Simone and Rhys

This gorgeous Phillip Island vintage style wedding of Simone and Rhys is packed to the rafters with beautiful details and beautiful stories. What a special day to share with you!

The couple told their story in their wedding ceremony which they shared with me. “Whilst Rhys & Simone have been together now for 6 or so years, their history extends more than double that amount of time. First meeting in the nineties on University wake boarding trips on the river in Deniliquen. Simone remembers Rhys being “The quiet achiever who was a hit with the ladies with a combination of good looks, modesty and athletic prowess. Someone who didn’t say much, but when he spoke, people listened”.

A few years later, their friendship was sealed with a kiss at Mt Buller after a night at a bar their snowboarding friends will affectionately know as “The Hoo Haa”. Both of their sights set for overseas, they parted ways for almost 5 years. Rhys’s professional snowboarding career saw him follow the winters. Simone travelled the world, following the surf and the snow on a series of work assignments that defy belief.

In a very modern love story, paths crossed with a bit of help from the Internet. In the years following, Rhys and Simone have renovated together, travelled together, surfed together and snowboarded together, notably the latest trip to Utah where Rhys popped the question, only after making Simone hike Pioneer ridge 3 times, proving that one had to climb mountains to get to Rhys’s heart.”

Photographs are by Goldsmith & Co who have passed on their vintage style to capture the wedding in a beautiful way.

Simone wore a gown from Caroline Seikaly “The dress is made from a very delicate Solstiss French Leavers Lace with vintage trim inserts.  Lined with silk georgette. The train is made from silk chiffon which has been sunray pleated, supported by a piece of silk tulle to give volume. The dress has an antique, rustic feel to it with raw edges at both neck and arm holes. It comes with a separate nude coloured slip made from silk charmeuse”. She paired it with shoes from Versace. Although Simone didn’t have typical bridesmaids, she did have special friends with her on the day to help.  Simone explains ” Whilst we didn’t have a wedding party as such – special mention has to go to Fashion Stylist Kristin Todd who helped dress me. She left her husband and baby boy in Newcastle, and was such a soothing gentle soul to be around. She looked incredible in her Manning Cartel dress and red suede Kate Spade heels. ”

Flowers were a focal point of the team and a big team effort. Simone explains “There was a combined team on the floral approach. My mother in law was previously a florist so she and fellow florist friend Sally Gibson did all of the reception flowers and wreaths with flowers courtesy of Camberwell Market. Florist extraordinaire Fleur McHarg of Fleur did my bouquet, the corsages, the chapel flowers and the jasmine filled wreaths that were suspended over each table. The floral approach generally was David Austin roses, jasmine & hydrangeas.”

Simone recalls “The ceremony was at Trenavin Chapel  – a quintessential white chapel on the Clifftops. It can be seen from the waves we surf, so I am sure I will be look at it and smile for many years to come.

Kirstie Cohen looks after Trenavin Chapel and was the backbone of our wedding. She introduced us the owners of Sunset Hill farm who shared their property with us for the reception. Kirstie was a calm, intriguing and enthusiastic ally who was there to the end  – and I mean to the end – she was even helping serve coffees at the recovery breakfast.”

The gorgeous invitations were a mix of letterpress and calligraphy. Simone says “Blackbird Letterpress did the invites which featured an embossed map of Phillip Island with topographical lines surrounding it. Cursive  words written in the shape of waves was done by Calligrapher Betsey Dunlap. Order of service booklet and place cards rolled out by the same team.  It was a running joke (and featured in Father of Groom’s speech) as to how hard invites were to read and how lucky we were that everyone made it to the wedding at all. I loved the way people had to ponder over them for just that little bit longer.”

Music was an important decision for the couple. Simone says “I walked down the aisle ‘Dream’ by Timmy Curran. A song by a  surfer for a couple of surfers. The song was all of a minute long which suited perfectly to the very small aisle. Rhys walked in to ‘Wild Horses’ by The Rolling Stones, songs throughout ceremony included ‘Sea of Love” by Cat Power, ‘Sister’ by Jamie MacDowell, ‘I Remember’ by Whitley and ‘This Sweet Love’ by James Yuill.”

Simone explains “The reception was at a private farm called ‘Sunset Hill’ owned by Annabelle & Ray Pobjoy. They very kindly let me run wild in their shed in the weeks preceding the wedding.  And Annabelle was always there with a cup of tea and a home made cake as poor Ray watched his “man land” turn into anything but.” On an antique window, the tale of Simone and Rhy’s relationship was written.

Simone says ” All Styling done by me!  (Interior Stylist at Interior Design Firm Hecker Guthrie).  Items sourced included hay bails, wine barrels, bunting, vintage objects in glass, white ceramic, copper & brass stories, woven hammock, heart shaped blackboards, vintage photo gallery wall, anything birch or galvanised, grey candles from France, vintage drink dispensers, umbrellas (intended for sun use – but came in handy when there was a sprinkling of rain) , antique window sills, and the list goes on!”

The typewriter acted as a guestbook and a talking point! Simone remembers, “What was quite funny is that I did intend on bringing out the old typewriter trick and the typewriter I purchased from Ebay was a bit of a dud. When testing it out I typed “I was going to do one of those cool typewriter things, but this one is crap and will therefore remain display only”. And I forgot to pull the sheet of paper out – so that got a few giggles.”

The favors were, “Tin cans lovingly painted by my Dad and planted with Thyme by my mother in law. They had little swing tags saying ‘thanks for making our wedding such a great thyme’. ”

Simone says “A special thanks must also go to fashion Designer Kristen Hyder who took a hiatus from designing the week prior the wedding and being my styling associate. Kristen helped me make sense of the boxes and boxes of things I had collected over the preceding 12 months. When it came time for me to walk away, Kristen became the number one “go to girl” and made sure everyone stayed true to the vision – it was hilarious as people were too scared to do anything without checking with her first! What was even more hilarious was that at 4.26pm (and the wedding started at 4.30pm down the road) she had to be dragged kicking and screaming from the set up. Now that’s commitment!”

Of their photographer, Simone says “I was introduced to Brett as he is the brother of a client of mine. He and partner Jane were fantastic to work with. Everyone commented on “the cool photographer”  who in all honesty I don’t remember seeing a lot of throughout the day and night. I think that means he did a really good job.”

The styling of the wedding was a true team effort “Special thanks must also go to the Groom’s best mate Scott Round who got roped into signage and astounded us all with the results. Among others we had a little sign saying ‘All you need is love…Love is all you need” and that was the song by the Beatles that we left the wedding to. Everyone joined into a guard of honour and we kissed everyone on the way to our waiting car.

My parents deserve the greatest praise. Dad was assigned tasks and carried them out without so much as a question. My mum was there every step of the way and in the absence of a bridal party, she was the Matron of Honour!

Finally, friends Lauren Robertson & TJ Carroll from event company “The Greatest Show On Earth” who as well as having a great time, made sure everything ran to plan.”

The classic three tier cake was filled with delicious flavours. Simone says “Addicted To Cake ((03) 5968 2502 ) made the coconut mud cake, layered with coconut Swiss meringue buttercream, covered with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream and coconut chips. Ed Dixon Food Design catered for both the dinner and the recovery breakfast. Dinner was a “posh BBQ” and the guests all raved about the food and the shared nature of the offer.  I myself was too excited to eat, so didn’t get to enjoy the fruits of their labour. ”

Simone remembers “When during his speech Rhys said “a wise person once said that if you have to invite your best friend to your wedding you are marrying the wrong girl.”

Simone recalls “Nic Romney from Top Dog was the DJ and by the state of the dance floor from about 8pm onwards, I would say he did a damn fine job! One of the best songs for me was  “Shout” by Jonnie O’Keefe. It bought the house down. ”

The first dance, was a romantic choice underneath the star lit sky .”The song was to the acoustic version of ‘Miles Away’ by Years around the sun. We had practiced moves in our lounge room, but I think we both got a little stage fright and not too many of the rehearsed moves made it to the dance floor (with the exception of the dip which was “non negotiable”.)
The rain had cleared, the full moon was rising in the sky and lit up the ocean. The festoon lights above the dance floor were swaying in the breeze and it was such a special moment that it makes my heart hurt when I hear the song.”

Congratulations Simone and Rhys! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Goldsmith & Co for sharing today’s images!