Pretty & Sentimental Rustic Barn Wedding

For a couple whose proposal story is sweetly simple, their wedding is anything but… it’s stunning, love-filled, and divine. Captured beautifully by Matt Ashton Photography at The Barn on the Ridge, we dare you to not fall in love with their pretty and sentimental rustic barn wedding. Hollie describes their day as relaxed and rustic.

We met when we were 18 and 19. Jai worked at a cafe that I used to visit – he would make me chai lattes! I became interested in Jai pretty quickly, and sent him a Facebook message saying simply, “You’re pretty hot…”

For our proposal, Jai took me for one of his bush walks – aka a climb up the side of a really big mountain. At the top Jai lit a fire, pulled out a couple of beers, then simply turned to me and asked “Will you marry me?'”

Jai wore a sandy linen suit and a white linen shirt purchased from Saunders Mensland in Ulladulla. He picked his suit based on colour and comfort!

I wore the Erza gown by Madi Lane Bridal purchased from Luv Bridal Sydney. It was the very first gown I tried on and I instantly fell in love. The ladies from Luv Bridal were so much fun and the best help. I had made my decision the first day I walked in there. And while I didn’t enjoy any of the planning of our wedding because it was stressful due to COVID (which really threw a spanner in the works!), one thing I will always smile thinking about is wedding dress shopping with my mum, nan and bridesmaids.

I walked down the aisle with my Dad and my son, Mac, to “You’re My Best Friend” by The Once. We wanted a quick personal ceremony with true feeling. We opted to write our own vows to make it a little more personal.

A special touch we created was that we had small charms made for the day of our loved ones that had passed. We attached these to a power pin for our parents to wear. My dad was given one of his mother – my grandmother. My mum wore one of her brother – my uncle. And Jai’s mother wore one of her mother – Jai’s Grandmother. And my something blue was that I wore my Nan’s sapphire ring that was given to her Nan by her Pop many, many years ago.

Our flowers were done by Ulladulla Florist. I showed Molly a few photos and let her create from there. I knew I could trust her and the flowers turned out perfect! Something I did know was that I wanted a dusty pink rose, lots of babies breath and lots of gum.

Our photographer was Matt Ashton Photography and he was amazing!! It literally felt like we had an old friend there with us the day. We had only met Matt previously for family photos around six months prior to our wedding. and then a quick catch up a couple of months out to talk final details. Our son also loves Matt – he’s so great with kids. He literally makes Mac laugh when no one else can, and we are so grateful for that.

We have two favourite photos of the day. There is one of us on the swing with Pigeon House Mountain in the background – an iconic feature for us. The second one is one of the sparkler photos from the end of the night. We are kissing and you can see some of our most important guests around us.

We managed to DIY a few small things. The jars, welcome sign, the bar sign and a sign for our wine glass rings. We also did the favours/name places – a plastic test tube filled with mini m&ms. We did hire some things, however the entire design and set up of the venue was done by us.

We chose the Barn on the Ridge for our venue because it was breathtakingly beautiful. We both fell in love with the venue the first time we visited. It provided us with the perfect backdrop to create the exact wedding we wanted.

The biggest thing we both cared about for the day was that everyone there had a good time. We kept the formalities very simple and the biggest thing we stopped for was the speeches. It truly was the most magical day of our lives. Every detail and vendor was perfect and everyone had a ball.

Our favourite part of the day was when we stepped outside around sunset to go and take some photos. It was the only time we got to speak privately, and we had so much fun with our photographer and videographer – Velvet Wattle. Enjoy the whole day and take time out to speak to each other!

Jai comments on their day – I remember a really good day spent with my wife and all of our favourite people. It honestly was the best time. Every single second of it.
For our first dance, we chose “From the Ground Up” by Dan + Shay. We felt we could really relate to this song. Jai’s grandparents had been married for 50 years and had never left each other’s side until the day Jai’s grandmother Anne passed away.

Matt Ashton Photography and our videographer Velvet Wattle were our favourite vendors from the day. They were an absolute dream team! Like with Matt, we also had a ball with Tom. But all of our vendors were amazing and went above and beyond. Couldn’t fault them at all!