Gabrielle and Jared's Relaxed Garden Party Wedding in Melbourne by Darin Collison

Happy Monday everyone, I do hope you have had a wonderful weekend? Did you get up to anything wedding related? I’d love to hear about your weekend activities. We had two parties this weekend. Saturday was a friend’s house/garden party and Sunday was a children’s birthday party! It was lovely to spend some time with friends and have a good catch up! On with this weeks weddings and I have some real beauties for you, starting with today’s stunning wedding from Melbourne. Sometimes weddings don’t have to be all about the details and decor. For me, with some weddings, it’s all about the amazing photography, the use of light, the emotion caught on camera and the overall feel of love you get from being in the privileged position to view a couple’s wedding. Darin Collison is one such photographer and he has captured Gabrielle and Jared’s wedding so beautifully, the pictures really do speak for themselves. Big thanks to www.bweddinginvitations.com for sending me the gorgeous submission.

We hoped to strike the balance between ticking off the important formalities whilst creating a fun party atmosphere. It’s so tricky to narrow down exactly what variables create the perfect balance – but we think we created something special. It truly was the best, day, ever.

Gabrielle and Jared were married on 9th December 2017 at The Farm Yarra Valley, Victoria, Melbourne. ‘Totally cheesy, but it really was love at first sight with The Farm. It was the first and only venue that we looked at. It was everything we were looking for. We had 102 guests and it took 14 months to plan.’

How they met
Whilst lifeguarding at local pool – our casual job whilst studying university, 11 years ago.

The proposal
On a hike in Wellington Park, Tasmania. Jared found the perfect moment as we were overlooking Hobart (in between my crazy changes in conversation because I could sense the proposal!).

Where did you splurge and where did you save?
We spent lots of time researching vendors, identifying the range in quotes, and choosing vendors that meet our needs financially, as well as, their style and service.

How did you choose your photographer?
Darin Collison. We love candid and journalistic photography. That’s just his style.

The dress
Gwendolynne Burkin is divine. The attention to detail is incredible in her design, but also in her custom production. I trusted Gwendolynne completely and it was so lovely visiting her Fitzroy studio for fittings. I choose the dress, Aya, from the Gwendolynne White collection. It was just what I was looking for.

The suit and bridesmaids
As my bridemaids and groomlady lived in three different countries, we needed to be creative. The bridemaids dresses are from Zimmerman and the groomlady’s dress was custom-made. The boys were dressed in Gibson Clothing.

Theme or colour scheme
Green, relaxed garden party.

Flowers
Native Australian flowers.

Food
Feasting-style eating. We loved the social and communicative atmosphere that it created.

Wedding cake
We loved cheese! The cheesemonger was Stone Crow and Cheese.

Entertainment
The White Tree (4 piece band).

Personal touches
We were so blessed to have amazing and talented people in our lives that could contribute. Our sister in law designed the stunning invites and stationary for our wedding day. Our close friend shared his musical prowess during capape hour and treated us to some acoustic tunes.

Special moments
Walking down the leafy pathway (aisle) to my to-be husband, and seeing him with tears of happiness.

Advice for other couples
Do your research and choose your vendors (i.e. cost, style, personality) wisely but try to forget about the financial output. Everything wedding related is expensive, and it’s so hard to contemplate spending so much in one day. But honestly, you’ll enjoy the day 100 fold if you let that financial pressures go.

Biggest surprise
Thankfully, we didn’t have any hiccups.