Michelle & Rob

Carrying an abundance of lilac toned blooms, Michelle married Rob in an outdoor cathedral in Swan Valley. A classic day styled with luxe details, this winery wedding has us swooning! Sandie Bertrand Photography captured the day.

The bride tells, ”We met eight years ago at a friends party and hit it off straight away. Within the week Rob had asked me out on our first date. We had a whirlwind romance for two months until on Boxing Day Robert was in a motorbike accident and was very seriously injured – breaking his leg in 3 places. It was holding his hand waiting for the royal flying doctor that I realised I did not want to be without this special man and told him I loved him for the first time. Robert was flown to Perth and had successful emergency surgery to save his leg.”

Finding her dream gown took Michelle more time than originally thought, but it was worth it in the end. She shares, ”I am not normally a girly girl so had no idea what would suit me. I went on a few shopping trips with my girlfriends to try on different styles and types of dresses. Bridal By Aubrey Rose made it such a memorable and fun experience! They were so friendly and approachable from the moment we walked in. After I found my style they were so great at talking through all the options, as I changed my dress to have a blush underlay. The whole day was amazing – as was every visit after. My grandfather passed away the year of my wedding, my sister had organised as a surprise to get a heart made out o the the blue shirt he had worn to my brothers wedding sewn in to the bodice of my dress, so he would be close to my heart on my wedding. My something borrowed was my mother’s embroidered handkerchief from her wedding day.” The groom and groomsmen wore navy check suits from Politix.

Finding Toast Events open air chapel was a dream come true for Michelle. She remembers, ”I had always wanted a church ceremony but had come to the conclusion that this couldn’t happen to due to our guest list size and the options in the Swan Valley. But then we were shown Toast Events, seemed to mix the best of both worlds – we could bring the church to Sandalford!! We pulled this off only 10 days prior to the big day. Kirk Samuel Goodsell was our celebrant and had written such a personal ceremony full of love and laughter and a few traditional touches for me – like my dad giving me away. I think he found the perfect balance and made the ceremony completely about us. He had put me at ease just before I walked down the aisle but nothing could prepare me to see my now husband burst out in happy tears at the sight of me. I couldn’t stop smiling at him the entire time – I truly had never felt so happy than in that moment.” The bride walked down the aisle to ‘Easier Tonight’ by Matt Wertz.

Orchids, lilacs and roses were just some of the blooms featured in Michelle’s epic bouquet. She tells, ”My flowers on my day were truly amazing. We had been recommended to get in touch with Annaliese from Signature Floral Design through a friend and she was a god send. I gave her the vaguest of details. All I knew was we wanted moody colours like plum and burgundy, an over the top bouquet and some florals around the ceremony and tables to finish the room. It was her vision that pulled together our fabulous day. I could never of imagined what she pulled off and was blown away at every turn. I don’t think there was a single person who did not comment on how amazing they all looked. I also carried a small picture of each of my grandparents tied in to my bouquet as only one could attend the day.”

Luxe details don’t just happen, and Michelle managed to find genius creatives to help. She shares, ”My favourite part of wedding planning was getting to meet all the vendors. They all have such passion for what they do and have such amazing insight to the wedding day. I found that each time I went to a meeting with one of them I came away feeling more organised and at ease that everything would be perfect. My florist, photographer, videographer and celebrant really stood out. We let each of these vendors have free creative reign over their section and it turned out amazing!!”

Sandie Bertrand Photography captured the winery wedding in all its beauty. The bride tells, ”Sandie is amazing! She captures beautiful, candid moments but is never in your face. I never felt scripted to perform or stand a certain way. She has way about her that put you at ease and helps you relaxed. She helped us get all our group shots done quickly so I could have some alone time with Robert before the reception. She really made the day for me, as I was very worried at having a camera and a person with me all day but I didn’t even notice them snapping away most of the time. Our photos have turned out beautifully and could not fault a thing. She was a must have for us and we choose our date around her availability, I could not imagine the day without her.”

Rob had the inside track on good venues, as he used to be a wedding DJ. Michelle shares, ”We choose to have our reception at Sandalford Wines. Victoria, their wedding coordinator, had worked with Robert before and as such he had absolute faith in her and the team’s ability to host and run a smooth wedding. We also love the ambience the vineyard and venue has – as it is not overly done up. Robert wanted to have the reception in a room somewhere he had never worked before. It seemed liked fate that not long after we started to look for the venue Sandalford announced their new Estate Room to be built and completed the autumn before our wedding.”

Providing a beautiful surprise for the bride’s mum who was a ballroom dancer, Michelle and Rob secretly had dance lessons for two months before the wedding. They remember, ”We chose to dance to The Script – Never Seen Anything ‘Quite Like You’. She believed I had two left feet and was devastated that none of her children (as I was the last) would do a ‘proper’ wedding dance. The look on her face when we walked out was priceless. We also had dry ice for the first dance which looked amazing and had the added bonus of helping to hide me stepping on Robs toes. We found our classes leading up to the wedding were actually a really good way to relax and enjoy the wedding process plus we got to wear in our wedding shoes so no blistered on the day.”

A huge thank you to our gorgeous bride and groom for sharing your lovely wedding day with us, and congratulations! Thank you also to Sandie Bertrand Photography for your brilliant images!