Tatum & Matt

Today’s wedding? It’s a little bit retro, it’s a little bit mid-century, it’s a little bit western and it’s a heck of a lot of fun.

Tatum and Matt chose a grassy reserve in Murgheboluc for their outdoor wedding. A day that celebrated them. That celebrated everything they loved and did it all in beautifully “them” style. “It was beyond a dream. The whole day was a clash of our personalities and the things we love. It was a retro mid-century themed wedding but with western and punk rock personal touches. “The duo enlisted T-One Image to join them on the day, and it’s lucky for us because we get to share every beautiful moment!

It was serendipity that led these two together, tells the bride. “We had a bit of a chance meeting. In 2014; we both lived in NSW and I won tickets to one of my favourite pin-up models Cherry Dollface hair and makeup classes and a pin-up competition she was judging later that night. The only problem was that the class was in Newcastle, 3.5 hours away from where I lived and I had never been there before. The same night Matt got last minute tickets to see Dead Letter Circus in the Pub next door, we matched on tinder that night. Two weeks later we went on our first date and moved in with each other on the second date. Been inseparable since.”

As with so many proposals we hear, Tatum and Matt’s engagement didn’t quite go as planned, in Tatum’s words “It’s rather long disaster story to begin with. We had a long romantic weekend planned in Daylesford and had planning this little trip for the past few weeks; romantic picnic, hike in the gardens, a very snug Airbnb and without my knowledge, Matt had decided it might be a great time to propose.

Morning of, everything went wrong. Our Alarm didn’t go off, it was raining, the outfit I had planned to wear was ruined in the wash and my engagement ring hadn’t arrived in time (the post slip was left on our doorstep the afternoon before). Halfway into our trip, our 1965 XP ford ute made a noise and the radiator fan was suddenly sticking out of the bonnet. Long story short with a few more series of unfortunate events, we got home, repacked the car and finally got on the road. By the time we got there, it was dinner time and we were exhausted and stressed. The next weekend, we just had a perfect day in the sun; working on the car, going out for lunch and eventually to the dog beach with our 2 puppies. While we were walking along the beach, Matt just asked me ‘How are you feeling? and I replied ‘peak contentment’ so he just said ‘Cool…wanna marry me?’.”

Tatum chose her gown at Always and Forever Bridal. She notes “I was unable to find the exact dress I wanted but found a dress with the 1940’s silhouette I loved. Always and Forever Bridal was so unbelievably patient and helped me create my dream dress by altering the sleeves and adding a matching belt. The closest I ever felt to being a goddess, was in that dress.”

The bride wore something very special to her on the day. “Since I was about 10 years old, I have always worn a Claddagh ring. I originally had it because I was obsessed with Buffy the vampire slayer but as I grew up, I fell in love with the meaning. The Claddagh ring meaning is all about love, loyalty, and friendship. The two hands represent friendship, a heart symbolizes love and the crown on top is for loyalty. This is an old Irish wedding ring and when you have the heart point towards you, it means your heart belongs to someone. Matt was the first boy I turned my Claddagh ring around for. He loved this obviously and proposed to me with a diamond and Sapphire Claddagh ring. For the actual wedding, Matt had a ruby Claddagh wedding ring and for the wedding speeches, we used two crystal glasses with the Claddagh engraved on them, that my mum had gifted to us from her recent trip to Ireland.”

And in the interests of keeping it real, Tatum has this story to share from the day. “Right as I was about to walk out the door, all ready to get married, I took one last sip of my (watered down) mimosa and accidentally poured it right down the front of my very white dress. Cue meltdown in front of the photographer; as my superhero bridesmaids and mum, slowly dabbed it away using water and baking soda.

You couldn’t see anything and we were only 15 minutes late for the ceremony, so overall it worked out. I spent the rest of the day loudly telling people my almost disaster, while my bridesmaids tried to shut me up about bringing attention to it. But you couldn’t see anything so why not laugh about it?”

Tatum and Matt chose the country venue of Murgheboluc Recreation Reserve for their wedding, sharing “Matt and I had always imagined our wedding day to be laid back and fun. Somewhere we could have our friend’s old cars and a space to display our photobooth caravan; True romance photobooth. Murgheboluc Recreation Reserve was just 15 minutes outside of Geelong and was the perfect little country field with an adorable hall, that was once a School. We had full control of the venue the whole time, with full creative control on how we wanted it decorated and we could provide our food and alcohol. With venues usually being the most expensive part of a wedding, Murgheboluc Recreation Reserve was a real dream and ended up being the biggest deal of the event.”

The bride walked down the aisle, hand in hand with her mother to “Wild Horses” by The Rolling Stones.

The couple chose Jac the Hitcher to make things official. “As you can probably see from the pictures, the whole ceremony had us laughing” reminisces Tatum. “We did not want a traditional ceremony and Jac the Hitcher was the perfect untraditional celebrant to understand our vision. She brought her personal wit and style to the ceremony but told our love story in a funky fun perspective. We decided to not do any readings or vows in our Ceremony because the whole experience is overwhelming enough without public speaking. We do plan to have a second honeymoon in the USA in 4 years (on our first official wedding anniversary) and finally say our Vows our at Joshua’s Tree, in a mini Vegas style hitching.”

The groom knows just how to make the love of his life laugh. “I purposefully pronounced Tatum’s middle name Cheri wrong as “Cherry”. It’s an old joke we have from very early in the relationship, and I wanted to get the big open mouth laugh she does. Anytime I get to see her face light up when she’s laughing, is a good time. It was a very us moment, while we were out of our comfort zone with all the attention.”

“He was very sweet and patient with us considering we were over-excited children the whole shoot” tells Tatum of the couple’s chosen wedding photographer. “The photos turned out so stunning and he really captured the joy of the day.”

Tatum & Matt chose Events by Wendy to help them make sure everything went to plan, noting “Wendy from Events by Wendy was beyond incredible. Before I even met her, she already knew what we wanted, and had started to organise it for us. She was a dream and I know without a doubt, the wedding would have not been a quarter of what it was without her. Every detail was thought out and everything ran smoothly. Another vendor I bonded with was the crew at Little Happy Hut, caravan bar that also provided our grazing/candy table and at the end of the night, they made everyone Jaffles. Kim and her troupe were so fun and their caravan is bloody adorable. Also know I may be biased but damn, wasn’t that Photobooth cool?”

I had the colour themes of Navy and Burgundy and had been pinning different bouquets styles in my ‘secret’ wedding Pinterest board for years” notes the bride, who not only worked with Events By Wendy but also floral designer Elderberry Event Hire and rental furniture co Good Day Club. “My mum ended up hiring the worlds greatest wedding planner Wendy from Events by Wendy as a wedding gift and Wendy took my Pinterest board dreams and with Elderberry Event Hire, created all the amazing florals for the big day. It was very surreal seeing my vision become a reality, without actually articulating it fully. Wendy truly was a mind reader.”

“I don’t think I had a favourite detail” notes Tatum. “The day as a whole was a whirlwind and beyond what we had ever expected. It perfectly represented us as a couple and as individuals. I think all the elements added to everything else as a whole and in all the photos, we look the most ecstatic yet relaxed I think I have ever seen us. I guess my favourite part of the wedding was how memorable it was.”

“We didn’t do the first dance” notes Tatum. “We haven’t danced before we got married, why start now? We played a wedding game instead.”

This was a reception all about fun, right down to the photobooth, shares Tatum. “We used our wedding as a platform to launch our new small business, True Romance Photobooth. Leading up to the wedding, we were looking for a unique photo booth, that would match our style but found nothing..so we decided to make one! Matt and I purchased a 1958 bond wood Caravan in October 2019 and worked on it right up to the wedding day; Painting it, decorating, creating a brand and also converting it into a photo booth.

After kicking myself for months for trying to start up a small business while planning a wedding, it all paid off because it was so exciting to launch a passion project on the happiest day of our lives and seeing our loved ones enjoy what we worked so hard on.”

A big congratulations to you both Tatum & Matt! Thank you for sharing your beautiful wedding and its stories with us. Thanks also to T-One Image for today’s beautiful images.