Most wedding are fantastic, in my experience anyway. Most weddings though, are a compromise of some sort and the couple usually have to adjust things to suit. Megan and Dan though, were lucky enough to plan and experience the perfect Central Coast garden wedding with no compromises, it was exactly the day they dreamed of and planned.
I asked both Megan and Dan to describe their day and a little more about themselves to go along with their wedding photos – I hope you enjoy their wedding and story as much as I did in capturing the day. I also hope you get the same sense of love, laughter and fun that I truly witnessed on the perfect spring day. I’ll let Megan take it from here.
The proposal – It was Dan’s Nan’s birthday coming up & we weren’t able to see her that weekend, so Dan had arranged an afternoon tea for some family at his Nan’s house. In actual fact it was for her birthday and as I found out, his proposal to me, with family around us to share that special moment.
Dan gets some good advice on how to be a good husband from his very special Nan at the reception. How special that Dan was so thoughtful to propose to Megan in front of their grandparents because he knew they would enjoy that.
Our wedding ceremony was at Distillery Botanica, Erina (previously the Fragrant Gardens). From the start we both wanted a garden wedding so this suited us perfectly. Relaxed, simple and informal. The same as our reception at Wamberal Surf Club.
After being to so many weddings over the years, we wanted to be able to relax & mingle with our guests between our Ceremony & Reception rather than rushing off for photos. So we served light refreshments & cheese platters to our guests in the gardens, they could then enjoy the gardens and we got to speak to people knowing that we would probably not be able to speak to everyone on the day/night. Troy Henderson sung all of our music for our Ceremony and afterwards, adding to a beautiful relaxed mood.
Distillery Botanica at Erina was the ceremony venue that fit perfectly with Dan and Megan’s idea of the perfect wedding… and it was.
Troy was fantastic, the acoustic music and great song choice just made the garden wedding atmosphere perfect.
Isn’t this just the perfect scene for a relaxed garden wedding.
We both had the same ideas for our wedding day which made organising easier, we wanted to be able to mingle with everyone, and celebrate our day – be true to who we are as well.
The beautiful and extremely talented Kel from Kel-leigh Couture made my wedding dress. I had previously met Kel when she made a friends wedding gown & bridesmaids dresses, so I went to Kel not long after I was engaged with two pictures of dresses I really liked. I was drawn to one dress in particular more & more each time so stuck with that one. From that picture Kel created my dress to suit me, my own style and ended up just perfect. She also made my earrings, bird cage veil & hair clip. This all just topped it all off.
I borrowed my Mum’s clutch, Mum also made my garter (something blue) and my Nan gave me my Great Grandmothers handkerchief for my ‘something old’.
I found my wedding shoes on line by Nine West, I wanted something different and that I would be able to wear again, surprisingly comfortable as well.
Karen from The Bridal Hair Artist did our hair. Me having short hair made light work for Karen. I wanted a relaxed soft look for my bridesmaids so again found a picture and Karen worked her magic from there!
Danielle from Face On Beauty and Make Up Studio did our makeup. I have been visiting Face On and Danielle for years now so didn’t hesitate to ask her to do our makeup. I was the last to have my makeup & hair done and that’s when the nerves kicked in, both Danielle & Karen just made that part of the day so much easier, pampering & relaxing!
Dan bought all the suits from Roger David as his gift to his best man & groomsmen.
Tanya at Angel Blooms did our flowers. I had a picture again of what I wanted, natives & succulents. Tanya came up with the rest and I couldn’t be happier, I have dried them and still look at them with a smile! Tanya also did our table displays with the same flowers as my bouquet and the succulents on our cake.
Once again, Tanya from Angel Blooms did an amazing job with the flowers.
Rachel from Frosted Fantasies did our “naked” wedding cake. I didn’t want a typical cake, and wanted something that represented Dan and I. Delicious and simple.
This is the first time I’ve seen or heard the term “naked wedding cake” and it looks and sounds great.
Our bomboniere again was a bit of Dan, being a horticulturalist, we added a touch of plants to our reception and potted up some home grown succulents and added some favourite sayings with Thank you.
Having met Andrew previously and having worked with him at a friends wedding, it was an easy decision to ask him to photograph our wedding. Andrew has a way with making you feel relaxed, comfortable in front of a camera and really enjoy being photographed. Andrew is such a professional, you forget what your doing and really enjoy every moment.
It’s difficult not to have fun and enjoy the photography when everyone else is having a great time. So glad I was able to part of your day Megan and Dan.
Dan & I loved every part of our wedding day, we have both have said that we loved seeing each others smiling faces on the day. Dan’s sister blew us all away with her speech that she rapped at our reception, lots of laughs and a very special moment.
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. There’s vomit on his sweater already, mom’s spaghetti. He’s nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready to drop bombs, but he keeps on forgetting what he wrote down. The whole crowd goes so loud. He opens his mouth, but the words won’t come out. He’s choking how, everybody’s joking now… Maybe you had to be there 🙂
My advice, be true to yourself and your partner. I always went back to our original ideas so stick with your gut feeling. We were really lucky in Dan knowing a lot of people that could help us for our wedding, otherwise I used people that were referred to us. Enjoy the lead up and organising your wedding. And most of all enjoy your special day, don’t sweat the small stuff cause at the end of the day it is about your love and commitment to each other. LIVE, LAUGH AND LOVE : )
This is not the look of a nervous groom – love it.
Another special moment… A mother helps her daughter into her wedding dress.
Love this moment when dad first sees his daughter as a bride. Pretty special.
I was lucky to have an assistant on the day to capture any of the little moments I may have missed 😉
Not everyone could be there for the ceremony but we were sure to include them in the photos.
I love the time immediately after the ceremony when everyone gets a chance to congratulate the happy couple.
Family photos aren’t always the most creative of the day but are still some of the most important and treasured in years to come.
Dan surveys his ‘other’ pride and joy that just about popped everyones eardrums.
Did the we all have fun at the photo shoot… Hell yeah!
Thanks again guys for having me be part of your amazing day. I hope you get as much enjoyment from your photos as I had in capturing them. Wishing you both much love, success and happiness for what is surely to be a fun time ahead.
Andrew
