Missy & Shreyas

Set on a gorgeous autumnal day and dripping with the vibrant tones of the season, Missy and Shreyas put together a ceremony that honoured culture and tradition. With many personal touches and lush surrounds, it was a day to celebrate! Finder Seeker captured the day.

Shreyas and Missy met in 2010 in the most 2010 way possible, on MSN messenger. The epic proposal took a lot of planning, with Shreyas telling, ”Quite early on, the topic of proposals came up. Missy mentioned that she disliked traditionally romantic, extended day long setups for proposals, as she would know what was coming and be frustrated all day waiting for it. So I bluntly asked her what her favourite proposal would be, and as a joke she told me the scene from Smallville where he flies Lana up to a mountain and crushes a piece of coal into a diamond. “Challenge accepted”, I thought. Six years later when she had completely given up hope that I would ever propose, we were on holiday in New Zealand and trekked up a mountain where I proposed with a piece of coal (a sphere of styrofoam I had hollowed out, put a ring inside and spray painted black) that I “crushed” a ring out off.” If that isn’t romantic enough, Missy shares, ”I was so surprised and confused that I forgot to say yes and I couldn’t form words at all. Later on I told him how great it all was but how disappointed I was with my reaction. He then did the sweetest thing ever and proposed again right then and there. Over the next few days he proposed over and over, everywhere we went, which allowed me to perfect my response!”

The bride ordered her gown online from Wendy Makin. Missy shares, ”It was a different colour to what I expected (online it looks blush but in real life it is oat) and it didn’t quite fit! Cue some last-minute alterations at Pearls & Roses Geelong. They are absolutely the best. And I ended up loving the colour of the dress as well, after the initial disappointment that it wasn’t pink. The groom wore a three-piece charcoal suit from Van Heusen, Missy remembering, ”A very helpful sales assistant styled it with the floral pocket square and brown shoes and Shreyas said “I’ll take it all!” Followed by, “I’ve always wanted to say that…” The groom’s tie was Missy’s uncle’s tie, and is her family tartan. She tells, ”When my uncle passed away my Nanna gave me that tie and I decided (at the age of 15) that my future husband would wear it at my wedding.”

Adding personal touches throughout the day, Missy had many favourites. She remembers, ”My something old was the gold bangles that Shreyas’ mum gifted me on our engagement. They go back 5 generations! Something new, the dress, from my mum. Something borrowed was my sister’s polka-dot veil. Something blue was my mum in her beautiful blue dress. A year before our wedding we went to a winery and Shreyas bought a very nice bottle of port. He said he was going to save it for our wedding day, so we stored it in my sister’s cellar and he was so excited to try it! After our first look, before the ceremony, the groomsmen and bridesmaids gathered at the cottage behind the castle and we had a toast. It was the perfect way to calm the nerves before we started.”

Flos Botanical provided lush and tonal bouquets, in autumnal shades. Missy shares, ”I wanted as much colour as possible! I told my florist I wanted each of my bridesmaids to have a different colour dress and corresponding bouquet, and for mine to be a combination of all of them. The groomsmen’s ties and boutonnieres would match as well. Flos Botanical executed it perfectly. I planned the time of the wedding around autumn leaves and autumn flowers, particularly dahlias. I was so anxious the dahlia season would finish early because we had such cold weather in the lead up to the wedding. Photographer Finder Seeker captured the colour and joy of the day beautifully! The bride tells, ”Completely amazing. She was exactly what I wanted, she blended in and basically seemed like a friend that happened to take lovely photos. We’re both a bit shy and she worked with us and let us be ourselves and I think the result is absolutely incredible.”

Incorporating many cultural and colourful elements, the bride and groom made the day perfectly them. Missy shares, ”My sister, Celebrant Emma, was also my maid of honour. She is also a new mum so she suggested for we ask a friend to help out and she would jump in for the legals. This ended up being so special because Shreyas chose a friend of his who is like a brother and he did such a good job.

Nimai was a great balance of funny and sentimental, and when Emma took over, she did a reading from the School of Life about the importance of ceremony and ritual and how they can transport you outside of time. We had Shreyas’s dad bring blessed flower garlands from the temple and we did a garland exchange (part of a Hindu marriage), and we did both a Scottish handfasting and a South Indian hand tying.

We had an offcut in my tartan and an offcut from Shreyas’ grandma’s saree blouse that she had given to me before she passed away. My mum tied our hands together with these. There’s a similar ritual in a Hindu ceremony that involves tying the bride and groom’s hands together with flower garlands and then pouring water over them. We made these garlands ourselves with red and yellow symbolising India and white roses and sea holly for Scotland. Shreyas’ mum tied our hands with these and poured holy water over them.”

Emphasising the care and attention gone into the first part of the day, Missy remembers, ”The ceremony was very important to me. I saw the party after as an afterthought. I carefully chose the music, readings, people involved and rituals to try best to symbolise Shreyas and my union and the union of our families and cultures.” There were many sentimental touches to the reception too, with the bride remembering some of her favourites. She tells, ”I loved loved loved the cake. I asked the impossible of A Mini Kitchen, and she delivered! I wanted the cake to be decorated with my tartan, and cupcakes! The flavours were sticky date for the main cake, white chocolate salted caramel berry cupcakes and vegan chocolate coconut cupcakes. They were all heaven! AND our recipe books – it read like a blog with a story behind each recipe, the first time we made it, or a funny story involving it. Shreyas and I love food and we wanted to share that. And the flowers… I mean look at them!”

Singing the praises of the reception venue, the bride and groom couldn’t recommend it enough! They tell, ”We looked at a few venues but we particularly loved the Avalon Castle in Cockatoo. It looked like a Scottish castle transported into the middle of the Aussie bush. My family is very Scottish and this seemed so apt that I got on board immediately. It was an awesome choice in the end because they were so lovely and so accommodating, and the food was terrific.”

Choosing ‘Silly Love Songs’ by Paul McCartney/Wings for their first dance, the newlyweds learnt a routine with The Next Step Co. They share, ”They came to our house and we went through it until we knew it completely, and also recorded us doing it so we could watch back and remind ourselves! Practising the dance in the lead up to the wedding was so fun for us and we’d always end up laughing.” Getting crafty with a touch of DIY, Missy made brightly coloured pompoms! She remembers, ”I spent the few months before making pom poms while watching TV. It’s actually really soothing and good for pre-wedding anxiety! Shreyas made a couple too. I also made the bangle candle holders (well, hot glued some bangles together) and Shreyas wrote the recipes featured in our favours.”

Thank you to our gorgeous bride and groom for sharing your vibrant and heartfelt wedding with us, and congratulations! Thank you also to Finder Seeker for your beautiful images!