Real Wedding – Laura & Dave, Hesket VIC

September 19, 2021 In Black and White, Garden, Latest Posts, Luxe, Most Popular, Pink, Real Weddings, Victoria By Ivory Tribe

Real Wedding – Laura & Dave, Hesket VIC

When a super talented stylist gives words of advice after celebrating her own stunningly special day, we treat them like gold! The lovely Laura from Weddings of Desire recommends surrounding yourself with talented, trustworthy suppliers and ensuring that comfort is a top priority for you and your guests. Looking at the incredible images by the aesthetically gifted Katie Harmsworth, it is evident that this was a winning formula.

The celebrations began with a gorgeously intimate, laughter-filled ceremony by our wonder woman Jo Betz. Set against a garden oasis of lush greenery, overflowing with florals by Georgia Ko in shades of classic white, blush and dusky rose, Jo wove her magic to lead everyone through a series of special moments. Laura wore an incredible custom-designed gown by Marquis Bridal, classic perfection with a softly luminescent twist. Standing next to her dapper Dave in chic black and white, the two were a picture of radiant, excited happiness.

And of course, as the party moved into the fabulously floral-laden reception space, the incredible style continued in each carefully considered detail. As the sun when down, the dance floor took off – this is one party we all wish we were at! To check out every exquisite moment, scroll on.

The meeting.

We met in a coffee shop six years ago, started up a conversation, and one thing led to another.

The ‘one’.

A few months in, our friendship grew stronger, and we became such a great team, starting businesses and building our family life together. Dave became an automatic step-dad and was such a great role model and support for all of us.

The proposal.

Dave popped the question on Christmas day with Laura’s two children there. The ring was wrapped up in a Jack Daniels box to throw her off, and the kids got so excited, yelling, “OMG, it’s a marry me ring!” Laura burst into tears; it was so lovely to have everyone there.

Planning process.

We found it very easy as we both work in the events industry, Laura (Weddings of Desire) and Dave (MR B and A Spot for Joe). We have worked on many weddings together, so we knew what we wanted.

We narrowed down some suppliers and picked a date. We knew that planning on such a short time frame in the middle of covid would mean that we had to make quick decisions and be accepting of some suppliers not being available.

We chose a photographer (Katie Harmsworth), catering (Romu), dress (Marquise), ceremony and canapes music (TOBI TOBI) all very quickly as we have worked with all these suppliers many times.

One request from Dave was for me to find a certain singer who we heard at one of the Portsea weddings we worked on together, her name was Sophia, and at the time, she was in a duo and under management. I managed to find her through some industry contacts and lock her in for our reception dinner music. Her voice is incredible and gave the most amazing vibe to the night; Sophia paired up with Tino, who is an incredible guitar player and singer.

Nikki Pratt was our DJ; she is a long term friend and something we added on at the last minute to create more of a party vibe after dinner; she did such an amazing job!

In terms of styling, we pulled the wedding together in two weeks as both of us have very busy work schedules; we also like to be able to trust all suppliers and give them creative freedom after we handed the brief over.

Style inspiration.

Autumn garden wedding followed by enchanted forest vibe. I said to Georgia, our florist, that we just wanted to create a vibe and a garden feel for the ceremony, working with all locally grown florals (no imports) and no floral foam. I went out and selected the flowers and colours I loved from the grower, and we had the advantage of being able to pick the most incredible foliage from the property and local gardens in the area, which allowed us to hand pick flowers that you can’t buy from growers.

Dave and I love a contrast of classic and soft and really deep tones like black. Our stationery was created by Emily at Esthetic Bride, and she did the most amazing job, such incredible quality too.

As a stylist, I create my own vision with what works for the space, I do love blogs for sourcing suppliers and meeting people in the industry, and it’s such a great way to showcase your work.

The ceremony.

Our celebrant Jo Betz did the most amazing job! Jo knows us personally, so it made the process extra special. We had tears, laughing, and very special moments; having all three children there and my eldest son Ethan walking me down the aisle was so special!

Tobi Tobi playing Dream by the Cranberries was so special as I walked down the aisle.

The setting and florals looked so amazing, but I didn’t even notice them on the day as I was so excited to see Dave and our closest friends and family! Thank goodness Katie nailed the ceremony shots as it looked so incredible!

The look.

Dave’s outfit was from Calibre, the most amazing service and quality. Dave went traditional black tie.

My dress was a custom design from Marquise bridal. I let Megan take my ideas of long sleeve, no split and off the shoulder and create whatever she wanted; it’s now in their latest collection and has been named after my previous last name, Harvey.

Favourite moments.

The ceremony; and having such a small wedding meant we could chat with everyone.

Meaning of marriage.

We view ourselves as a team; we support each other no matter what, and being married makes our family official.

Wedding soundtrack.

We only requested two songs.

Aisle: Dreams by Cranberries

First dance: Hard Place by H.E.R

Funny stories or near disasters.

I don’t think there were any disasters, but we are used to things not going to plan as we work in the industry, so we have seen it all; not much phases us and we accept that things can go wrong. But, if you put good suppliers in place, you will never know as they will sort any issues.

Planning surprises.

How annoying the seating chart and seating plan is to do! The one thing all my clients have to do themselves, and I experienced it first-hand! We had it pretty easy as it was 30 guests and tables of 10; everyone gets along really well.

Words of wisdom.

Pick good and trustworthy suppliers, don’t go for the cheapest option, make sure your guests are fed, have great service. The styling side is a bonus and looks visually amazing, but guests and yourself will always remember if there wasn’t enough food, service was terrible, if they are freezing cold or too hot (have options like shade or heaters). It’s about a celebration of two people getting married and everyone there is to celebrate. Book an amazing photographer; your images are everything! It’s the only thing you get to look back on; if I was splurging on anything, it would be this! Katie was so amazing and so easy to work with, we had such a great time, and it was really fun getting our photos taken!

We also had our friend Dave from Luna Imagery create an amazing video for us; Dave is a close friend and also attended the wedding, so it was really special to have him create a video for us.

Don’t try and compete with others, do what you love and enjoy the day! Then everyone else will too!

To follow Laura’s advice and surround yourself with a tribe you trust, look no further than our directory. Filled with fabulous folk, talented, trustworthy and personable, you’ll be in the safest of hands on your dream day.