Real Wedding - Nicola and Sean, Sunbury VIC

September 4, 2024 In Latest Posts, Pastel, Real Weddings, Rustic, Victoria By Ivory Tribe

Real Wedding – Nicola and Sean, Sunbury VIC

Nicola and Sean approached the planning process with the expertise and organisation of true type-A personalities – and the result was a smooth lead-in, a gorgeously polished celebration, and a radiant sense of ease-filled excitement from the couple themselves.

When they landed on clean-rustic, relaxed and timeless as their style ethos, Emu Bottom Homestead perfectly fit the brief. The idyllic, expansive surrounds and chic whitewashed stone of the venue gave historic gravity without a sense of heaviness, to which a soft pastel palette brought accents of fresh, effortless elegance.

Photographers Caity and Duncan captured their sweet emotions and style moments of the day with their signature grace, both through digital and film mediums. We love the dynamic nostalgia of the portrait shots, with Nicola a vision of modern princess chic in her Karen Willis Holmes gown and Sean looking all types of handsome as he takes in his stunning wife.

Scroll on to enjoy each darling detail of this dreamy day.

The meeting.

We met at the University of Melbourne back in 2014, completing our Arts and Commerce degrees. It’s one of those full-circle moments because Nicola’s parents met at the same place while completing the same degrees nearly 40 years earlier. We had our first date at a local cafe.

The one.

We have had eight years to gradually build such a strong foundation; there was no single “grand” moment when we each realised we were the one for each other. Once it became clear over time that we were growing into the best versions of ourselves because of our relationship, that absolutely confirmed that we were the right ones for each other.

The proposal.

Sean convinced me to go for a sunrise walk one morning during a holiday in Port Douglas. I was oblivious to his bigger plans for the morning (despite him suggesting I might want to wear something a little more dressy than my casual shorts and singlet). He navigated us up to a beautiful lookout over the ocean, and while I had my back turned to take a photo of the sunrise, he was waiting on one knee behind me. It was just a whirlwind of a moment; neither of us can remember what was said during the proposal other than me saying yes!

Planning process.

We started early, and it was one of the best decisions we made in structuring our planning process. Once we locked in our venue about one year from the wedding date, we then progressed to locking in vendors, and from there, we let our type-A personalities do their thing. Using the planning program, Monday, was amazing because we categorised tasks according to their type (decor, vendor queries, bridal party, family tasks) and their corresponding event (e.g. bridal shower, hens, day before, post-wedding).

Every task was assigned a due date, and although we didn’t stick to this strictly, it gave us a structure to recognise which tasks would require more time to complete gradually and which tasks would be one afternoon’s worth of work and could be ticked off the spreadsheet quickly. We genuinely were very relaxed about the planning process because we kept chipping away at things over the course of a year, with stress only really kicking in during the final couple of weeks where you’re hoping that everything fits together seamlessly and all the last-minute tasks proceed without a hitch (which they did!).

Style inspiration.

We wanted a relaxed but timeless feeling throughout the day and wanted the decor to mirror that. The style motto we kept coming back to when considering venues and design was “clean rustic”, as we knew that we wanted a more natural, older setting but wanted the design to still be light and neutral in its colouring. Our venue at Emu Bottom Homestead provided such a peaceful and rustic backdrop while also nailing our vision for a light and airy space (without having a lot of the darker, heavy timber that often comes in rustic spaces).

We walked out of the venue after our first visit, knowing that the whitewashed stone and light timber interior of the Homestead met our clean rustic vision perfectly, so from there, we really leaned into using that motto as our key inspiration for all other design choices for the day. The natural beauty of the venue meant that we also kept our other design choices very simple and soft to not overpower that space – we wanted the venue to be the primary focus with some accents from soft florals and simple pastel stationary that we DIY’d.

Inspiration from real weddings felt like the more relatable resource for us, especially because we knew our venue had such a natural atmosphere. Seeing inspiration from other real couples also felt more attainable for us to then create or source a concept ourselves. We collated lots of images that we loved and found that a consistent pattern seemed to emerge across the florals, cake, stationary and all other inspiration we were collecting.

The ceremony.

We wanted to keep it very simple for our ceremony. Sean spent time before the ceremony amongst our loved ones which was great for both Sean and our family to check in before the big event. The parents of the bride both walked down the aisle with Nicola, following Nicola’s older sister as a bridesmaid, so it was really a family affair during the procession down the aisle.

Our celebrant, Zac, made us both feel at ease, and we kept the formalities and readings short so the main focus would be our vows to each other. We decided that having the celebrant stand to one side was the best choice for us, which worked so well now to see our ceremony photos with the two of us as the central focus.

Sean’s stepdad built and painted us an arbour, which was such a personalised touch and provided the base for our amazing florists to work their magic. Watching our movie back now, what stands out to us is how relaxed we both were throughout the ceremony (until the final vows, then you see a few nerves creeping in!). I think that we were primarily focussed on each other and sharing our vows that we’d written, any nerves about standing in front of others or the gravity of getting married really melted away!

The outfits.

Nicola: I was lucky to only have two bridal dress trial trips before I found my dress. I initially thought that I would prefer a larger skirt with more of a traditional “bridal” shape, but it was during a second visit to Karen Willis Holmes that I pivoted to something more fitted. Typically I hardly wear fitted outfits, but there was something about how this material skimmed my body rather than clinging to it which made me feel just so comfortable. The winning moment was when the stylist suggested adding the big sleeves to the existing dress silhouette. In normal life I do enjoy a linen dress with larger sleeves, so this felt like the most fabulous and elevated version of something that I was already comfortable with and I knew was flattering on me. The larger sleeves balanced out my shape perfectly and when delivered in the crisp white of this material, I knew it was a done deal. Paired with a KHW veil that I found on Facebook Marketplace, I was over the moon!

Sean: My outfit was a much quicker process. A couple of days were spent at suit stores looking at every possible version of a textured blue suit jacket, but after trying on the same Country Road jacket at different stores and realising that we kept getting drawn to the same one, that was the winner! The best man wore the same jacket, so it was a two-birds-with-one-stone situation once we found my jacket. We wanted to lean into the pastel vibe from the florals and decor, so the suit and tie captured that pastel floral style which was also in the boutonnière on the day. For footwear, the RM Williams got a polish, and I was good to go.

Favourite moments.

The best part of the day (in amongst so much love and joy) was honestly the time we had just the two of us to soak in the day. Our couple photos with our wonderful photographers after the ceremony gave us a chance to just bask in the moment and connect after not seeing each other all day. Looking at the couple photos now, it’s hard for us not to get a rush of total joy and love, as that’s exactly what we see captured in the photos.

Meaning of marriage.

To us, we are both committed to continuing our sense of total trust and support in one another. This will look different as our lives continue and evolve, but what we’re committing to is being each other’s source of consistency and security.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Songbird by Fleetwood Mac.

Reception entry: Gimme Gimme Gimme by ABBA.

First dance: Can’t Help Falling in Love With You by Haley Reinhart.

Planning surprises.

We discovered the power of DIY, despite neither of us being particularly gifted with arts and crafts. YouTube tutorials and a Cricut machine took care of so many details and saved us a lot of money, so although it occupied a lot of nights after work and plenty of weekends, we were pleasantly surprised by how many key items of stationery and decor we could take care of ourselves without outsourcing to external vendors.

Words of wisdom.

Stay true to what you and your partner want for your day – if there’s a vision that you have, don’t let trends or other people’s opinions waver what you both want to see. After all, no one will look at those photos as much as you two, and you want to be able to see exactly what your hearts and heads wanted.

Love the use of film photography Interspersed through Nicola and Sean’s stunning celebration? Perhaps you’d like to see how Super 8 can give a sense of unique nostalgia to the capture of your dream day memories, the perfect add on to your suite of talent.

NICOLA & SEAN’S VENDORS

A combination of word of mouth and completing our own research! Using social media to see other real weddings was incredibly useful to gauge the styles of each vendor, while also connecting with other people in our lives who have been through the wedding planning process. It became clear that anyone who has planned a wedding understands exactly how overwhelming it can be, and was so happy to help us get on track however they could.

Ceremony & reception venue: Emu Bottom Homestead

Celebrant: Zac Ansell

Photography & videography: Caity and Duncan

Florist: Floral Architecture

Hair: Ash Jende

Make-up: Vanessa Bomba

The dresses & veil: Karen Willis Holmes

Shoes: Bared Footwear

Rings: James Allen (bride’s rings), Simon Curwood Jewellers (groom’s ring)

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Shona Joy

Suits: Country Road jacket

Bow ties / ties: Ferrari Formalwear