Lyn & Brendan
There is such a lot of gorgeous fun at Lyn and Brendan’s classic country wedding. A first look with balloons? A ceremony out on the farm? Horses and farm animals roaming free? Lyn and Brendan chose Jennifer Burch Photography to capture their wedding day.
Lynette tells the story of how they came to be. “We met at Terrigal pub on the Central Coast; where else do you pick up an Irish man? We were both out celebrating friends’ birthdays. It was my first night out for a while, and Brendan had only been in the country eight days after travelling from Ireland. He only intended to be in Australia for six months, and then move on. 5+ years later….”
Lyn chose a lace Alfred Angelo gown from Brides To Be, remembering “I wanted a dress that would suit my body type. It had to have lace, and it couldn’t have too much “bling”. I’m not a bling person, not that there is anything wrong with it – it’s just not my style. The lace over-jacket was suggested by the sales lady, Claire, and I loved how it looked like it was made for the dress. I couldn’t find a sash that I liked; they all seemed to have too much “bling”, so I bought the ribbon from the dress shop and sought to find my own florals to put on it. I ended up buying a bunch of child’s headbands and clips from Vintage Curls and Twirls, after seeing them in a retro store and hunting down the supplier and with the help of Claire from the dress shop we arranged them into a one of the kind sash that was perfect.
Brendan’s mother bought my earrings from Newbridge Silverware in Ireland. Brendan’s home town is Newbridge and the producer of silverware that is quite famous. Our wedding cake knife was also from there.”
The couple chose a first look behind coloured balloons, the bride remembering, “The first look was something we thought about a lot, but decided to do it when we saw the Balloon idea. It took a huge amount of nerves off of the day and let us spend some time together. I held that we weren’t allowed to Kiss until we were married, but it was such a fun and colourful way to start the day. I’m so glad we did it.”
Brendan and Lyn were married at Yarramalong Valley Farmstay, telling, “We chose Yarramalong Valley Farmstay mainly because of the pure beauty of the place, but also because it had on site accommodation for Brendan’s visiting family. The ceremony location was originally supposed to be in the back paddock, but a visit to the venue just before the date to check the lighting showcased a new area in front of the lake, that was just perfect.”
Of the processional, Lyn tells, “Brendan thought I was going to walk down the aisle to Latch by Sam Smith, I had told him I had gotten our musician, Kristi Bennett to learn the song. And I had every intention to do so, until Fire and the Flood came out by Vance Joy. The first time I heard that song I knew it was the one I wanted to walk down the aisle to. Kristi happily accepted to learn the song, but we kept it a secret from Brendan. We talked constantly about how much we loved that song and the meaning of the lyrics to our situation. Because we had the first look, I wanted one little surprise for him to make him emotional as I walked down the aisle.”
Celebrate With Kate officiated the wedding, Lyn explaining, “Our ceremony was probably one of the longest our celebrant has done. We made sure we had plenty of seating for that reason. We wanted to incorporate so many elements to it. It was hugely important for me to have both my parents walk me down the aisle. We wanted to incorporate everyone as much as we could in the ceremony. Both our parents blessed the wedding, Brendan’s brother did the reading “Foxtrot from a Play” by W.H. Auden, which had a bit of humor in it, with the re-occurring line “but you’re my cup of tea” and has a link to the groom, who always likes a good cup of tea.”
“Then we said our vows and had a traditional Celtic hand fasting ceremony with a “crios” that Brendan’s mother had specially made for us to honor our Irish and Australian backgrounds. Brendan’s godfather Frank performed the ceremony, who has been in every significant family moment in Brendan’s life. During this Brendan gave me a coin in signifying him giving everything to me. The coin was very dear to us as it was gifted to Brendan in his Uncle’s will. It is a Silver coin minted with “St. Brendan the Navigator”, the saint that Brendan was named after. Brendan was taking me back to Ireland to meet his family. His uncle had given the coin to Angela (Brendan’s mum) knowing he was losing his battle to cancer, suggesting we could use it in our wedding. Angela said that it was early days yet, but he said that if he’s taking her back to Ireland, he’s going to marry her.”
“We also had the reading “Union” by Robert Fulghum, the line “this is my husband, this is my wife” meant so much to us. We had my Stepmother Christine read it as she is a big part of our lives. We finished the Ceremony with an Irish Blessing spoken by both our fathers, in Gaelic and in English. So as you can see, a very long ceremony but with so much meaning. And of course, at the end, Bubbles.”
Pastel bouquets by Boydita Flowers tied in with the bridesmaid gowns. “Our flowers were done by the amazing Lyn from Boydita Flowers. She doesn’t do wedding flowers, but my mum has been her bookkeeper for over 10 years, so she offered to do my wedding flowers. I had no clear idea what I wanted, just rough colours, and scattered ideas. But she was able to pull it together to produce such beautiful flowers, that complemented the dresses and the style of the wedding beautifully.”
Of their photographer, the bride notes, “One of the best decisions we made for the wedding. Jennifer is so passionate about her work. We messaged regularly before the wedding, and I was excited to tell her about little details, and ask her opinion on things. Nothing was ever bothersome to her, and she was so excited for everything we put forward to her. When she arrived on the day, that’s when it hit me I was getting married, it wasn’t truly real until she was there. And even then, sometimes you didn’t even know she was there. Looking back at the photos, I don’t even remember her being there for half of them. But she was such an important part of our day.”
“We wanted to ensure that our guests mingled and talked to people they wouldn’t normally, so we made up a mingle bingo. I love a good game of bingo, and have made my friends play an accounting version before, so it was no surprise to some that I would include this game in the wedding. While we were getting our photos taken, we let out guests mingle, to win a little trophy we had made up.”
The couple chose Wyong Creek Hall for their reception. “I didn’t particularly want a marquee wedding, so having the hall literally across the road was perfect. And it is such a beautifully restored hall with wonderful facilities that made our caterers very happy.”
Much of the decorating was done by the couple themselves. “We collected coffee jars for over 2 years from family, friends and work colleagues. I love that our wedding was decorated by the thoughts of those who surround us. We would decorate them in batches, putting them through the dishwasher, and then sitting down in a production line for the hessian and lace. It really was a labor of love, but I am so happy with how it turned out. We scoured local op shops for lace, buying bulk lots on eBay until I finally had enough to do what I wanted.”
Farenheit Cafe catered a sit down reception for the day, the bride remarking, “The biggest stand out was the caterers who really made sure everyone had enough to drink and eat. They joked with our guests, put on some amazing food, having to work out of two different kitchens, and just made sure everything in that department ran smoothly. They really helped us tick off the good food part of the day.”
Of their very fun first, dance. Lyn remembers, “Who doesn’t love a choreographed routine? It’s no secret that Brendan has two left feet, I constantly tell people that if he had danced the night we met, it would have stopped there.
We were driving home from Dad and Chris’ place when we heard it on the radio, we both enjoyed the song, and I suggested that we learn to dance to it, and have it at our wedding. Brendan laughed at the idea but said he would love to learn. We went to lessons on and off for a year while we renovated our house, in secret without anyone but my mother and bridesmaids knowing. The lovely Anna from Blue Suede Shoes then choreographed a routine that we learnt in 10 lessons, and lots of practice. We surprised everyone with not only the routine, but Brendan’s amazing ability to dance. It’s a wonderful skill that we now have going into our married life, that we can do basic swing dance moves, and the cues for them too. We both got changed in the backstage area in the hall, and did a quick photo shoot and practice run before surprising everyone. It was a lovely signal to our guests “ok, the formal part is over – lets have some fun and dance!” ”
The finishing touch to the day was a film captured by the crew at Bowline Media. I love that it captures the gorgeous vintage country feel of the day so beautifully.
https://vimeo.com/170601638
Congratulations on your marriage Lyn and Brendan! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Jennifer Burch Photography for sharing today’s celebration.
Join the conversation