L U K E & B E L I N D A – J A N E
F R O M T H E B R I D E
The Meeting…
We met at Streaky Bay on New Years as the world ticked over to 2008. I was on the Eyre Peninsula holidaying with my family as we always do, and a friend suggested I join her at Streaky for New Years. Luke used to live there, and was back from working in Darwin for the holidays with his family.
The Proposal…
After football one day we decided we would head to Streaky Bay to catch up with family and friends. On the way, Luke pulled over to the side of the road, under the ‘Moroney Road’ sign near where he grew up. In the middle of nowhere under the stars, he got down on one knee and said ‘I have been waiting for the perfect moment, but there is no perfect moment until this ring is on your finger!’ He then asked me to marry him – of course I said yes!
Wedding Planning…
We wanted a fun personalised wedding, that included everybody we loved and had everyone feeling the love that Luke and I feel for each other. Romantic would be the theme, and to go with that we had light pinks, blues and purples for colours, complemented with whites (and greys for the boys suits). We used textures such as pearls, lace and crochet to give it that something extra. The wedding was very ‘us’ and detailed, we had a toy header pulled down the aisle with the rings, and instead of place cards, we polarised pictures of us with the particular guests and their name on it. We wanted to include more people than just the bridal party, and so had 7 different people do readings at the ceremony, had friends as our drivers and MC etc.
Pre-wedding Celebrations…
The day before, the girls got together and my friend Mandy, owner of the Beauty and Massage Room in Cummins, shut down her salon and treated us to a beauty day getting our nails done, as well as magazines, food and drink. We then went to Port Lincoln for dinner together and stayed at Mariners Cay on the Marina. The boys stayed at our home on the farm and played Wii until the early hours!!
The Dress…
I had a very bad morning dress shopping at the places where I had appointments. It wasn’t the dresses – it was the service!! I was very despondent when I walked into Spurling Formal on Payneham Road in Adelaide. I told the ladies there how my day had been, and suddenly they were making a fuss over me to change that around! There was a dress on the mannequin that myself, my mother and my maid of honour had commented on as being beautiful when we had first walked in – but me being me not wanting to be an inconvenience just tried on the dresses that were available. I came very close to buying another dress when I plucked up the courage to ask for the dress on the mannequin. As soon as it was on, my mum and friend said that was it, and another mother of the bride in the room turned around and said the same thing!! My dress was ‘Lucinda’ from Brides Desire. After bullying and selfconfidence issues in my youth, and working to turn that around, I just wanted to feel beautiful, and that dress did it. The lace and beaded detail was amazing – of course being 6 foot I needed length added!!
Ceremony…
St Mary of the Angel’s Catholic Church in Port Lincoln, South Australia.
The Flowers…
Moni from Golden Sable Florists took the pictures we had cut out of magazines and made the perfect bouquets. They were unstructured without being messy, a mix of pale pink david Austin roses, white freesias, pink geralton wax, mauve & pink lissianthus, silver suede foliage. Moni also incorporated my Grandma’s brooch which I was very thankful for – she was unwell and couldn’t make the wedding (passing 2 months later).
Reception…
Port Lincoln Yacht Club
Styling & Decorations…
We hired Kassie from Fairytale Weddings and Events to help us decorate our style. Kassie covered the walls with tulle and made strip lighting on the roof with fairy lights and pink lanterns. Purple silk sashes were used for the chairs and an ivory runner for the tables. Fresh flowers were in fishbowls on the tables, with candles in glass jars, some wrapped in lace ribbons, others with pearls. Instead of table numbers we had ‘names’ such as laughter, passion, adventure, trust, affection, family and eternity (plus more!) – all words we thought described our relationship.
We had a candy buffet with a framed picture of ‘our story’, and a wire bird cage for the wishing well. We also had a ‘family tree’ – a white jewellery tree with pictures of our grandparents and parents weddings hanging from the branches- the crochet frames were made by my mother in law. Instead of place cards, we found pictures of ourselves and the guests, turned them into polaroids, and there was a blackboard that read ‘pictures tell 1000 words, 1000 words make a story, stories are to be shared with friends – find your picture, tell your story, make a friend’ – we had people coming from all over – some who had never met each other, and we wanted everyone to leave as friends. To include guests that don’t dance, we set up a lounge area in a corner of the dancefloor, rather than having them sit at their tables away from the action. The decorations were a combination of things we had made or collected, and hired from the decorator.
We had a motif for everything, from invites to table gifts and on our cake – everyone has always called us the lovebirds, so we wanted to incorporate that in everything – as well as the saying ‘when I first saw you, I loved you . You smiled because you knew’ – because we believe it was like love at first sight!
Photography…
Jade Norwood (Jade Norwood Photography) was so easy to get along with from the start, we felt so comfortable with her and hence, in front of the camera. Her work is magic, there is no other way to describe it. The pictures are so beautiful, it has been ridiculously hard to pick something for our walls – culling the album was hard enough! Love the mix of art shots, stolen moments, and those wedding photos you’ve got to have.
Honeymoon…
Due to the farming lifestyle (harvest not long after our wedding) we decided to escape the winter and leave for our honeymoon to Europe in July, spending time in London, Paris, Rome, Florence and Venice before cruising around the Greek Isle and Croatia.
The couple are happily living on the family farm at Kapinnie on the beautiful Lower Eyre Peninsula of South Australia with plans to start a family.
Photographer Jade Norwood Photography Ceremony Venue St Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, Port Lincoln Reception Venue Port Lincoln Yacht Club Bride’s Dress Brides Desire from Spurling Formal Wear Styling Fairytale Weddings and Events Flowers Golden Sable Florists Cake Cake Dreams