Georgie & Dan
One could be forgiven for thinking Georgie and Dan married in the country but no, their cosy black tie wedding took place right in the middle of Melbourne. The couple chose The White Tree to capture what they describe as “the most exciting and most romantic day of our lives”.
Georgie explains the story behind the couple’s nuptials. “We first met working at our local Coles way back when we were 16 and 17 years old – Dan recalls that I was the only checkout chick that wore a skirt (!) and anytime they would make a call over the PA for help, he would rush to get to my checkout first! He has been cheeky since day one. While there was a flirty spark between us from the get-go, I had a boyfriend when we met, and it didn’t take long before Dan also had a girlfriend.
Dan became my ‘best guy friend’. Fast forward about five years from the Coles checkout days. I was living in America working as an au pair, Dan was in Melbourne and for the first time in our friendship, we were both single. We’d kept in touch while I’d been away, but all of a sudden, the Facebook messages became more frequent, and when I would see his name pop up online, it was more exciting than it had ever been before.
From across the Pacific, something between us had shifted. I arrived home the day before my 23rd birthday and he was knocking at my parents’ door that same night. The next day, he took me out for breakfast in South Melbourne – he now says that’s the moment he knew he loved me. Birthday drinks followed, the bubbles flowed and it wasn’t long before my best friend became something more. The rest is history, as they say.”
The groom chose a navy suit by Calibre with his groomsmen wearing Peter Jackson
Georgie notes, “We both spent the day getting ready at our parents’ homes, something I’d always wanted to do. Putting my wedding dress on in the home I’d grown up in gave me such a sense of comfort and nostalgia – something calm and familiar among the chaos.”
Georgie chose a gown from Karen Willis Holmes and designed her own wedding shoes through Shoes of Prey. She wore her mother’s pearl drop earrings, which her sister had worn on her own wedding day.
“Another special detail of our day was becoming a part of one of the traditions of my husband’s family – my now mother-in-law gave me a tiny blue ribbon to pin onto the inside of my dress for my ‘something blue’. The ribbon was sewn into Dan’s Nanny’s wedding dress, his mother’s wedding dress and now mine. I hope to be able to continue this family tradition and give it to my daughter or daughter-in-law in years to come. ”
Georgie and Dan chose The Boulevard, Kew for their wedding celebrations, Georgie noting ” As neither of our families have any religious affiliations, we opted to have our ceremony and reception in the one venue, which was The Boulevard in Kew. Not having a change in place made it logistically easy for us, and for our guests. My mum actually suggested the venue to us, as she had been to an event there, and as soon as we saw it, we fell in love (clichéd, but true!). As soon as we turned off the main road, it felt as if we were in the country, surrounded by a thousand shades of green, with the lights of the city glittering in the distance.”
Georgie walked down the aisle to “‘Home’ by Phillip Phillips. An upbeat and happy song with lyrics that really resonated with my husband and I. Having both my Mum and Dad walk me down the aisle was never even a decision for me, it just seemed the obvious choice. Even though your wedding day is mostly about you and your person making it official, it’s also such a big day for your entire family. I felt so incredibly grateful to have my family by my side.”
“The interior space at The Boulevard was modern and simple, ready to be molded into whatever theme we opted for. A standout feature was the open fireplace, and as we were planning a winter wedding, my romantic visions of guests gathered around a toasty fireplace sealed the deal. We decided from the outset to have our ceremony indoors, so the weather became one less thing to worry about. There was an ideal space to hold the ceremony, with lots of natural light and a beautiful view behind us.”
Shannon McGregor from Cloud 9 Celebrations performed the ceremony, Georgie and Dan noting “We LOVE Shan! We knew she was perfect from the moment we met her and she created the most beautiful, personal and unique ceremony for us. Our guests had so many kind things to say about our ceremony, that it was unlike any other ceremony they had seen before and just seemed so ‘us’. Shannon guided us towards some beautiful readings and answered our many questions with patience and kindness. For something I’d never given much thought to (i.e. who our celebrant would be), I was amazed by how much it meant to us that she was just so great. Shan was a joy to work with.”
“Our celebrant, Shannon, suggested the loveliest and most personal idea for a reading. We asked our favourite husband and wife teams for a few words of advice, which was then read out by my aunty as a part of the ceremony. This included words from my Pop, both sets of parents, my sister and her husband, and my aunty and uncle. It was such a memorable part of the whole day.”
North St Botanical created the floral arrangements for the day, the bride noting, “Our florist, Emily from North St Botanical, was an absolute dream to work with. We were keen to support a local business, and from the moment we walked in, we knew North St would be perfect. Emily, the business owner, is an amazingly talented flower artist and so incredibly fun and easy to work with. She knew exactly how to create what I wanted, before I even knew what I wanted! I still buy flowers from North St regularly.”
“There was a stunning range of potential locations for our photos literally a stones throw from The Boulevard, which was so convenient. We didn’t want to have to travel anywhere for our ‘location shoot’ as we wanted to start celebrating with our guests as soon as possible. We spent about 30-45 rather chilly minutes making the most of the natural setting, and the photos were even more beautiful than we ever envisaged.”
Of their photographer, Georgie notes, “The White Tree were responsible for both our photos and our music. They are a very talented bunch of creative types based in Melbourne, consisting of like-minded photographers as well as a range of musicians from which we could choose, to create our ideal band. We knew as soon as we came across their website that they would capture our day perfectly – their style is natural, spontaneous and unobtrusive. We loved the combination of black and white and colour, and the natural, almost film-like quality of the images. On the day, they were a dream to work with, very relaxed and fun.
We had a photographer with both Dan and I for the ‘getting ready’ shots (which are some of my favourites), and they both documented the ceremony and setup shots, then we just had Nick for the rest of the evening. He was everywhere, capturing everything, without ever being noticed by anyone. When he wasn’t taking photos, he was backing his camera up to his laptop, ensuring that nothing would be lost. Funnily enough, in the age of digital photography and unreliable files, this gave me such peace of mind.”
“In terms of decor, we wanted to keep it very minimal and elegant. We had tea light candles along all the windowsills around the edge of the room, as well as on the tables. We had long tables with small clusters of flowers in various clear glass vases. We kept the arrangements low, so no conversations across the table were obstructed, and quite small, so that there was room on the tables for the all important food platters! It was beautiful, practical and cost-effective.”
Of dinner, Georgie remarks, “We both wanted to steer clear of the often unsatisfactory ‘alternate drop’ system, that can result in guests being unhappy with their meal, so we were pleased to be able to choose a banquet style menu. This meant we had three different main meals presented beautifully on large platters that were placed in the middle of the long tables, so guests were able to try a bit of everything, and have the exact quantity they wanted – much less food wasted as well. The food was excellent, and we had a lot of lovely feedback from guests describing it as better than most ‘wedding food’ they’d experienced. Dan also loved the fact there was a fully stocked bar, so everyone could order their drink of choice, even if it wasn’t part of the beverage package. The whiskey began to flow later in the night! ”
“Our patchwork wedding quilt is one of our most treasured keepsakes. My Mum is a very talented patchworker, and she came across an idea on Pinterest to create a personalised wedding quilt, where guests can sign a blank square of fabric, that would then be used to create a quilt. It now lives on our couch, and we love reading the messages people wrote as it keeps us warm. The fact that Mum made it makes it even more precious.”
Miss Ladybird Cakes created a three-tier naked cake, Georgie noting, “Our beautiful ‘naked’ cake, which was utterly delicious AND beautiful to look at, lovingly made by Miss Ladybird Cakes, a Melbourne based cake artist.”
The White Tree performed great tunes for an amazing dance floor.
Of their first dance, Georgie remembers, “We took dancing lessons for about 8 weeks before the wedding – this was so much more fun than either of us anticipated! A really lovely thing to do together that’s a break from everyday work/wedding planning stress. We did our first dance to a little-known song called ‘Wrap your arms around me’ by Gareth Dunlop. I stumbled across it watching a very corny chick flick one day, and really liked the idea of having a relatively unknown song that was just ‘ours’. It’s got a folky/acoustic feel to it, which suited us much more than a super slow song. The dance was so much fun on the night, and even finished with a big lift at the end – my very own Dirty Dancing moment! Such a special memory from the night.”
The bride and groom took five minutes to share a piece of cake, Georgie remembering, “I loved spending 5 minutes alone with my new husband outside on the deck, under the fairy lights, sharing a piece of our delicious cake. In the whirlwind of the day and night, it’s easy to not see your most favourite person much at all! This was an excellent piece of advice I received prior to the day, and I’m so glad I grabbed him by the hand and had those precious few minutes. It is one of my clearest and most special memories from the entire day.”
Congratulations Georgie and Dan! Thank you for sharing your wedding day stories with us! Thank you also to The White Tree for sharing today’s wedding!
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