Stacey & Mitch

You can’t help but immediately fall in love with this wedding – and stunning couple! Selecting the ever beautiful Mali Brae farm, the backdrops provided endless photo opportunities as well as the ease of getting ready on site! From including all special family throughout the day to laughing and relaxing with their bridal party, Stacey and Mitch made the most of the day.  The talented Weddings By Tim was there to capture and showcase the incredible and special moments shared. The Bride Stacey spills the details of their wedding and begins by telling how the pair met!

My housemate had recently started a new job and asked me to go along with her to her mid year work party, where I met Mitch sitting on the same table as us. I don’t actually remember meeting that night but he pursued my friend to set us up. We went on an awkward 3 way date, then Mitch chased me for about 9 months before we actually started dating!

I wore a Grace Loves Lace long sleeve backless dress that hugged in all the right places. I chose the head to toe stretchy lace because I wanted to feel comfortable on my wedding day and loved the simplicity of the gown against our rustic country setting.
I found my gown online and flew my bridesmaids up to the Gold Coast for the day to try it on. I knew it was the one when I walked out and they all started crying. That was a really special memory for me!

Mitch wore a navy suit and bow tie from MJ Bale, he added a rose gold tie clip to match my jewels on the day. Mitch knows I love him in a navy suit, so chose navy over black.

Our wedding was on the beautiful Mali Brae farm on 7th April 2018. We married outside under the old oak tree before our reception held in the old dairy farm barn. We wanted a natural setting with beautiful fresh flowers, lace and styling to suit the beautiful country setting. Our goal for the day was to include genuine heartfelt moments for both ourselves and our guests.

I walked down the aisle to ‘Feels like home’ by Chantal Kreviazuk

We wanted our ceremony to be unique, genuine and casual, including some traditional components but nothing we didn’t genuinely want to include. We asked a long time family friend, who is a pastor at our church to marry us, which was really special.

He spoke from the heart and shared how he knew Mitch and I with our guests. We took communion together as part of our faith, which we shared in a special private moment with my grandparents whilst our guests listened to my favourite song ‘I can only Imagine’. We took communion from Mitch’s grandparents crystal glasses as they could not be with us. We had asked our friends Kelly and Karl who we had recently attended their wedding in South Africa to share a bible reading and message in our ceremony.

We asked them to choose something they felt was suited for us and it was a special surprise on the day what they were going to share. We wrote and shared our own vows, which made us laugh and cry and chose our mums to sign the registry to include them in the day.

Mali Brae farm is a privately owned property in Moss Vale near Bowral. The property is a renovated old dairy farm, which provides a beautiful contrast between rustic country and modern beauty. The property has beautiful lakes and a boathouse – just some of the beautiful locations to take photos. We stayed in the old dairy house, one of two accommodation options on the property which is just metres from the reception shed.

Tim from Weddings by Tim was great and really captured our day exactly how we wanted. He was so fun and made Mitch and I (who are usually so awkward in photos) feel at ease all day. We also did an engagement shoot with Tim, which built a great rapport for the day.

I had my 3 sisters and best friend as bridesmaids and Mitch had his brother and 3 best mates as our bridal party.

We have a huge photo of us framed at home where we ran to the top of the hill on the property just as the sun was setting, the photo is a silhouette of Mitch and I holding hands just taking in the moment as the sun went down.

The only heirlooms we included was for Communion with my grandparents using Mitch’s grandparent’s crystal glasses and I wore a pair of beautiful rose gold earrings from my mum.

There are too many favourite moments to pick! However, reading my vows to Mitch was incredibly special. A favourite detail was the personalised thank you cards to each of our guests.

Our caterers’ Violets and Vinegar were so amazing. We had shared plate food, which everyone raved about and they were so kind and easy to get along with in the planning process. They returned any enquiry really quickly which helped a lot! We recently visited their new restaurant in Bowral for our 1 year wedding anniversary where they made us a replica (smaller) wedding cake and made our night really special.
My favourite part of the wedding planning was putting together our gifts for the bridal party and guests.

We chose white and nude flowers with rustic greenery to complement our venue and style. Our tables were decorated with Gold goblets and glass vases filled with flowers and greenery garlands. My favourite piece was the stunning hanging feature over our bridal table and our gorgeous textured bouquets. I also loved the beautiful circle back drop covered in flowers for our ceremony.

I hand baked personalised ‘Mr & Mrs Wild’ cookies as a gift to our guests and Mitch and I wrote personal Thank You cards to each guest, which were placed on their table setting for them.

There were so many great moments but the funniest had to be the bridal party entering the reception. My bestie Alana danced her way in but got the heel of her shoe caught in a drain at the door, pulled the drain out and took it with her before falling to her knees in front of everyone. She made it fun and laughed her way through it while her partner Tim tried to free her from the drain and the whole reception cheered with laughter applauding the entertainment. Even better, our photographer captured the whole thing.

We wanted to make sure we included all our family in our day. We had My brother and Mitch’s uncle MC, Mitch’s sister in law said grace before we ate, our Dad’s said a speech, our Mum’s signed the registry and our siblings were in the bridal party, as well as our 10 niece and nephews as flower girls and page boys.

We also wanted to make sure we took a moment for just the two of us to get outside and have a moment together during our reception. We had some beautiful night photos and shared a drink together before going back to join the party.

Our first dance was to ‘house is a building’ by Anderson East and surprised our family and guests with a choreographed waltz that my sister (a professional dancer) had been teaching us in the weeks leading in.

Plan your day based on what you want, not what others want you to do is our best advice for future couples. Remember, it’s your day not theirs.
Make sure you take a quick moment to escape the crowd and take in the day with just your and your partner too!

Ms Zebra Says: Congratulations to this gorgeous pair! What an amazing day that we are so thankful you’ve shared with us! From the styling to the look of love, this wedding had it all!!