Real Wedding - Meg & Paddy, Ceres VIC

August 17, 2020 In Classic, Country, Latest Posts, Outdoor, Real Weddings, Victoria, White By Natalie Drum

Real Wedding – Meg & Paddy, Ceres VIC

From the get-go, Meg and Paddy had a clear vision for their wedding day and were fortunate that Paddy’s family farm in Ceres was the perfect location to host their once in a lifetime celebration.

They chose to host their romantic ceremony in one of their favourite locations, by the river and while they had a large group of guests, their ceremony still felt so intimate and love filled. When they exchanged vows they couldn’t wipe the smiles off their faces as they made their way back down the aisle to the cheers of their family and friends.

They wanted to create a natural but elegant feel to their reception and were inspired to bring the outdoors in when it came to putting together some marquee magic. Think gum leaves, natural tones and stone textures that only added to the stunning location, rather than detracting.

Jenna Fahey-White was the lucky photographer who captured this darling duo in all their loved-up glory.

The meeting.

Paddy and I met while living on residence at St. Mary’s College at Melbourne University. Paddy was a second year and I was a first year and we started out in the same friendship group. It wasn’t for quite a few months until we actually started going out.

The ‘one’.

Paddy and I were such good friends and were hanging out together all the time but there was a definite moment when we fell in love! We were both happy living the Uni lifestyle and weren’t really looking for a relationship but as time went on we were just so drawn to each other. We actually said ‘I love you’ to each other before we had even starting ‘officially’ going out! Really, we both just knew from that moment that we had found the one, that was in 2011 and we have never looked back. I really think when you know, you know.

The proposal.

Paddy spoils me and always puts tremendous effort into making me feel special and his proposal was absolutely perfect. He proposed on my birthday which surprisingly I was not expecting. When I was younger my dad used to leave clues that would lead to our birthday presents. Paddy had done this for me on my first year of college (my first year away from my family) but not again since. On the morning of my 28th birthday Paddy put clues out for me leading me to little presents throughout the morning and then gave me a necklace that I had been eying off for a while at breakfast. I definitely thought that was my birthday done but when I came home from work he had more clues leading to a night away at Jackalope in the Mornington Peninsula.

There, at sunset, he gave me my last clue and he was on one knee.

The process.

We really enjoyed planning our wedding. Because we were fortunate enough to have our wedding on Paddy’s family farm we could be flexible with a lot of the planning. We had a pretty clear vision of what we wanted the setting to look like and because we locked in amazing vendors we knew we were going to have an amazing day and night.

Our wedding planner, Laura, was all over every detail of the wedding so we felt the planning was completely under control and we could just enjoy inventing cute ideas for our guests.

Style inspiration.

We chose to have our ceremony at our favourite spot on the farm which was down by the river. We have spent many afternoons down there with family and we wanted to incorporate a relaxed but elegant and timeless feel into our ceremony design. We centered the ceremony under two overarching gum trees that provided beautiful filtered light and a natural arch.

It’s a really quiet, peaceful space with the soft sounds of running water and birds so it was the perfect spot for our ceremony.

We wanted to create a natural but elegant feel to our reception by bringing the outside inspiration of gum trees and the natural tones and stone textures of the barn into our marquee. Our florist, Georgia, created breathtaking garlands of leaves and white flowers that hung over our heads and she put gum leaves, white roses and peonies down the center of the tables. Georgia collected these leaves from around the farm that morning, which was a really nice personal touch. We littered candles all throughout the marquee which created a stunning warm glow as the daylight faded.

I sent through some photos of my dress to Georgia who arranged our florals and my bouquet with this in mind. Georgia used David Austin roses in my bouquet and I thought the layers and elegance of these flowers paired with the cascading layers of my dress was beautiful.

The dress.

I found choosing a dress really challenging to be honest, I wasn’t sure what I wanted so the girls at Mariana Hardwick had their work cut out for them! I had tried on a few different styles of dresses and was narrowing down to something that gave me a nice silhouette, but I also wanted something dramatic. When I put on the Saskia gown it had a bold off-shoulder neckline and was form fitting, which I really loved. I thought it was the perfect combination of timeless elegance and contemporary style. When I paired it with the flounce overlay it gave me the drama that I had been looking for and I knew I had found my dress!

Favourite moments.

I’d have to say the ceremony. It was so peaceful down by the river, and even though there were a lot of people there it felt really intimate and special. A moment in particular that I loved was when we said our vows to each other. It had been overcast all day but right when we said our vows the sun shone through the clouds onto us and it was incredible.

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage to me means a life-long commitment to your partner, your soulmate and best friend. It is an agreement to approach life as a team and celebrate all that life has to offer together. To be there for each other in the hard times, to laugh together through the good times and to always have each other’s backs.

Wedding soundtrack.

Processional: Acoustic guitar instrumental Into My Arms by Nick Cave

Signing the registry: Violin and guitar instrumental Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley

Recessional: Real Love Baby by Father John Misty

Bridal party introduction: September by Earth, Wind & Fire

Bride and groom introduction: Move On Up by Curtis Mayfield

First dance song: The Luckiest by Ben Folds

Funny stories (or near disasters).

Our family priest was not able to marry us, so we had to find someone else. There was a quaint little chapel up on the hill near the farm that (in the very beginning) we thought would be a perfect place for us to get married.

About nine months before we were due to get married we met a lovely priest though the little chapel who agreed to marry us outside of the church, so we locked her in, paid our deposit, and met with her a few times to get to know her.

Then, three weeks before our big day the priest rang us up and said they had accidentally double booked and could no longer marry us! It was only a near disaster because it was only a week before that we had met Father Russell Trickey and Paddy and I both clicked with him instantly.

We asked him if he would please marry us and luckily, he agreed and was available! Father Russell turned out to be great, he made jokes in our ceremony and was super relaxed which was perfect.

Planning surprises.

We probably didn’t realise the logistics of having a wedding on a private property. There was no blueprint for us to follow and there was a lot of problem solving that had to be done. In the beginning we thought ‘put a marquee up and with some tables and chairs and a speaker and we’re good to go’, not thinking about generators and the sound they put out, slip mats for caterers, generally outsourcing every element of our wedding. Probably the biggest logistical nightmare was transporting everyone from down by the river to the reception – it was too far for people to walk and there was a small hill that a bus could only drive over if it hadn’t been raining that day, and even then, we couldn’t guarantee that with bus would make it with the weight of all the passengers! These are the reasons we are so thankful to have had Laura.

Words of wisdom.

Enjoy every moment, enjoy the planning process, and take it all in as it comes. If you can, take a step away from the party to share with your partner and reflect on the day’s events and what you’ve created together.

Have you heard of the dreaded ‘wedding tax’? Is it a myth? Read on, and hear from some industry experts as to how and why you might be paying what you are when it comes to your wedding celebration.

MEG & PADDY’S TRIBE

Ceremony and reception location: Private property – Ceres, Victoria

Celebrant/Officiant: Father Russell Trickey

Wedding planner: Laura Harvey of Weddings of Desire – We could not recommend Laura highly enough. Laura gave us the day we had dreamed of!

Photography: Jenna Fahey-White – Jenna took some really special photos we will keep forever. Neither Paddy or me are in front of a camera all that often but Jenna made us feel so comfortable.

Videography: Tom Noske

Styling: Laura Harvey Event styling / Weddings of Desire

Florist: Georgia Kotschet

Hair and make-up: Shara Ferguson

The Dress: Mariana Hardwick

Shoes: Tony Bianco and Golden Goose

Rings: Cushla Whiting

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Shona Joy

Menswear: Hugo Boss and MJ Bale

Catering: Annie’s Kitchen and The Tipsy Colt

Bar: The Tipsy Colt

Favours: We had polaroid cameras so our guests could take photos home