Meg and Ben

Let us be clear, the entire Polka Dot team pretty much already wanted to move to Tasmania before The Tasmania Issue, and weddings like today’s, a stunner of a spring wedding really don’t do much to dissuade us.

With soft blush sweet apricot floral inspired details, a keen sense of family and home, and a gin bar, our newlyweds, Meg and Ben, filled with the day with utterly beautiful, utterly romantic details. And their choice of the venue? The ever so beautiful Huon Valley. “We have such a soft spot for the Huon region with its beautiful valley flanked by the sea, a mighty river, rolling farmland and ancient wilderness” tells the bride. Couple this with beautifully captured imagery by Ephemeral Creative and we’re packing our bags, if only so we can gatecrash celebrations just like this one!

It was on their very first day of law school that their fate was dealt. Meg telling “We met on our first day of law school. We’d both done previous degrees at other universities so it was the second time as the “freshies” at uni for both us. The reason that little detail becomes important is because my brother sat me down the night before the start of the semester and told me that I should sit down next to the hottest person in the room in my first lecture because everyone knows that the lecturer always uses a version of the same ice-breaker: “We’re all new here so introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you”. By sitting next to someone hot, you get to meet them straight away. It’s actually how my brother met his fiance so it’s become something of a family tradition. The next day, I was waiting outside the lecture theatre as everyone started to make their way in when I saw Ben and my heart did that knowing girlish flutter. I was nervous and I’m pretty shy so it took me watching almost everyone enter the lecture theatre before I worked up the courage to ‘take the plunge’ and go in. Luckily, Ben had sat up near the front and there was no one next to him so I walked up, smiled and sat down (trying to play it cool by leaving a seat in between us, of course). By the time the lecturer worked his way up to the predicted ice-breaker I’d used up my confidence quota for the day so thank goodness Ben said “Hi” first.”

The bride chose a beautiful strapless Madeline Gardner gown from White Lily Couture. She shares “All I knew before trying dresses on was I wanted it to be super feminine, other than that I really wasn’t sure so I was open-minded. On the day I tried on all different styles of dresses. The one I ended up choosing was the fourth one I tried on, I think you just know when it’s the right one. I had my mama with me on the day to help me choose and it was the perfect girly day of playing dress up and sipping on bubbles. I wore an ivory strapless soft tulle gown by Madeline Gardner with a sweetheart neckline, embroidered lace and three-dimensional flowers on the bodice and cascading down the A-line skirt. It was delicate and feminine and I felt like a fairy when I put it on. I also loved that it was very “me” and I knew Ben would love it. I could instantly imagine myself as a bride.”

Honouring family throughout the day was really important to Meg and Ben. “The father-daughter dance was a really important tradition and a moment I will cherish forever. Since I can remember, my Dad’s nickname for me has been “butterfly” and we had our father-daughter dance to Bob Carlile’s “Butterfly Kisses”.
My something old was our family Land Rover that has taken us on all of our family adventures through Africa when I was growing up. It seemed fitting that the Landy featured at the start of our biggest adventure yet. In a cutesy twist, my something blue was our wedding date which was stitched into the inside of my dress with a blue thread.”

The groom coupled his dashing MJ Bale suit with pink turtle cufflinks – the first present Meg had ever given him.

Though they both live in Queensland, Meg and Ben wanted to share their wedding day on the family’s farm in Tasmania’s beautiful Huon Valley, Meg explaining “Ben and I both live in Queensland but our wedding was held on my parents’ farm in the Huon Valley, Tasmania. We wanted the wedding to showcase Tassie in all its glory and the farm has such a glorious view and is set in a gorgeous location. The venue suited us and our dream for the day so perfectly because it has a wonderfully varied landscape with lush green pastures and forested surrounds. We wanted the dinner to be under the stars, all warm and breezy with millions of candles and fairy lights/lanterns, but Tassie’s weather tends to be little moodier so we chose a clear marquee for the reception with an outdoor gin bar and fire pit so that guests could still enjoy the gorgeous scenery and appreciate the clear starry night snuggled around the fire when they weren’t cutting a rug on the dance floor. We made sure there were plenty of blankets to keep guests cosy. It didn’t rain, but it wasn’t the warmest day and the chill in the evening air just added to the intimacy of the night.”

Meg walked down the aisle with her father to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love”.

Meg and Ben chose Tom Payne to officiate their marriage ceremony. “Our ceremony, like the rest of our wedding, was intimate and romantic” remembers Meg. “We were married underneath an arch of cascading florals overlooking the valley. Tom Payne, who is honestly the most endearing man you’ll ever meet, was our celebrant. Oddly enough we found Tom by searching for a Tassie celebrant with a great voice. Boy, did he deliver! Tom does local radio on the side and he has a voice made to tell stories. We chose traditional vows and short, simple ceremony with sentimental and impactful messaging about love and life with your best friend.”

“My mama did all of the styling on the day (aside from florals) and she set up the tables for the ceremony” tells Meg. “Our favours were homemade strawberry jams from the gardens of the farm and our confetti was handpicked, also by my mama, and dried in the months leading up to the big day. Our gin bar was made by my dad and Ben using timber from dad’s shed and the base was wine barrels that my parents had sourced from a winery on the east coast of Tassie. Our tonics, sodas and local beers and ginger beers were kept chilled in an old bathtub that had been in the paddock which we cleaned up and painted before the wedding. Our signage on the day was artfully engraved by Ben’s parents who own Lismore Trophies in NSW and they also engraved our bridal party gifts which were personalised champagne flutes for the girls and beer mugs for the boys.”

Event Avenue created the lushest floral arrangements of soft apricots and pinks for the day. Meg notes “The flowers were absolutely intended to be the star of the show, and they were. I love flowers and grew up with little vases full of flowery delights always scattered through the house. The feature flowers were King Pink proteas as a nod to my South African heritage because that’s the country’s national flower. Our florals were abundant and the Proteas were nestled in amongst softer blooms of peonies and David Austen roses in peachy blush tones, a bit imperfect, a bit wild, surrounded by wily green tendrils and blue-green hues of eucalyptus leaves just doing their own gorgeous thing. My parents, bless their hearts, also spent months before the wedding planting in heaps of protea, peony and David Austen varieties in the banks that flanked the marquee for the reception which helpfully put on a show for us too.

“I planned the wedding closely with my wonderful mama who happens to be the most stylish and artistic women I know and I loved sharing that experience with my very own earthside angel” remarks Meg.

These two were utterly thankful to their photographer team, sharing “We have no words to properly convey the level of gratitude we have for how perfectly the dream team that is Ephemeral Creative captured our wedding day. We were utterly blown away by both the photos and the film which seamlessly reflect all of the emotions and special moments. Trent, Jessie and Tim were an absolute dream to have around and they beautifully documented every detail, memory and warm and fuzzy feeling in the most artful way. We will be forever grateful.”

The newlyweds celebrated with their guests in a marquee reception filled with food, cake and plenty of gin! The bride telling “The majority of the guests were travelling from interstate, and showcasing the amazing food, wine, gin and the stunning views that come with a Tassie wedding was important to us because of this. We chose the remarkable Hubert & Dan as our caterers and we decided on roaming canapes followed by a shared feast showcasing only local Tasmanian produce, with guests seated on two long tables that were elegantly styled with abundant florals and flickering candlelight. Our dessert table featured a doughnut tower, a cheese tower (with local cheeses and house-made pastes) and a beautiful cake by  Lily May Cake Designs. Our gin bar was stocked with local gins and garnishes because we both love gin and our first date was at a gin bar in Brisbane called “Dutch Courage”.”

 

Meg and Ben kicked off the dance floor with their debut to Elle Goulding’s “How Long Will I Love You”.

Not only did the Ephemeral Creative capture the beautiful photos  of the day, but they also captured it in motion!

Congratulations to you both Meg and Ben! Thank you so much for taking the time to share the story of your day with us. Thanks also to the Ephemeral Creative for today’s photographs and film!