Monique & Matt

You really can’t get any more fun than a country party wedding, but this one? this one has some serious style. Freshening up the rustic take with bright colours and beautiful blooms and captured by Jonas Peterson. It’s a wedding you just want to sneak in and crash!

Monique tells the story of how they came to be. “We met at a house party in year 11 but it wasn’t until the following year that I saw him walking to school and told his friend that I thought he was good-looking. Next thing I know he invited me to his year 12 school formal and the rest is history!”

Monique chose a low backed gown with billowing sleeves from Jane Hill. Her bridesmaids wore fifties style dresses in floral prints.

Monique and Matt chose Acheron Mechanics Institute Hall for their ceremony.

The stationery, including the petal toss cones and programs were handmade by the couple and their families for the day.

Monique walked down the aisle to A Million Years – Alexander Ebert.

Monique recalls,  “One of my best friends from primary school, Bess Norton, played piano and sang at the ceremony.”

One of the funnier moments of the day ? “Matt lost his voice the morning of the wedding and could barely choke out his vows and groomsman speech.”

The couple chose Matt’s old car for their wedding car, Monique telling, “Our wedding car was Matt’s 1969 VW Type 3, Matt has always owned and loved old cars particularly VW’s. For this reason we also hired a Kombi for the bridal party to travel in and the wedding cake was an edible replica of Matt’s first car – a red VW beetle.”

Soil Flowers – Kate Main created the floral arrangements for the day.

Of their photographer, Monique remarks, “Jonas was the perfect fit for our wedding. He was very relaxed and made us feel comfortable. From seeing his previous work we had every confidence that he would capture our special moments without them being contrived or forced.. and he did!”

“Our dog ‘Bosley’ the boxer greeted guests in his finest attire as they arrived at the hall.”

The reception was held at Stonelea Country Estate which also hosted guests for the entire weekend, Monique remarking, “Stonelea Country Estate was an incredible venue. We were able to hire the entire property for our wedding. Every cottage and room was filled with our guests. Many people decided to stay the entire weekend and could arrive at their leisure, check into their room, enjoy the beautiful surrounds and relax before getting ready. Another great advantage was that 150 people could drink up without having to worry about getting home as everyone’s room was less than 100m walk away. They did a great job catering for our recovery breakfast the next day and couldn’t have been a nicer and more accommodating venue leading up to the wedding.”

The Cake Company created a VW car wedding cake.

Centrepieces featured home made (by the bride’s grandfather!) planter boxes filled with fresh herbs for guests to take home.

Guests enjoyed a feast including the groom’s favourite – Monique remembering, “Matt has weekly ‘parma nights’ with his mates. The main course at the wedding was a big Chicken Parma which was very popular with everyone.”

For their first dance, the couple chose a song that was nostalgic for them both, Monique telling, “We are born a day apart and had our 21st as a joint party. The song we danced to that night was “Something about you” by Live Element and always reminds us of fun times together so we had our first dance to this song ” DJ Nick Rutherford of Rutherford Entertainment kept guests dancing all night long.

La Lune Cinema captured a film of the day, Monique remarking, “Make the day a reflection of you both, enjoy the moment, have fun and definitely get a videographer to capture it all. We love our wedding video!”

https://vimeo.com/69054361

Congratulations on your marriage together Monique and Matt! Thank you for sharing your stories with us! Thank you also to Jonas Peterson for sharing today’s wedding with us!