We were so keen to bring this gorgeous wedding to you on our blog but we had to overcome a few issues first. You see, Hayley and Adam recently shared to most amazing wedding day in the Hunter Valley and immediately after, left for a three month honeymoon travelling the world!
Having not seen ANY of their photos yet, we wanted to share the first look with them before anyone else but it was going to be difficult with Hayley and Adam on the move. After a little emailing back and forth, it’s been ok’d for us to share some of our favourites from the day with you and hopefully Haley and Adam will get online to see them too.
During our emailing with Hayley, I was able to fill in some blanks and add some of the backstory about this gorgeous couple and their wedding day.
Happy travels guys, hope you love the photos!
What’s the story behind the two of you, how did you meet?
We met in high school in Mudgee. However, we didn’t start dating until I finished university in Newcastle. We did the long distance thing for a year before I moved back to Mudgee the following year.
Can you tell me about the proposal?
I was in Auckland, New Zealand for a dance teachers course. Adam flew over and met me there mid week and that night he took me to dinner at the viaduct. After a beautiful meal we got back to the apartment and he popped the question telling me afterwards that he was too nervous to wait any longer!
Over the next three days he took me to the places he had researched to propose including moped riding on an island off the coast of Auckland with lunch at a beautiful vineyard overlooking the ocean, bushwalking around the coast of the island and dinner at the Sky Tower Revolving Restaurant in Auckland. It was all amazing!
It sounds and looks like Adam is a true romantic – I love this photo from the reception.
Where was the wedding and why?
The wedding was in Mudgee, NSW. We were both brought up in Mudgee and lived in town so it made sense to have the wedding at home.
We were married at St Mary’s Catholic Church and had a marquee reception at Bunnamagoo Estate Winery in the Vineyard. With marquee and set up all done by Domayne Marquee & Function Hire (my mum and dad’s company) and it was SPECTACULAR!
We are very, very lucky to have them!!!!!
Were you going for a certain theme or style?
It was a rustic theme for the marquee to go with the vineyard setting. We made mason jar candle chandeliers, painted blackboards as place settings and used different length wood stumps for the candy table. We had a dance floor under the stars with three hanging crystal chandeliers above for light, looking out over the vineyard and mountains.
From the photos it’s clear that Hayley achieved the look and feel she had planned just perfectly!
Was there a journey in finding your dress?
I went on a weekend trip with all my bridesmaids to Sydney. We went dress shopping and in the first shop I fell in love with an Audrey Hepburn type knee length dress from “Brides of Sydney” however, the girls felt it wasn’t quite elegant enough for a church wedding, it was more of a party dress.
So we continued on and right at the end of the day I tried a silk and lace dress at “Oahn Ma Couture” in Annandale that we all fell in love with. I still however, couldn’t get the other dress out of my head so in the end I actually ended up with two dresses for the wedding.
Dress number two! The Audrey Hepburn number – sometimes a bride just has to spoil herself.
Brides Shoes by:
ASOS online
Jewellery and Accessories by:
Swarovski crystal ring
Market bought earrings
Hair piece made by Oahn Ma from Oahn Ma Couture Sydney
Hair and Makeup by:
Hair by Suzanne’s Hair FX Mudgee
Make up by Katie’s Makeup Artistry Mudgee (who’s also a good friend that was at the wedding)
Hair and makeup was just perfect – gorgeous.
Groomsmen Suits by:
We had the suits made in Thailand. We went with Adams two brothers, his bestman and their girlfriends for a week a few months before the wedding and had them fitted and made. One of the groomsmen was unable to come so we had his made from measurements.
All the suits came out perfect (which was a bonus). The suits fitted the boys really well, we received exactly what we wanted for a very reasonable price (not to mention a holiday as well).
Adam and his groomsmen in their perfectly fitted suits.
The Flowers by:
Me. The bouquets were made from fake flowers that I put together with hessian, twine and broaches. I did this so I didn’t have to stress about making them in the few days before the wedding. Especially considering I’m definitely not a florist and needed a little time until I was happy with them!
The flowers in the marquee and church were from the Sydney Flower Markets on the Wednesday before the wedding. As a couple we were not fussed on what kind of flowers we used so by getting them ourselves from the flower markets and putting them together, we saved a lot of money and had a huge amount of flowers to put everywhere.
The adventure to the flower markets was also a great way to spend some time with my mother, sister and mother-in-law to be and a great way to have them involved (and they were very helpful) with the wedding.
We all went down together and ran around the markets with buckets picking flowers then loading them into the car. As you’d expect, the cars smelt spectacular on the drive home to Mudgee!
Two days before the wedding, my mother, my maid of honour (sister), another bridesmaid and I put them together and into mason jars, then stored them in a large cool room, to be put out on the morning of the wedding.
The flowers became more about bonding and good times than anything else which made them all the more special.
The Cake by:
Mudgee Made Catering (who also catered for the evening).
Bomboniere:
We had a photo booth and candy buffet and used these as our bomboniere for everyone.
A Memorable Moment from the day:
My memorable moment for the day was when we turned up to the reception, I had changed into my “party dress” and some of my young dancers, my close girlfriends at the wedding, the groomsmen, MC’s and I all busted out in a flashmob!
Everyone was so excited afterwards. It was a great way to start the reception and gave all the guests something to talk about! We really enjoyed it!
The flashmob was a hit with the whole wedding and a perfect way to kick off the reception.
The Honeymoon:
We are travelling for three months around the world. We started in Dubai then our main “honeymoon” part of the trip was two weeks in Tanzania on private Safari. We are then continuing on through Europe, England and Scotland before heading to the US, Mexico and Canada.
What the most important piece of advice you would like to share with brides to be?
Spread out your day so you have plenty of time to enjoy every part of it. Even if it means getting up an hour earlier. You don’t want anything to run late or be over too quick (although in the end the day is over too quick no matter how much time you have).
And remember, you’re there for one reason only, to marry the one person in your life that means the most to you! So any other silly little details don’t matter! Chances are no one else will notice anyway!
Do you have a favourite photo?
I haven’t been able to see them yet…unfortunately!!! (until now :))
How did you enjoy the photography part of the day?
I loved it, Nat was wonderful. We had photos at a few different locations and she was very easy going and handled the 10 of us and all our frivolity fabulously!!
She was wonderfully efficient and at times it didn’t even feel like we were being photographed which made it a lot less stressful and less posed!
It also gave the bridal party some good times to hang out before we all got lost in the crowd of guests at the wedding reception!
Thanks so much Hayley and Adam for allowing us to feature your wedding even before you’ve seen your photos! Have a wonderful honeymoon (you do know that everyone that reads about your trip is VERY jealous) and we’ll see you with LOTS more photos on your return.
