Nat & Allyce

“The atmosphere was magical. The setting for the ceremony amongst the massive pine trees was enchanting.” Set amongst the tall sky high trees of Bilpin Forest, Nat and Allyce, said their vows.

With a dream team who did everything in their power to make this long overdue event come off without a hitch – Jennifer Burch Photography behind the camera,  E Squared Design Co. on flowers, styling and cakes, cutting her entire fee into product to make every moment beautiful. It is this, to me, that sums up the power of the wedding industry. Making magic happen to tell stories that deserve to be told.

Nat tells the story of their proposal – which happened in front of 16,000 fans! “The proposal was beyond my belief (I still cry when I watch the video of it). We planned to attend a music festival of sorts in the Hunter Valley called Hope Rocks. Sarah McLeod the lead singer of the SuperJesus was performing and she is one of my favourite female artists. Allyce contacted her three weeks prior to the concert to see if Sarah would help with the proposal. Sarah was instantly on board and the two of them were communicating up to the time Sarah went on stage. During Sarah’s set she stopped to chat with the crowds and then she asked where I was and once everyone knew who I was she asked me if Allyce was with me and Sarah told me that Allyce had a question for me. I turned around and Allyce was on bended knee. It was the most amazing surprise and we were like celebrities for the rest of the day. It was like 16000 people were our friends!”

Allyce chose navy pants and a matching tailored waistcoat from Kelly Country to pair with a European white shirt crafted by Nakhle Shirtmakers.

Nat chose a lace gown with an illusion neckline from Brides Of Sydney. She remembers “I had planned to wear a completely fitted lace dress and found exactly what I wanted on my first day of dress shopping. The shop was kind enough to take photos of me as I was on my own. When I got home I was so excited that I showed Allyce however she told me that I looked like a doily.
On my second shopping experience, I took two people with me, a co-worker and her daughter who really didn’t know me. The reason for this is I knew I would get 100% honesty. I tried on 10 different styles and left with the winning gown which had a lace bodice, sleeveless, full lace racerback with buttons and a full skirt with tulle.”

The beautiful forest of Bilpin Resort set the scene for the ceremony, Nat remarking “We choose to have our ceremony and reception at Bilpin Resort. When we first went to check out the venue (the day before we got engaged) there were paddocks of wild daisies which had a very calming effect in me as my Nanny Daisy had passed away and she was the most important little lady in my life. The Secret Circle where the ceremony was held is breathtaking.”

Of their walks down the aisle, Nat reminisces “Allyce walked down the aisle first with her father Greg to the instrumental version of A Thousand Years. My 15-year-old niece Alex walked me down the aisle to the lyrical version of A Thousand Years. Alex gave me away.” Allyce’s father wore his own father’s suit, to allow both him and the bride’s grandfather to walk her down the aisle.

All of the flowers were arranged by E Squared Design Co. Nat tells “We were introduced to Libby from E Squared Design Co through a friend and fell in love with her and her creations instantly. The only request that I had was I wanted one burnt orange flower in my bouquet. The rest we left entirely up to Libby as she never ceases to amaze us with her creations. Libby ended up creating all of the flowers for the bridal party, our parents, the ceremony and the reception. Her work is truly breathtaking.”

Janice Bradley Celebrant performed the ceremony. “Being a same-sex LEGAL marriage there was a bit of pressure on us as everyone was genuinely excited for the day” says Nat.

Nat remembers “On my side, I had my 11-year-old niece Tara as the junior bridesmaid and best friends Jane & Danielle as bridesmaids. Allyce had her best friend Amy as her best man and her brother Aaron as groomsman.”

  Of their photographer, Nat explains “One of my co-workers tagged me on Facebook in a photography competition that her wedding photographer was running. You had to tell of your proposal and the winner won a free engagement photo shoot. We won because our proposal was so amazing! We first met Jennifer from Jennifer Burch Photography in July 2017 and as soon as we started chatting we felt so comfortable with her. Jen was very welcoming to us being gay and after the shoot, we asked her if she was comfortable with us. We needed to know where Jen stood due to kissing on the wedding day etc. Jen was so amazing and we booked her on the spot. We had lots of contact leading up to our wedding. We hired Jen for 10 hours and she covered every minute of both of us getting ready, the ceremony and all of the reception. Jen had our photos to us within two weeks.” (Jennifer adds “It was heartbreaking being asked if I was comfortable with photographing Nat & Allyce. Unbelievably heartbreaking being asked if I’m comfortable seeing two people who love each other kiss – I felt their pain and just wanted to make them feel beautiful.)

Nat and Allyce enlisted E Squared Design Co. to style their marquee reception, Nat remarking “Our marquee was designed by Libby of E Squared Design Co and it was paramount that we didn’t see any of the work that was being created as Libby really wanted to surprise us. Ten minutes prior to the reception commencing Allyce and I snuck into the marquee so that Libby could see our faces and so that Jen from Jennifer Burch Photography could capture the rawness of it all. That was probably the most overwhelming part of the day for me personally as Libby just created the most romantic setting for us.

A lady of many talents, E Squared Design Co. also created three wedding cakes! Nat noting “We couldn’t decide on one flavour so we ended up having three separate cakes. Months on and people are still talking about the cakes.”

The newlyweds chose an upbeat tune for their first dance, remembering “We wanted our first dance to be a little bit fun so we chose to have a song by Sarah McLeod called Get your Stroke On. We were both a little awkward as neither of us can dance but we really had fun chatting, being in the moment together and just loving how perfect our day had been to that point.” Allyce also surprised her father with a father-daughter dance.

A big congratulations to the newlyweds! Thank you so much for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Jennifer Burch Photography for sharing today’s beautiful celebration!