Gill & Mani

The sweetest vintage styling, an intimate reception with stunning sunset views and a couple who are not just clearly in love but completely joyous on their day, is a day we want to share. And we’re so lucky Dan Brannan was there to capture all of the moments of Gill and Mani’s fun intimate winery wedding as it unfolded. so that we get to share it all with you!

Gill sets the scene with the story of how the two came to be. “I think we were both looking for love as we met online and hit it off straight away. After a few dates I knew he was a keeper!! I am glad that we both tried online dating as if we didn’t, we are in such different circles that we never would have met. I think fate had a lot to play with it.”

Simone of Pink Gloss  styled the bride and bridemaid’s hair and makeup. Gill noting “Everyone who played a role in our wedding was amazing but I think particularly Dan the photographer and Simone who did all of the ladies hair and make up. We were lucky that the wedding didn’t start until 5pm so we had lots of time to get ready. James our guitarist was also great and really easy to work with and everyone commented on his talents.”

The bride chose a vintage inspired gown from The Moderne Bridal . She tells “I had helped a few friends go dress shopping and being honest I really didn’t have too much interest in doing it myself. Both my sister and I got engaged within a few months of each other and when I was at home in Ireland for a cousin’s wedding we decided to book in and go dress shopping together with mum, especially as I live in Australia and my sister lives in the UK. Thankfully we have very different tastes so didn’t even try on the same dress. I think it made it a very special event with both of us trying on dresses together and made it more fun at the same time. I knew I always wanted a tea length dress and it was the first I tried on. I wanted a relaxed wedding and venue and thought the dress was more “fun” in a classical style. I also loved that the dress I choose was by an Irish designer.”

Gill and Mani chose the beautiful Red Hill Estate for their wedding, the bride explaining “I had been to Red Hill Estate previously on a wine tour and the second we went down the drive, the views took my breath away. When I went to view it as a wedding venue, I again had the same feeling and loved the feel of being out in nature. We had the ceremony under a big tree and were very lucky that the weather was amazing – not too hot for our Irish guests on the day. We had eaten the food at Max’s restaurant before and were not disappointed on the day..”

“My brother in law Hugh dropped mum and myself and my two sisters to the venue. We got out at the wrong spot and ended up going through bushes to get to where all of the guests were which gave us all the giggles as we were walking up the aisle and took away some of the nerves.”

The couple waned a relaxed ceremony, choosing Maja Babic  as their officiant. “Our ceremony was casual under a tree in Red Hill Estate near the vines. Maja was great and put both of our nerves at ease straight away. We also wanted to get our guests involved in doing readings and singing throughout the wedding.

As I am Irish and Mani is Hindi, we wanted to include parts from both of our cultures into the wedding. We choose to have an Irish hand-binding ceremony to incorporate the Irish heritage and we incorporated Saat phere which is when the bride and groom hold hands and are supposed to walk around a “fire” seven times with each round having different wishes for the bride and groom in their new life together.”

“We loved the support we received. As Mani’s family couldn’t make it on the day, we had Mani’s great friends there to send him off to married life instead.”

Of their photographer, Gill remarks “Dan Brannan was our photographer and he was amazing. I couldn’t recommend him enough. I found him online and really liked his style of photography. I wanted someone local who knew the area but also captured our day as it happened with not too many posed pictures. He made us all feel at ease. We also got all of our photos really quickly and I loved that Dan put them online so that we could send the link to friends and family who couldn’t make it on the day.”

Guests gathered at Max’s Restaurant at Red Hill Estate  for an intimate reception dinner. The intimate guest list made all the more special by the invitees. “We were very close with one particular set of our cousins in Ireland and have always felt that their grandparents (not blood related to us) were also our grandparents and that we had 3 sets of grandparents. I was so happy that my gran who is 92 was visiting my Aunt and Uncle at the time and was able to share in our special day too.”

Even the creation of the cake ended with a story to remember, tells Gill “I’m doing a Patisserie course in William Angliss so decided I would make my own wedding cake. I tried making many different types in the months coming up to the wedding but ended up with a chocolate malteeser cake. I made the cake two days before the wedding and was supposed to decorate the night before the wedding but I actually forgot about it. I woke up the next morning before everyone else and was found in the kitchen by mum icing and decorating the cake as calm as ever “so mum says”.”

Congratulations on your marriage Gill and Mani! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Dan Brannan for sharing today’s gorgeous celebration with us.