Sparkling Geelong Winery Wedding by Briars Atlas

Lauren & Cam

Oh, I hope you’re settled in, because this wedding? It couples a relaxed winery space with all the sparkle of a little magic. There are gorgeous oversize chandeliers, juxtaposed next to the working walls of a vineyard, a bountiful grazing table, a cheese wedding cake, all sitting gladly alongside a very beautiful story. It’s a twist on tradition and we’re pretty darn glad that Oli of Briars Atlas joined these two for the ride. It’s not a wedding full of tradition, nor full of expectation. Instead, it’s filled with moments. Hugs, laughter, stories and of course, champagne toasts.

In a romantic twist of fate, the bride, Lauren, who works as a wedding planner, met Cam at a client’s wedding! “We met in 2017 at a Wedding that Cam had attended as a guest and I (Lauren) was the wedding planner. Introduced by Russell, the Father of the Bride and who was also our MC at the wedding. The night before the wedding Russell started telling me all about Cam and how we’d be perfect for one another. After a couple of months of perseverance and pressure Russell finally convinced us to catch up, and once we did that was it!”

And then, in the region of Champagne, France, Cam dropped to one question, Lauren filling us in on the magic moment. “Cam had arranged a “casual” dinner whilst we were in Champagne, France. We arrived at an amazing winery and we offered a tour of the cellar before dinner and as we walked in there was a bottle of champagne and a bouquet of beautiful flowers. The man at reception almost ruined the whole thing as he didn’t realise it was a proposal and was supposed to be a surprise. It was such a great idea as now we have a special champagne that we will save for special occasions, it is quite rare so when we do open it we need to make it count!”

Cam donned a suit from Hugo Boss with a Declic bow tie that caused a minor panic. “Cam had bought a bow tie which wasn’t pre-tied” explains Lauren. “We had assumed if we just looked online it would be easy to do. Apparently, none of the boys could do it in the morning of the wedding and on the way out to the ceremony they had to stop by a men’s fashion store to have someone help – thank god they were open and could assist”

This bride? She found her gown before she was even engaged! Lauren chose a Made With Love gown from Bluebell Bridal, telling “Being in the industry I have a lot of wedding images on social media. One morning I saw an image and took a screenshot of this amazing dress to keep for when/if we ever got married. Little did I know Cam was going to propose that evening! When we came back from our trip I made an appointment at Bluebell Bridal to try this particular Made With Love dress on and it was perfect, I didn’t even bother trying anything else on!”

Lauren and Cam wed against a backdrop or floral adorned arbours from The Arbourists.

Lauren walked down the aisle to a live performance by musician Abe Anderson. “Abe performed an an acoustic version of 1927’s ‘That’s when I think of you’. Abe played through out the reception and during his set breaks, the music was from The Beatles.

Lauren and Cam chose Mike Larkan to officiate their ceremony, telling, of their causal approach to the occasion “We wanted a more relaxed style wedding and didn’t want the massive bridal party so we each had a someone standing next to us during the ceremony but then we had close friends helping with different things like speeches, signing of the papers, etc.”

And where there is a celebration, there is champagne, an important focus for the newlyweds, who explain “We served champagne at our wedding, which we had imported from a small family estate in France especially for the wedding. We met this family whilst we were in Champagne when we got engaged. During the ceremony, we had a close friend, David Donald (one of the most highly regarded champagne palette’s in Australia) sabre a bottle of Krug Champagne which we drank whilst signing the papers and during some of our photos.”

The reception was filled with lush floral arrangements and sparkling chandeliers, just as Lauren wanted. “Although this was a very relaxed casual style I wanted the decor and styling to be the exact opposite, I wanted a lot of dark and bold colours, lots of black, gold and velvet!”

Lauren and Cam enlisted a friend’s winery as their venue. “We got married at a private vineyard. Cam has been friends with the family for a very long time and had always loved the beautiful setting. We were very fortunate that they said yes!”

JCRC Events + Styling created the lush floral arrangements for the day, Lauren remarking “I left a lot of my final decisions to the experts, I trusted my suppliers completely and wanted them to show off themselves and what they do best. Jacqui from JCRC Events and Styling was no different, I gave her the colour scheme and she sourced the flowers that would best suit my style.”

As romantic as the first dance was, the bride can’t remember it! “Our first dance was to “In My Life” from The Beatles, performed acoustically by Abe Anderson – he did such an amazing job but I was so caught up in the moment I can’t remember now what it sounded like. It was a very quick little dance, nothing too formal – it was more about just spending some alone time together.”

Of their photographer, Lauren raves ” From the moment I saw Oli on Instagram I knew I had to have him. His work blew me away and it was the only part of the wedding that I couldn’t go without. Oli was so fun on the day and stayed right through until all the guests left and we then went and took photos at sunset.”