How we met...
I would like to say our first encounter with each other was romantic, but I’ll be honest, it wasn’t. It was in a rowdy bar that we must have both been in countless times at the same time and never met. This particular night however we did, as my future husband happened to be at the bar at the same time and bought me a drink. Five years later we had our beautiful daughter.
The proposal...
As many girls do, I bugged Ashley about being married and having the same family name for ages. I never thought it would actually happen, as his idea of romance was ‘you’re alright mate’. On my 29th birthday, my daughter passed me a ring and he got down on one knee. ‘We have decided you can be a Burton’ was written in my Birthday card! It was the biggest surprise and the loveliest personal proposal.
The dress...
I threw away the rule book with my dress, and after trying on lots of dresses and even buying two, I snuck off to try a dress on that I had seen online so that I could love it for myself, rather than buy a dress I thought others wanted to see me in. My family know how fussy I am, so they were actually relieved! I had a few dramas with the fitting etc. but in the end it was exactly what I had envisioned. My veil was lined with the lace from the dress so that it complemented it perfectly. Hopefully my daughter will wear it one day for her wedding.
The idea we felt really worked well...
We wanted our wedding day to be laid back, so we didn’t find the planning that stressful. There were a few key things that we knew we wanted, and the rest just really fell into place. I wanted to look back on my wedding day in twenty years with my daughter, and still think it was beautiful.
We were lucky enough to have unbelievably talented friends that did our photography for us and played music before the DJ set. Steven Anthony Photography did such an amazing job with the photos and they were natural which meant he caught all the emotional, personal moments. We didn’t want too many formal shots and he respected all our wishes, limiting the amount of formal stuff, and taking our photos as husband and wife at a time when guests didn’t even notice we had gone.
The acoustic music played by our friend, Darren Hames, captured the laid back vibe so perfectly and he played songs that were personal to us as a couple. We shared a dance as a family on the courtyard to his first song, which was probably my favourite part of the day.
Where we feel our budget was well spent...
We hand made our favours, home brewing apple cider and bottling them. These went down wonderfully with the guests, and people were even stuffing them in their pockets as they left the venue. Our first date was spent watching the film ‘The wedding Singer’, so we incorporated this into our wedding décor by framing quotes from the movie, and used bands from the film as our table names.
We also used a song from the movie too, and the DJ managed to get hold of a folk band version of this for us to use. We probably won’t hear that version at any other wedding we go to, so it was such an amazing moment. My dad made our table plan from branches he had collected on his walks, and it ended up being perfect, especially once Green Room Flowers had covered it with flowers and foliage.
Finally, if we could give a tip to other couples...
If we could give one tip, it would be to just remember it doesn’t matter if it rains, it doesn’t matter if someone’s late or the hair isn’t perfect. None of it really matters, as you’ll enjoy your wedding day no matter what. It’s about you marrying who you love in front of the people you love.
Special thanks to Kelly and Ashley for sharing their story, and to Steven Anthony Photography for the photos.