Real Wedding – Emma & Juan, Dromana VIC
Real Wedding – Emma & Juan, Dromana VIC
Real Wedding – Emma & Juan, Dromana VIC
Real Wedding – Emma & Juan, Dromana VIC

Real Wedding – Emma & Juan, Dromana VIC

 

Welcome to the festival of Emma and Juan – just like a Wedstival, minus the tents!

This epic Dromana celebration has everything you want from a celebration – from dancing galore, to home-made choc-tops and bride Emma even making her aisle entrance to a creative musical remix that included Mambo No 5. There was little in the way of tradition, but oh-so-much when it came to fun factor!

With the addition of some incredible Columbian traditions, and a Salsa band to keep things swinging into the night, this is a wedding for the ages. Check it out, as captured by Steph Wallis.

 

 

In Emma’s words…

 

The meeting.

We met in our very first class at University (March 2013). We both were studying a Masters of Marketing at Monash University.

 

The ‘one’.

We had been living together for a while, and were renovating our house. I think during the renovations, we realised how committed we were to each other, and how our values aligned. We’re both hard workers, and to be working really hard to create a home of our own, was very rewarding.  And, showed we could work well together as a team. Plus my family adore him….this was and still is super important to me.

 

The proposal.

Juan and I were holidaying in the Cook Islands. We had been riding our bikes all day and were pretty hot and sweaty. Anyhoo – we had dumped our bikes and decided to go for a walk on the beach and enjoy the sunset. There was no one around. Just us. Juan started acting quite strange…and I gave him a weird glance and asked if he was okay. He walked over to me, and got down on his knee, and asked me to be his life partner. It’s such an overwhelming moment…I actually think I blacked out for a good 10 seconds. Before I responded with YES.

 

The process.

It was pretty straight forward. We’re both easy-going and knew we wanted a relaxed day, filled with dancing. I think it helped that I’m a good decision maker and being a designer, I found it quite easy to visualise everything. Pinterest is great. As too, is asking friends for their recommendations of suppliers.

 

Style inspiration.

Being a creative, I’ve never really liked the idea of following ‘the wedding template’, nor a serious wedding. We wanted it to be a party with the people we love most. We dubbed it a Wedstival…without the tents.

We love dancing, so the day was based around embracing the dance floor. We had our wedding photos taken earlier that afternoon before our ceremony started at 4:30. So, at 5pm – we were straight into the party! Best decision ever!!!

I took out a lot of traditional procedures, like cake-cutting and bouquet throwing. Rather, we had the likes of a congo line, a limbo competition and my Nonna and Nonno’s Bocce set on the lawn.

I walked down the aisle to a remix we made. It featured Mambo No.5… not because we particular like the song, but we wanted to make an early statement that this wedding was going to be different…fun!!!
We opted for home-made choc tops, over a cake (so, so yum!). Ice cream in summer, made sense to me.

Being in summer, we were very happy for guests to come relaxed in smart casual clothes.

Juan is Colombian. Traditionally Colombians have a ‘crazy hour’ at weddings, where every guest is given a costume to wear. So, we had head crowns for the girls, and glittery ties for the boys…that came from Colombia. It’s amazing how costumes help people relax and have fun…

Every guest was also given a traditional Colombian shot glass, with their name engraved on it. Which we served the traditional Colombian spirit, Aguardiente.

We had two bands. The first one to kick off the dance floor was an eight-member Salsa band.

 

The dress.

I wanted something easy to dance in, that would feel like a fancy beach dress. I also loved the skirt and top idea…which I ended up going with. Pinterest and Instagram was where I started to look for inspiration. I then created a mood board filled with about 8 photos/outfits I liked…and I took that with me, as a brief, when I went trying dresses on. Having a visual brief made it so much easier for me to make a decision, and not be swayed by the emotion of the occasion.

 

Favourite moments. 

It was about 6pm, everyone was dancing on the deck and then out of nowhere, the best congo line I’ve ever seen, started. Everyone was smiling and laughing…such a great vibe. Such a happy moment.

 

Meaning of marriage.

To me it’s a celebration of your relationship, with all the people you love most.

 

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: A remix of – A brief snippit of Going to the Chapel, followed by Mambo No.5 (to shake the vibe up completely), followed by Kiss Me by Sixpense None the Richer and then Real Love Baby by Father John Misty.

Funny stories (or near disasters).

The weather always poses as a potential disaster…but I figured we were going to have fun dancing even if it did rain. It didn’t in the end. Pheww!

 

Planning surprises.

I didn’t enjoy the wedding dress shopping as I hoped I would. I was looking for something different, and different I found was hard to find… just had to adjust my expectations. I also wrote our entire wedding ceremony, to make it way more fun than the traditional script…to give our guests fun stories of how we got together and the things that make us laugh about each other.

 

Words of wisdom.

You don’t have to do what others have done in the past. Make it a day of all the things you love as a couple…and share these unique things about you both, with the people you love most.

 

 

From paddock dreams to private property perfection – we have a range of real weddings to suit everyone. See Joy and Chris’ beautiful backyard nuptials by clicking here.

 

EMMA & JUAN’S TRIBE

Ceremony: Tanglewood Estate 

Reception: The Winery Room, at Tanglewood Estate

Celebrant/Officiant: Jody Hauser 

Photography: Steph Wallis

Styling: Bride

Florist: Nat Schorer

Hair and make-up: Silvia Ura

The Dress: The skirt was Georgia Young Couture. I had the top/slip made separately.

Rings: Krista Mcrea

Groomsmen’s suits: Peter Jackson

Catering: Provider (formerly, Mr Hall)

Cake / Cake topper: We had home-made choc tops by The Toddy Shop

Entertainment: Daytime band – La Tropa Vallenata 

Evening band – The Baker Boys

Honeymoon: Japan and New York

 




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