Maeve and Stefan

The simply beautiful Geelong wedding of Maeve and Stefan is one for the history books, or rather the Polka Dot Bride pages. How simply sweet and filled with delicious little touches plenty of cosiness and a couple who did things their way.

Maeve tells the story of their relationship. “It was meant to be. Stef was out with mutual friends celebrating a uni ball. The academic in him meant that he usually would be the designated driver and home before midnight but that night was different. I finished work at 11pm and as I drove home through town I decided I wanted to have a dance. I called my friend who was about to go out and catch up with some uni friends, one of which was Stef. We were in the same year at high school, I went to the local Girls’ school, he to the Boys’, but until that night we had never met.  Stef does remember seeing me most days on the school bus as I walked to school. Once we hit the dance floor, Stef says that he couldn’t take his eyes off me but was too afraid to make any rash moves as he feared coming across as sleazy. There were a few looks and smiles exchanged that night. He was apparently taken by me, because he managed to convince my friend to give him my number, to my displeasure at the time. I received a friendly message the next morning, a short message that Stef says took him most of the day to write. After a month of trying to organise a date, we finally went out, and after that night there was no doubt that there was something special there. Then it just snow-balled!”

Making their polka dot debut are photographers Ginger and Mint Photography ! I love the sweetness in Ginger & Mint’s captures from the day, from the sweet handmade details to the glee on the guests faces!

Maeve and Stef handmade their invitations. Maeve recalls, “The handmade paper was from Spotlight and was the first thing I decided on so everything else was chosen based on the look of the invitation paper. We used brown gift tags to write the guest’s names and hand stamped every letter! This takes a lot of time, but it gave a feel to it that you can’t recreate any other way, like an old typewriter! ”

Purple, mauve and white floral arrangements were styled by Georgie Stanton with the girls’ hair and makeup by Rebeccah Vivian from Blondie.

Maeve recalls one of the funnier stories of the day. She says “At 4pm my hair was still in rollers as the hairdresser schedule was out and meanwhile my mum is apologising to the photographer for us being slow, but Verity kept saying it’s fine!! (she didn’t tell us that her husband was out buying a new camera as his stopped working!) Meanwhile Stef’s  groomsman tells him at 3:45pm that he forgot the one thing he had to bring; shoes! He had to make a dash back home to pick them up, while Stef and his best man made their way to the wedding. It must all have been meant to be, because from the moment we arrived everything ran smoothly and it wasn’t until next day that I heard all the stuff that was going on in the background.”

Maeve wore a gown from Amaline Vitale she found on Love Me Twice, Her bridesmaids wore purple gowns from Priscilla Of Boston. The girls all wore shoes from Forever New.

Stefan and his groomsmen wore black tie. They chose suits from Roger David and had them tailored by Godwin Charli (who also provided the ties, belts and shirts).

Maeve arrived in a friend’s car. She remarks “We would also like to thank our friend Dave who kindly let us use his car, a sky blue classic FJ Holden. He was such a calming presence as we were madly getting ready!”

The ceremony was held in the gardens at Truffleduck Fyansford . Maeve made the decorations herself, She explains “I wanted something in the trees to walk through and I got this idea from the interior decorations of the ‘Goose’ store in East Geelong. I loved them and wanted to buy them but they weren’t for sale so I made my own!”

Maeve and Stefan made heartfelt music choices for their ceremony. Maeve explains “I walked down the aisle to ‘All My Days’ by Alexi Murdoch. We can’t get passed the first guitar intro anymore without crying! It’s a very beautiful song. Stef saw me as just as the last verse started …..

“Now I see clearly

It’s you I’m looking for

All of my days

So I’ll Smile

I know I’ll feel this loneliness no more

All of my days

For I look around me

And its seems you found me

And it’s coming into sight

As the days keep turning into night. “”

Maeve recalls “I thought I wasn’t going to be able to stop the tears during the ceremony but once I saw Stef’s eyes all full of tears and his bottom lip trembling with a big smile on his face I thought “what a dag, look at him all emotional, this is meant to be a celebration!”

The couple made a special note of passed loved ones, Maeve says “With the passing of my grandmother only two months earlier, we wanted to have part of our ceremony to honour where we came from and what has made us who we are. We got photos of our grandparents on their wedding day and our mothers put flowers in a vase as part of the wedding ceremony to remember their part of our lives.”

Of their ceremony, Maeve says, “We blew some minds with our ‘non-traditional’ ceremony. This was the first non-church wedding in Stef’s extended family. We really wanted our ceremony to reflect us and thanks to our celebrant and officiator working well together, we got exactly that. We included a warming of the rings ritual, honouring of our grandparents, writings from both Stef and I describing the things that we love about each other. We picked reading that made us laugh and cry, and then we asked our friends and family members to read them out. We have received so many complements about how warm, special and personal the ceremony was, with the love that we have for each other shining through in every word, reading and song” Maeve and Stefan hired Annette Clark and Michael Nolan to perform the ceremony.

The couple chose an intimate guest list. Maeve explains “Our self-imposed guest list rules meant that everybody who made the final cut was there to celebrate us, and we felt surrounded by love and warmth all day and all night.”

The couple had their photographs taken at a local vineyard. Maeve explains ” We were very lucky to be able to use a local vineyard- Barwon Ridge Vineyard, as the location for our wedding photos- amazing location and amazing wine! ”

Of their photographers, Maeve says “My cousin (Claire Gleeson) had recommended them to us as she worked in the same building as Verity and told me to look at her website. When I had a look I knew she was ‘the one’ as she had been the photographer of a wedding in Barwon Heads that I was loved the look of. I couldn’t believe that she had taken the photo of the one dress that had stuck in my mind, it was meant to be!!

Verity and her husband are AMAZING!! Their vibe is great and being a married couple, they worked really well together and got 360 degree views of everything. They are sooo professional, excitable and are true artists. They really understood the look and feel we were after and were very flexible and went with the flow. They made us look and feel amazing! We love them.”

The reception continued on at Truffleduck Fyansford . The cupcake wedding cake was lovingly made by Stefan’s mother.

The male and female guests each received a handmade favor. Maeve recalls “Bonbonniere for girls: Stef and I slaved away for a few days making the Tomato Chutney for our guests. Our fingers were stained and wrinkled for days!

Bonbonniere for guys: I made the scrabble cufflinks for the guys as it was a cheap but personal gift that was fun! It was a bit hard sourcing some of the letters from ebay and etsy, but we got lots of lovely comments about them, which made it totally worth it!”

Maeve says “The name cards were handmade and every letter was hand stamped!! We went a bit crazy by the end”

Maeve and Stefan hired a live band for their wedding reception – Test Pilot Molly and chose a song that reflected their relationship for their first dance. Maeve explains “We danced to “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5 because its light, fun and we like to sleep in 🙂 It is a song that has been a constant throughout our relationship, and the dance was completely un-choreographed. It was amazing that I didn’t trip on my dress with the amount of spins and twirls Stef sent me on!!”

Congratulations Maeve and Stefan! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Ginger and Mint Photography for sharing today’s images!