Brodie and James 

If you come to our blog for those ‘feel-good’ feels, Brodie and James are serving up them up in spades today with their Mannerim Farm wedding held at Brodie’s family farm. And although Mother Nature served them up a dose of hail on their glorious wedding day, it was all worth it for the picture-perfect rainbow that was to follow! If you’re reading this and planning your own wedding on a private property, there are plenty of unique DIY details to be inspired by, including striking prints courtesy of Brodie’s company Pickawall and a bold and bright archway of pastel and metallic balloons. The bride and groom write about their happy day for us below and the memories were captured by Photographer Dan Soderstrom. 

How did you meet… Technically through Year 10 dancing classes, but we reunited years later through our best friend Clare, who I have known since Year 7 and James met Clare through work and then they became housemates. A ski weekend changed everything for us. For two years James was simply Clare’s housemate in my eyes, despite Clare’s efforts… then this trip to Mount Hotham changed it all!

The style and theme was a festival-fun party! We wanted a huge party with all our friends and family in a relaxed atmosphere that we could party well into the night!

The dress… I had fallen in love with a skirt and top option which I felt suited the style of wedding after seeing this on another dear friend (Simone). I had seen the Calli skirt and top from One Day Bridal. It was the first one I tried on and after one or two more shops of fantasy fairytale dress ups, I went back with Mum to that very first option. However the singlet top that the skirt comes with didn’t quite work on me as it was very short. My now mother in-law who used to be a wedding dress designer made the perfect strapless playsuit corset top and skirt all in one with a diamond overlay made from the hem of my hens skirt from One Day Bridal! Very special!

James is very fashionable and had always said he wanted something a little different. He found the perfect James Bond style white blazer with black lapel from Calibre! His black silk bow tie was self-made, in fact James made all the bow ties for the bridal party! He finished the look with patent leather and suede dancing shoes!

We had a large bridal party 6 on each side! The boys where James’ best mates from high school and uni days, as well as his brother. Brodie’s bridesmaids were from primary and secondary school and her flatmate from France.

We wanted bright playful green fun flowers! Brett Matthew John nailed the brief!! Brodie had worked with him and knew his work and it made the day!

The ceremony was held in the main garden of ‘The Farm’ 45 Banks Rd and the reception an outdoor and clear marquee in the paddock with food trucks!

Here comes the bride… I walked down the aisle to a song inspired by early days of dating. Every time we were together “Always In My Head” by Coldplay seemed to be on whenever we listened to the radio. Our dear friend and talented musician Meggie sung an acoustic version for us!

We wanted our ceremony to reflect us being fun and upbeat and include all our loved ones! It started well with my veil blowing off into my Dads head, which started the laughter for the day. We had both of our Mums do a reading about us. Our good friend Alicia was our celebrant, which was incredible and made it even more special!

The first dance… We chose Van Morrison’s ‘Someone Like You,’ which we had our very first proper dance to after a friend’s wedding back at the hotel. We had actually spent the whole night on seperate sides of the dance floor at their wedding, so the dance in the hotel room was one to remember.

The DIY deets… As it was at the family farm, there were many working bees! We created the overall style with our furniture company that Brodie works with a lot, knowing we wanted a big party festival vibe. We created an outdoor twinkling light set up over the dance floor. Pickawall (Brodie’s company) meant we could custom decal the floor and tables and we created floral arrangements on the gate entry, signage and photo op areas!


We created a glamping area for all of our bridal party and the MC and celebrant to stay the night and hay bale urinal area for the boys! All of the boys’ bow ties were made by James and his Mum to match their button hole flower arrangements.

Remembering loved ones… We wanted to acknowledge my (Brodie) grandparents who have passed so we had one of Gran’s favourite sayings on our cake cutting knife set and we had my Pop’s hanky he gave my Gran pinned to my dress and I wore my Gran’s earrings she wore on her wedding day.

The ‘wow factor’details… A fun balloon arch as the main entry, a jumping castle to continue the festival fun, a DIY glamping area- we brought in everything ourselves and set up 15 tents for the bridal party. Plus, Dad’s homemade vodka he makes on the farm was the toast beverage after his speech.

Mother Nature’s role in the day… We loved the fact we ended up with a hailstorm just as the ceremony finished and then a full rainbow and the most amazing sky! We couldn’t have paid for that. We had four seasons in one day!

Traditions and heirlooms… Gran’s earrings for something old, my Nan’s hanky from her wedding day gift from my Pop, my bridesmaid Sam’s veil as something borrowed and something blue was Brodie’s Mums blue sapphire ring as well as blue stitching inside the wedding dress reading “handmade with love”.

Fave photos… We have two equal favourites. One of us and bridal party after we had attempted to throw the bouquet over our heads only to have the flowers collide and land on Brodie’s head.

The other is one of us laughing in the wheat field paddock. Once we got this photo back, we unknowingly both set it as our separate screensavers, which we thought was a bit cute.

Unforgettable moments… The hailstorm was one everyone said they will never forget followed by the perfect full rainbow! Also, the dance floor going off as soon as speeches were over until early hours of the morning and the jumping castle ending up half deflated with 20 people piled in it having a ball at 2am! A dance floor outfit change during the first dance removing the big one day skirt to reveal the mini party dress underneath and my girlfriends putting on the sparkly extra skirt layer saying we were ready to party!

The photographer… Dan Soderstrom is a friend of Brodie’s since school days and he is now a very successful photographer. He is very talented and we felt very comfortable with him and had a ball!

Vendor Appreciation… Dann Event Hire were amazing and really helped pull our vision together!

Six of the best bits… 

  • Everyone that travelled from across the world.
  • Incredible rainbow!
  • Billie, our puppy being ring bearer.
  • Having it on a family property.
  • Partying the night away with our family and friends!
  • Doing it together and being big kids party planning!

Advice for engaged couples reading this…  Enjoy every minute the whole process, lead up and planning and take in everything on the day. You cannot control anything on the day so just roll with it and have a ball. It goes by in the blink of an eye and remember at the end of the day you get to be married to your best friend!

Groom’s moment to remember… Our friends lifting us up on shoulders through the fairy lights in the middle of the dance night and playing the drum solo on the bongos to Phil Collins “In the Air Tonight”.

If you want to invite even more colour and joy into your life, check out Brodie and James’ wedding video here: 

Happily ever after…

Ms Zigzag says: I feel so incredibly fortunate to share this truly magnificent and totally unique wedding with you today! I mean, from the glamping zone, their family-owned kombi van to the balloon archway, and the bride’s outfit change- these two just hit their wedding day out of the park and I have no doubt they’ll be smiling just like this together for a million lifetimes to come. Thanks Brodie, James and Dan Soderstrom Weddings for sharing this day with us.

About the bride’s company Pickawall: Pickawall is Australia’s largest wall mural company. Our passion for custom wallpaper was founded by our experience as the leader in large format printing for over 12 years. Pickawall’s wall murals are fully customised by you and made to order in our Richmond, Melbourne factory. Invitations, signage and stationary options for weddings.