up – such a dream knew exactly the look I wanted and needed without even having to show her a single photo.

The dress: Marquise Bridal – Megan, Sean and Gaz and so many more legends at Marquise Bridal just made all my bride dreams come true. From walking in the front door on my very first day looking for wedding dresses to then ending up being the amazing team who created my simple but classic, long sleeved, silk gown. With the added bonus of detachable sleeves for the party later on.

Veil: Marquise Bridal two tier pearl veil

Shoes: Tony Bianco

Rings: Top Image Jewellery

Bridesmaid’s dress: Bec and Bridge

Suits and bowties: Peter Jackson

Catering and dessert table: The Peak Lorne

Bar: Miss Fizz 5 tier Champagne tower –  from set up to pack up the team at Miss Fizz was exactly my kind of celebratory moment. We ditched the cake and went straight for the champagne tower and we couldn’t have been happier.

Favours: Home-made oyster shell candles by bride and her friends

Stationery / Signage: One Mimosa Please – amazing artists that create pure magic. Their signage is one of kind. We love every tiny detail they included, right down to the beautiful little mini pearls on our menus.

Entertainment: Abe Anderson was our wonderful acoustic guitarist for our ceremony and post-ceremony canapes

Transport: a family friend’s Mercedes convertible came in handy on our wedding day

Honeymoon: Bali baby, we hopped straight on a flight and rode the wedding high throughout our whole trip.