Chanelle and John

Chanelle and John. Mount Taylor

Captured by Sherise Fleming.

Who proposed?

John proposed on a Sunday in a house that we were moving in to. John had gotten down on to one knee and ask me to marry him. I initially said “No, you cant keep asking me without a ring” to which he responded “I do, look!” (the ring was in a box, he was simply holding it I obviously didn’t see it). I wasn’t expecting a proposal and kept asking him if he was serious. Once he convinced me he was serious (didn’t take long) I of course said yes.

The dress, did you know at first site or did you try a few on?

I was dreading dress shopping. I didn’t think I would find anything I liked in my price range that suited me. It was the very opposite. I tried so many on that I liked. We used the “top 3” system where we would always choose our favourite. Finally the last one I tried on the day I said yes to immediately. It was the opposite of the dress I thought I would get- but I loved it.

How did you go about choosing the venue?

It took us a while to find a venue we liked. We wanted an all outdoors wedding in a nice garden. Unfortunately we couldn’t find many garden venues in East Gippsland. We finally found a house in Mount Taylor on the accommodation website Stayz. They had a beautiful garden. When we asked to have a wedding at their accommodation they were honored to have their garden feature in a wedding.

What was the inspiration for the style of your wedding? Did you have a theme?

We did not have a particular theme in mind. We wanted a simple garden wedding and wanted to keep the day light hearted and fun.

Were there any details you made yourselves?

We had a lot of DIY in our wedding. We enjoyed the personal touch our friends and family contributed. Deb Saxton (mother of the groom) made the beautiful macramé archway. We had a good friend that has an interest in becoming a florist who made the bouquets. Another friend of oursis a Graphic Designer and made all our stationary.

Any other special details?

My dad had a stroke in June 2018. Leading up to the wedding we were unsure if he would be able to attend. Not only did he attend, but my bother from Scottland travelled over and pushed dad down the isle in a wheelchair with me. He was also able to stay for the entire ceremony and the speech which was very unexepected as up until the wedding he had only been able to sit in the wheel chair for 1-2 hours. To have him there, with my brother, for the special moments meant a lot to John, Dad and I. On the morning of the wedding my bridemaids gave me a card and a pair of earrings from John he had prepared earlier in the week. This was very unexpected from John and a lovely surprise and start to our big day.

Any funny stories or surprises on the big day?

I’m not sure how appropriate this is but the funny stories were how much people enjoyed the cocktails... the father of the groom fell over on the dance floor twice. Two of the groomsman enjoyed too many bacardis with one going home at 9 and the other having to be put to bed by the groom after being found sleeping under a tree.

THE TEAM

Photography Sherise Fleming

Styling DIY by the bride

Cake & Archway Floral Van Berkel Florist

Bouquets Friend

Venue Green Hills Mount Taylor

Catering Albert and Co

Cake Mother in law

Stationery Cathleen Bairnsdale Advertiser

Music Clint and Meg Duo

Celebrant Gina Laughton

Hair Envy By Sheridan