Today’s wedding? In bride Remington’s word it was “Simple, elegant, neutral with pops of burnt orange. Personal, intimate with a good party vibe” and really, I have to say that sums it up. This elegant Sydney occasion ticks all the boxes- beautiful blooms, stunning gowns, plenty of beautiful detail. But what Remington failed to mention, is just how those personal touches really made the day magic.

The couple, who postponed their original date six months, moved their venue, and cut their guest list, all thanks to COVID-19, knew the strength of the family of getting through the hard parts, which was the foundation of their life together. So much so, that they honoured the strength of Remington’s grandparent’s sixty year-long marriage with a surprise vow renewal, at their very own day.

And if there ever was a note to start a marriage off on, I’d say that’s a pretty good start! Today, we’re welcoming the beautiful images captured by Hello Sweetheart, which so beautifully tell the story of the day.

How did Remington and Matthew meet? We’ll hand it over to Remington to share the story. “We first met in January 2015 when we were both on a P&O cruise that stopped at the Pacific Islands. I was on the ship with 5 other girlfriends and Matt was with his sister and a group of her friends. We met at the ship’s nightclub “The Dome”. I was actually trying to avoid someone so sparked up a conversation with the person in front of me while lining up at the bar. This person happened to be Matt! I also had to ask twice for his name as I forgot the first time he told me.

After the cruise, I was living in Singleton (the Hunter Valley) and Matt was living in Sydney. Matt messaged me the same night we got off the ship to check I got home safely. From that day on we spoke every day and Matt decided to make the 2.5-3 hour drive to meet up with each other after six weeks. So… I guess Matt made all the first moves!

“We felt very lucky with so many of our vendors. If we were to do it all again, I wouldn’t change any of them! Dani of Blusch by Daniela (makeup) and Deena of Chic Artistry (hair) were so relaxed and easy-going on our wedding morning. The ladies are both so talented which ensured I didn’t have a single worry about our hair and makeup.”

“Shopping for a gown is nothing like the movies!” laughs Remington, who found her wedding dress at Two Birds Bridal. “I did not have a huge moment where I realised my dress was ‘the one’. I went shopping with my Mum and my sister (maid of honour). My dress was the third dress I tried on in the first store we went to. I loved the dress however the style of the bottom of the dress was not what I was after. The top of the dress was very me and just felt perfect. This is where we spoke about a made to measure dress which means it would be customised to what I wanted.

We had a full day of dress shopping so continued onto our other appointments knowing this dress was what we had to beat. There were many other dresses I tried on which I liked, however, there were none that matched the dress I had tried on in the morning. We slept on it overnight and went back to Two Birds Bridal (the first store) and I tried on the dress again.

Even after I had paid a deposit, I still didn’t feel all the emotions I expected to feel. It’s such a big decision and a hard one to make when the dresses do not fit properly, and you cannot see exactly what the dress is going to look like. In the end, I loved my dress!”

The beautiful blooms of the day? Lucia Kos Floral Designer. Shares the bride “I left most of the floral design up to my florist. I based all the colourings on my bridesmaid dresses. I sent through some photos for inspiration based on colourings and style, however left it very open for my florist to be creative. She shared ideas for our ceremony styling and venue styling. We were very impressed and so happy with our florals. I couldn’t imagine exactly what it was going to look like, however, Lucia and her daughter exceeded all expectations. The colours tied in perfectly and I LOVED the variety in my bouquet.”

Remington walked down the aisle to “Marry Me” by Train. “We had an acoustic soloist. We chose this song based on the lyrics and practised walking down the aisle to many songs. This song set a good pace!”

Remington and Matthew were married by Sydney Celebrant Glenn  “Glenn our celebrant made our ceremony so personal and created memories which will be treasured for our lifetime.”

There was one very special moment in store at this wedding for one very, very special couple. The bride explains “This year on the 7th October my grandparent’s will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. Our day was made all the more special when our celebrant Glenn suggested including a surprise vow renewal for my grandparents. No one except us knew this was going to happen. It was such a surprise to everyone, especially my grandparents. There were lots of tears at this point in our ceremony.” Remington also wore her grandmother’s wedding veil.

“We wanted our ceremony to be relaxed, personal and intimate” notes Remington. “Glenn our celebrant, created the perfect ceremony. It felt calm, close, and told the perfect love story of myself and Matt. It had the right amount of seriousness, laugher and tears (happy of course!).
We chose the  ‘Happiness in Marriage’ read by our sister in law – Katarina Oliveri.
“Happiness in marriage is not something that just happens. A good marriage must be created.

In marriage the “little” things are the big things. It is never being too old to hold hands.

It is remembering to say, ”I love you” at least once a day. It is never going to sleep angry.

It is standing together and facing the world. It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating gratitude in thoughtful ways.

It is having the capacity to forgive and forget. It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow.

It is a common search for the good and the beautiful. It is not only marrying the right person — it is being the right partner.”

Remington has this advice for you. “Take advantage of any moment you get together as a couple on your wedding day. Embrace every moment of the day, it goes so quickly! Don’t stress over the small stuff, have trust in your vendors (they are the professionals who have attended many weddings). Vendors often give great tips of advice. Everything will fall into place in the end. Try not to worry about the things that are out of your control. Be open to changes – it will all still work out.”

The couple loved working with their photographer. “Hello Sweetheart was AMAZING! We found them online and liked the look of their Instagram and their website. When we were searching for our photographer/videographer we spent time watching their videos. We chose them because we watched a random couple’s wedding video and we felt like we were a part of their special day.”

Summer style was smart and chic, thanks to  Tarocash. “The groom wore black chinos, a white shirt, a grey jacket, and black boots. The groom wore a bow tie, and the groomsmen wore ties. The groom liked the look of a two-tone suit (a more casual vibe as opposed to formal) to suit the Summer season and location of our wedding. I had also chosen the bridesmaids’ dresses first, so we needed to find something that complimented the girl’s burnt orange dresses.”

Remington and Matthew were married at Oatlands House. “We chose Oatlands House so we could have the ceremony, canapes, photos and reception all in one place. We liked the idea of our guests remaining in the same place all night and transitioning from the ceremony to reception without a huge gap in the day. We loved the variety of grounds (golf course, vineyards, gardens etc) and the look of the building at Oatlands House for our photos.”

“Six days out from our wedding COVID restrictions tightened again. This meant our QLD guests could not attend our wedding and we were only able to have a maximum of 100 guests. Our original guest list was 170. We felt very blessed and lucky to have family and friends who were so understanding of our situation. Everyone agreed that after postponing once, we had to go ahead and make the most of the day with the restrictions that were in place.”

For their first dance, Remington and Matthew chose “Falling Like the Stars’ by James Arthur. “We listened to soo many songs and ended up coming back to this one. We wanted something slow, but also built up a little ready for our wedding party to join in.”

Nor only did the Hello Sweetheart crew capture the stills for Remington and Matthew, but they also created this beautiful film! “Tim and Michael were both amazing! ” raves Remington “We couldn’t have asked for two better people to capture our day! The day was filled with laughs, tears (happy of course), smiles all round and plenty of banter! Everyone commented on how easy going and friendly the guys were. They made us feel so comfortable and it seemed like our friends were taking photos and capturing the footage.”

A big congratulations to you both Remington and Matthew! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us. Thank you also to Hello Sweetheart for sharing today’s celebration with us!