Real Wedding – Georgia & Sean, Merricks North VIC
It’s impossible to pick one favourite thing about Georgia and Sean’s swanky celebration.
From the beautiful all-white bride tribe, to the epic styling and the obviously heartfelt ceremony – it’s a day filled with perfection.
Combining their love of good food and wine, with great music and their favourite people, their private property nuptials hold beauty at every corner – see it here through the lens of Rhiannon from Down The Rabbit Hole Productions.
In Georgia’s words…
The meeting.
We met back in 2009 at a music festival. I (Georgia) had tagged along with my sister and her then boyfriend with their friends to this music festival. It wasn’t long until everyone had separated leaving just Sean and I, complete strangers, to spend the rest of the day at this festival together. Sean played hard to get and it took him three months to finally make a move!
‘The one’.
The very first time I met Sean I knew he was pretty special!
The proposal.
We’d gone up to Byron Bay for a few days with Sean’s best friend, Matt and his wife, Jeni. Jeni had suggested we head up to the lighthouse to watch the sunset. I being a know-it-all had laughed it off saying you can’t see the sunset from Byron but I guess we could head up there. Up we went to a VERY busy lighthouse where Matt and Jeni quickly (and awkwardly) removed themselves from our company, to the point where I thought they wanted to leave.
Poor Sean was trying to take me down one side of the lookout, the only place that wasn’t inhabited by tourists taking selfies, but it was SO windy and I’d just done my hair in preparation for a nice dinner we had planned for afterwards, that I flat out refused. He finally managed to get me to a reasonably quiet part of the lighthouse when up popped another international tourist. He somehow managed to move her on whilst I was taking in the view whereby I turned around to Sean down on one knee.
He’d taken me so much by surprise that I ended up giving him a punch in the arm, I think he took that as a yes? Looking back on the day I’d realised how bizarre the three of them had been acting! We were then surprised by a few more of our friends who’d come up to celebrate with us followed by an amazing dinner at Raes on Wategoes.
Style inspiration.
We wanted something very relaxed yet fun, and something that reflected us. Our life revolves around good food and good wine so incorporating that with great music and all the people we love in the same place was our main goal. It was an easy decision having our wedding at Sean’s beautiful family property, a place where we love spending time. All of the gardens there are natives so we wanted to incorporate as much of that into our styling as possible. I’d attempted to plan the whole thing without a wedding planner but put it in the too hard basket and found Jess from Pop Up with Style – she was a Godsend and made the rest of the process a breeze.
The dress.
I managed to find my dress in only two dress shopping days! It was my first visit to One Day Bridal where I found the ‘Moss’ gown. I had imagined myself wearing a lacey dress but after trying on multiple lace dress and being very underwhelmed I was convinced by the girls at ODB to try on the Moss gown. The Moss gown is a silk/satin material which feels like heaven and has a very slinky laid back feel. I still remember walking out and seeing the girl’s expressions and thinking ‘this is the one’. I spent another day dress shopping after that but couldn’t get the Moss gown out of my head and how comfortable I felt in it – it was the one!
Favourite moments.
The whole day! No, I loved the ceremony and Megan (celebrant) nailed it with making sure it stayed super relaxed and not too loved-up, but just enough. I loved hearing Sean’s vows finally after months of asking ‘having you finished your vows?’. We also managed to include all of our siblings into the ceremony which was pretty special. We had our beautiful friend Soph as our MC and the detail she put into every aspect or her role was truly special. A real highlight of the night though was after all the formalities were done, the dance floor was the best place to be with The White Tree putting on an amazing show. It was great looking around and seeing all of your very favourite people having the time of their lives.
Meaning of marriage.
As horrible as it sounds, we never were really fussed about getting married and didn’t think that we needed to get married to prove our love to everyone. It was more about having a wedding and throwing the best party with amazing food, wine and music with all of our favorite people in tow! Now being married I think its really about cementing what you knew you already had, always knowing that no matter what happens, there’s always someone there supporting you, loving you unconditionally and vice versa.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle – Crazy Love by Van Morrison, played by Sean’s amazing uncle and jazz musician, Andy Cowan.
Signing – Run River by Jon Swift
Recessional – We’re Going Home by Vance Joy
Reception entry – SOB by Nathaniel David Rateliff – such a fun song!
First dance – Lets Get it On by Marvin Gaye
Funny stories (or near disasters).
We did change the location of the reception on the property three or four times which I think drove the suppliers and Jess our wedding planner crazy, but apart from that we were very lucky and was reasonably smooth process.
Planning surprises.
Not really as a few of our friends had already had weddings that we’d been involved in so we knew how much work, time, money, effort and fights were involved in planning a wedding.
Words of wisdom.
Choose the few big things that are really important to you as a couple in the planning process to make sure your wedding reflects you.
Take the time out on your big day to spend a good fifteen minutes together, just the two of you, taking it all in because the day will disappear in what feels like five minutes!
Last words.
The biggest thank you to Sean’s parents for allowing our special day to take place at their home and for all their hard work in the lead up, the place looked beautiful. Thank you to our families and stunning bridal party for your help and support in the lead up but an extra special thanks to my maid of honour, my sister.
While we’re on the topic of private property perfection… Check out Lou and Griff’s big day here.
GEORGIA & SEAN’S TRIBE
Ceremony and reception: Private property, Merricks North VIC
Celebrant/Officiant: Megan Watson – We’d seen Megan in action at our friend’s wedding so it was an easy decision. We even changed our initial wedding date just so we could have her and we’re so glad we did.
Photography/Videography: Down The Rabbit Hole Productions – Rhiannon was a total professional that knew what she wanted whilst keeping it relaxed and natural. The photos and video she produced speak for themselves, absolutely beautiful.
Styling: Pop Up with Style – Jess and her team made sure the day ran smoothly and looked beautiful. I can’t recommend them enough.
Florist: Flowers by Julie Kiehn
Hair: Cropped Hair
Make-up: Kate Fletcher
The dress: One Day Bridal
Veil / head wear: One Day Bridal
Shoes: Dolce Firme
Rings: Minzenmay Jewellers, Mornington
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Dion Lee and custom made by Amelia Agosta
Groom’s suit: M.J. Bale
Grooms Shoes: R.M. Williams
Bow ties / ties: OTAA
Catering: Blake’s Feast – Great food was essential for our big day and Andrew Blake and his team were all over it on the day, the food was an absolute highlight. Our friends and family still haven’t stopped talking about the food!
Cake / Cake topper: Kirra Fink – one of our very best friends who made the yummiest ginger and pumpkin cake. It was so good that out of the two huge cakes she made there was almost none left the following day!
Stationery / Signage: My sister
Entertainment: The White Tree
Décor: Simmons Linen Hire, Molossi
Hire: Peninsula Party Hire, Marquee Monkeys, Pepper Sprout Hire
Honeymoon: Hawaii
Other: My beautiful brother, who is an electrician, came days prior to the wedding with his whole team and spent so much time decking the place out with beautiful lighting. He set up the fairy lights and festoon lighting within and around the marquee but also went that extra step in setting up floodlighting to highlight the beautiful historic gums around the property.
