Byron Bay Wedding At Harvest Newrybar

I have come to learn, that Byron Bay must be made of magic. There is something about the sweet little town that casts its spell over those that visit and that magic? It actually makes for an equally magical wedding venue, and it’s exactly the special flavour that drew Sam and Nick to Byron for their beautiful wedding day. Captured by E.L Simpson Photography, the guest list was small. the moments heartfelt and the combination? Something we cannot wait to share with you!

Luckily the bride was in tip-top shape on the day, the same of which cannot be said for the day Nick popped the question. Sam explains “I was really sick and Nick had told me we were going to dinner with his parents, first meeting at their place. When we go to their house I walked in first and there were flowers and candles and a sign that said will you marry me. When I turned around he was down on one knee. His parents were away that night so he had been there during the day setting up. We then went out to dinner and Nick started to panic and wanted my ring back because the restaurant only let him make a booking because he told them he was going to propose, so he thought they wouldn’t let us stay if he had already done it. The wait staff were watching us all night, waiting.”

The bride found her gown at The Babushka Ballerina after finding them online, she tells I had seen some of their pieces on Instagram and really liked their mismatched pieces. “I loved a skirt I saw online and loved it from when I first tried it on and just kept playing with tops until I found mine. The manager at the time picked everything she thought I would like and based on our venue. She even helped choose based on me being able to drink and eat cheese comfortably. I only went to that one shop and had found my dress after that first appointment.”

Sam and Nick chose Byron Bay’s Harvest Newrybar for their big day, telling “We kept everything at Newrybar. We all stayed in accommodation down the street and had both our ceremony and reception at Harvest.”

Tells the bride “I loved how happy and relaxed the day was. My cousin, dad and I walked from the Art House (where we got ready) to the ceremony. It was only a few 100 metres down the road but was a funny, special walk.”

Sam walked down the aisle to “The Wedding Song” by Angus & Julia Stone played by North Coast Entertainment. She tells “I remember walking down with Dad thinking I was feeling okay and was going to keep it together when I saw my best friend through the crowd. She’s quite tall so I saw her through everyone and her face had crumbled and that’s when I started to really feel emotional about the day.”

Beautiflora styled up the lush floral arrangements, packed with greenery Sam explaining “Our flowers were from Beautiflora at Newrybar, across the road from Harvest. Lhysa was amazing and took all of my small ideas and made our florals more amazing then what I could have pictured. She did bouquets for myself and Alex, all of the boy’s buttonholes and a flower crown for my niece. She went above and beyond with the floral styling down the tables and around the bakery. She was also so clever in how we could re-use the flowers again throughout the day. Mine and Alex’s bouquet were used for the dressing at the bar by her organising two recycled glass vases there waiting, instead of them being just left on a table or on the floor. The flowers from the signing table then were used on the gift table.”

Celebrant Lady Love made it all official, Sam tells “Our celebrant Annie, Celebrant Lady Love is a friend of mine from uni. She asked Nick and I questions in the lead-up and made our ceremony very funny and personal. The feedback that I got from the day always included Annie in regards to how entertaining and unique she made our ceremony. She’s the best.”

Of their photographer, the bride raves “Erin was amazing! I already knew Erin before the day and she is so friendly, relaxed and helpful. Erin recommended who ended up doing my makeup on the day and met us in the lead up at the venue to look at locations. Nick and I needed someone to take charge as we do not love photos, which Erin did on the day whilst making the experience so comfortable and enjoyable. We had so much fun with Erin and laughed our way through most of the photos. Erin was so passionate and excited about our photos, which shows in the finished product. We love every image she took of the day and will cherish them forever.”

“I love the photos of just Nick and me because neither of us loves photos and really didn’t want typical posed wedding photos. There are so many of us laughing and being natural with each other that Erin captured without us knowing. I really like a photo of Alex and I where we are both laughing. Erin had told us to laugh or tell a joke and Alex said to me “I’ll tell you something that will actually make you laugh” and went on to tell me she had an undergarment malfunction during the ceremony. In this photo, you can see us really laughing.”

Sam tells “We only had 40 people including ourselves so it was all about being comfortable with our closest family and friends. The theme and style we wanted it to be earthy and natural. We did very little ‘decorating’ because our venue was so beautiful we didn’t feel we needed to do much or want to take away from it. We went for mostly greens, whites and natural/ native colours of the area.”

The couple made sure to honour their family throughout the day, Sam explaining “My cousin and I both wore a pearl ring that our grandparents had given us years ago and my brother wore one of my grandpa’s ties. Nick’s grandma also knitted me a beautiful horseshoe that I wore during the ceremony. We tried to add details for our grandparents, the ones who were able to make it and ones who were not able to or not with us anymore. I think we tried to add touches that only our family would maybe notice.”

“All of our vendors were amazing. The food at Harvest was a standout. Annie was so much fun and made our ceremony so unique. Erin made our photos experience so much fun and we love every one of them. Lysa from Beautiflora was also amazing, I loved our flowers and she went above and beyond with setting up the flowers for our reception. I didn’t see it until we arrived for the reception and was just blown away. The girl’s from Do or Dye were fantastic with our hair and Kristen did a beautiful job with our makeup.”