India + Ayrton

How did you meet?

We are high school sweethearts. I was the new girl at school and on my very first day one of the girls on my table (who I had only met 20 minutes prior) yelled across the classroom “Hey Ayrton, the new girl thinks you’re hot!”. As you can imagine (year 9, first day at a new school) I was mortified! I didn’t know who ‘Ayrton’ was! We became friends over the following years and now the rest is history.

How did you know he was the one?

I always joke that it was when I WANTED to share my chocolate with him one day and realised he must be pretty important to me. We have been together 10 years now and I knew pretty early on that he was a very special guy.

What are your three favourite attributes of your partner?

How incredibly selfless he is, his humour and the way he can make me smile (oh and how great he looked in his suit on the day!)

Who proposed and how?

Ayrton proposed while we were on holiday in Tasmania. It was his birthday and we had been abseiling all day. That night we stayed at Pumphouse Point (gorgeous in the winer!). We arrived late from travelling all day and Ayrton was so pushy about going straight to look at the lake – I wanted to check in first. He pulled me over to the lake to have a look before the sun went down and got down on one knee and asked!

Where did you fall in love with your dress and why?

The very first dress I pinned on Pinterest was Harlie! I fell in love, but I was looking for a long sleeve, A-line, low back, lace gown. Oh, how wrong was I? I had my appointment booked in the Dulwich store to try her on and 2 days beforehand you announced Harlie was being discontinued (last chance to buy was the day BEFORE my appointment!). A quick email to you guys and was reassured you would let me still try it on.

What was the best moment for you at the wedding?

So many things! The one I always go to first is when we went off to do our couples shots at sunset. We disappeared for a while and went across the road into a paddock with our photographer and videographer. We could hear and see our whole wedding as the sun had just set. The moon was so bright that night and the stars had come out as we started walking back – it was magical.

What surprised you most at or about your wedding?

At the reception I didn’t cry and he did – I cry watching strangers wedding videos and didn’t shed a tear at my own. I was so excited that I didn’t have time to think about it! And also just how amazing our friends and family were helping set up and pack up the whole day, and organising the little things as they happened so we could concentrate on the day (thanks to whoever bought the cake outside, found the cake knife and set up all our desserts).

What advice would you tell other brides?

Trust your gut! I spent so much time catering for everyone else and lost focus on what the day was about. I ended up changing a lot of plans last minute because I remembered it was our day – not everyone else’s (they are there to enjoy the day with us, not control how the day goes). And soak it all in – it’s so true that they say the day goes so quickly! Absorb everything you can of the day.

What was the one thing you did differently for your wedding?

Our whole wedding was held on our family property where I grew up, and it was a complete DIY event. We wanted it to be like a big family dinner under the stars – without all the wedding fuss. There were so many little things that I planned differently – no diamond ring, no coordinator or planner, no full bridal makeup, had all our nieces and nephews walk down the aisle (9 of them + the dog!), didn’t get caught up in trying to make our wedding like everything you see on Instagram and picked the Father/Daughter song about 10 minutes before we went out. The song was ‘Sultans of Swing’ by Dire Straits and was the song my parents did their first dance too (they didn’t pick it, it was just what the DJ played – very untraditional) and it took everyone at our wedding by surprise which was perfect.

And just some extra little things that were special about our wedding day:

The whole wedding was on our family property. The land is called Templeton – my Nannas middle name, and I am the only one in the whole extended family to also have that middle name. We no longer live in the area and the property is now a holiday accommodation/wedding venue.

The signing table we used at our ceremony was the same signing table my parents used 30+ years ago at their wedding.

My mum made my veil for me.

I only have one grandparent still with us (Nanna – Templeton) and I asked her to be my witness for our certificate.

I used peppercorn foliage from my Grandma and Pop’s property in our bouquets and table decorations. They are both no longer with us and I wanted to incorporate them in some way (but being not traditional I didn’t want to light a candle, reserve a seat or have photos) and thought this would be a special way to include them. The pepper tree has a cubby house in it that my Pop built for us grandkids.

My ‘something blue’ was a blue sapphire ring of my Grandmas that my mum now has. We tied this to my bouquet for the day. Ayrton’s mum also gave him his Grandmother’s wedding ring to put in his breast pocket for the day as she has also passed.

And of course, the Father/Daughter dance – the same song my parents had as their first dance song. It lasted all of about 50 seconds and I think we laughed the whole way through!

 

Details.

MWL Design:

Harlie

Venue:

Templeton On Murray, Renmark SA

Music:

Afterdark Entertainment

MUA:

Make Me up by Amber Henwood

Flowers:

Jodie Lee’s

Rings/jewelry:

Charles & Colvard (bride) + Michael Hill (groom)

Shoes:

Novo (bride) + Joseph Uzumco (groom)

Suits:

Joseph Uzumco

Photographer:

Tomek Photography

Videographer:

Fragment Films

MWL Stockist:

Adelaide MWL Boutique