Although Laura and Mitch tied the knot on April Fools Day, this was a day that was absolutely no joke. Instead? It was modern, it was sunshine-filled and it was a story that you’re going to adore every little detail of.

Laura, the bride, shares the stories today, accompanied by imagery from photographer Matt Ashton and it was, as Laura says “It was all that I dreamt. Warm weather, warm family and friends, candles, soft florals, happiness and laughter.”

It was through mutual friends that these two met, though their relationship didn’t blossom until Mitch worked up the courage to take the next step. Laura remembering “We met through mutual friends eight years ago. I (Laura) was living with two of Mitch’s friends and Mitch suddenly became a very frequent visitor to those friends when I met him after moving in…Mitch then went travelling overseas for 6 months and happened to slide into my DMs whilst he was on his travels.

I also went to Greece and our attempt to catch up overseas was a fail and had to wait until Mitch returned. On his return he walked into my then workplace with a scruffy travellers beard and opened his sentence with “hey…wanna catch up on Friday?”, to which my response was a nervous, “sure…but can you shave your beard off?”. I thought this would be the ultimate test to see if he is serious. Our first date rolled around and I was soooo nervous. He picked me up, we went to dinner and towards the end of the amazing date he said…”you didn’t even notice my beard’s gone”. I totally didn’t. He could have kept his beloved beard. But we’re married now so I guess he was serious!”

An overdue holiday was just the vibe Mitch needed to pop the question. “Our proposal took place in the Daintree National Park at Mossman Gorge. We were away for a much needed holiday, it was our last day in Port Douglas and we decided to do the Mossman Gorge walk, along the track we wandered off to a secluded area looking over the rapids getting some insta-worthy pics and little did I know as I was looking out at the view I turned around to see Mitch on his knee not with a camera in hand but with a ring asking me to be his forever. So to forever, I said YES with a few tears in between.”

Mitch wore a suit by Peter Jacksons. Laura remembering  “He was initially going for a green suite. Like an olive/tanned colour. This became way too hard to find, so it changed to a beige sandy colour, then light grey and I think there was navy amongst that…then he gave up. It was two months out from the wedding and he was yet to decide on what colour and style he wanted. Then I decided to research other weddings that my dress was in.

Because the dress was quite classic and elegant it worked well with a classic black suit. The ONLY colour he hadn’t looked at so I made a subtle suggestion of a black dinner suit – and knowing it’s too late for a custom suit this was the best bet as you can get black dinner suits in a lot of stores. Thankfully he loved the suit and we were a go for the classic style! Might I say he looked rather handsome at that!”

Laura has a special rave review to give to Lulu Makeup Artist. She shares  “LuLu my make-up artist was an angel. She is an absolute professional. I have never experienced a make-up artist at that level of expertise. She not only absolutely made me feel a million dollars – she cares. She was so thorough with my skincare routine pre-wedding and made me feel confident for the day. Then on the actual day, she was so calming and made everyone one of us feel amazing.”

It was not the easiest mission for Laura to find her gown – a Chosen By Kyha frock from Love Marie Bridal Boutique. “As the bride, the hunt for ‘the dress was at first fun, exciting, hilarious, which evolved into daunting, stressy, worrying and finally ending with an unexpected find and so happy!” She explains “The journey spontaneously started with my bridesmaids a day after a wine tour… we thought …why not and booked into some stores last minute.

The first was an absolute disaster and hilarious, to say the least, we had no idea what we were looking for so we tried what felt like everything. The next store was slightly better but still unsuccessful *insert hangover kicking in​*, we went to one last store where I thought I actually found the “one”….though it was not to be, I just knew it wasn’t quite right.

Then our mate Covid hit. There was one store I followed on Instagram I thought I will just try it and see how I go. Covid had all my bridesmaids locked away from me *insert sad face*, I decided​ I would go by myself. An experience I surprisingly enjoyed (love my bridesmaids and mum but ya girls independent – sometimes…)  This store was Love Marie Bridal in Camden.  Owner Amy actually suggested the dress to try and I thought it was going to be too plain. I was going for a more princess dress style. When I tried it on I was so surprised and I truly tried to convince myself that it wasn’t the type I wanted but I kept being drawn back to it. I returned with my Mum and maid of honour not long after and made the decision. I was so excited I bought the dress and left the shop and forgot my bra. I came running into the next bride’s appointment and yelled sorry I forgot my bra!! – as I waved it in the air running back out. Champagne was had, I got my dress and I LOVED IT!”

And while Laura’s gown may have been brand new, she added some special family pieces to complete her look. “I had a couple of heirlooms included. I had a pendant my grandfather gave my grandmother when she was 17, my grandmother then gifted that to me on my 17th. It was around my bouquet. My grandmother also lent me the wedding cake knife that cut her mother’s wedding cake, over 100 years ago.
Another element was my veil. My Yaiyai, my mother’s late mother, always wished to buy my veil. My mum told me this the day I went to get my veil, before my Yaiyai passed she gave mum money to buy it for me. I stitched a ‘Y’ on the veil in blue to resemble her on the day. I miss her dearly.”

She Follows Floral Design styled the flowers for the day, a decision Laura wholeheartedly recommends. “The flowers…oh..my..gosh. I first saw my bouquet as I was getting my hair done. My beautiful florist Dani from She Follows Floral Design, brought them in and I was in shock that they were my wedding flowers, I had tears in my eyes, they were everything and more. Dani is from Goulburn but travels also and I was lucky enough for her to come to the south coast. We had a couple of briefs about colours and style, Dani did a site visit and her creativity flowed from there and she absolutely nailed it, to say the least. Think earth-toned colour palette and warm neutrals. They were to die for, and without her even knowing… resembled us. They had dahlias and roses some of Mitch’s favourite flowers he grows in our garden. Magnolia leaves, one of the first plants we bought for our home. Olive tree stems, a nod to my Greek heritage, and everything beautiful in between.”

Guests were greeted with chilled drinks, thanks to Henry Clive Caravan Bar says Laura “Henry Clive Caravan Bar had the drinks flowing; their staff were also awesome, they felt like a part of the wedding guests, they were so fun and their attention to detail was noticed.”

“I was pinching myself at how amazing the venue was,” says Laura of the couple’s decision to hold their wedding at Seacliff House. “If I could give any advice for people looking to book Seacliff – stay longer if you can. You won’t regret it.”

 

Laura walked herself down the aisle. “The ceremony was beautiful. I decided to walk myself down the aisle, a decision I struggled to make but knew the moment I walked down that it was the best choice, it felt so right, I saw my man and couldn’t take my eyes off him. I walked to the voices of the two-piece acoustic Kahuna Duo, singing Vance Joy’s “I’m with you”, a scene I’ll never forget.” Props go to these musicians too “Kahuna Duo absolutely made the atmosphere of the afternoon and night. When we went off-site for photos my husband sneakily set his phone up to record the music because we didn’t want to miss it. Amaze.”

Now for Mitch’s favourite moment. “The whole day went so quick, it is over in a flash when you look back on it. What I remember most about the day was when my gorgeous wife was walking down the aisle. That’s my fondest memory, it was like time stood still as I was watching her every step getting closer and closer. I couldn’t wait to just hold her hands and tell her how beautiful she was at that moment.”

“A family friend, Bishop Carol Wagner married us outside on what was the most magical day with picturesque green rolling hills, blue skies and the ocean on the horizon.”

“Everything felt special to us, even things we didn’t know were going to be special” remembers Laura. “The most was being able to spend that time with our nearest and dearest. It was such an honour to have everyone spend that day celebrating us. You very rarely get to have so many people that mean so much to you altogether and it was honestly an indescribable loving, appreciative, thankful feeling/experience. Warmth is the closest description I can think of.”

Laura and Mitch chose The Wedding & Event Creators to help them plan their day – and make sure it all ran smoothly! Take their recommendation for this crew. “All our vendors were incredible. I’ve said incredible a lot but it’s true. I’m not sure how we got so lucky.
The hire and coordination team at The Wedding Event Creators were perfection, special mention to Jade and Vanessa, angels sent from heaven.”

The people Laura and Mitch chose for their wedding party? Vitally important to the newlyweds. “The bridesmaids and maid of honour were legends. They were my backbone for the days setting up, day of and pack down. Jenny and Gabi were the B.Ms and Laura were the M.O.H. Jenny a childhood friend, Gabi I met as a wild 18 year old and I went through university with Laura. They cooked for me, sewed for me, ran a bath for me at 5 am the day of the wedding, one (not naming names) sleepwalked twice attempting to find my veil in the middle of the night haha. They were absolutely stunning in Shona Joy slip dresses and absolutely tore shreds off the dance floor. I will forever be in debt for their friendship. Gaaah love them (happy tears:’) ).

The boys were just as legendary. We had Sean (griff), Tom as groomsmen and Giles as Best man. Sean and Giles were school friends with Mitch and Tom is his brother. They didn’t exactly sew, cook and run baths for Mitch… lol…but they surely looked after him with a flow of beverages, pep talks and few golf balls were hit. They accompanied Mitch looking rather dapper in classic black suits, leaving Mitch to stand out with a bow tie and they had a standard tie.”

Laura’s favourite photo of the day? “Literally every. single.one.” she laughs. “Our photographer/fourth bridesmaid/fourth groomsmen was Matt Ashton. Legend. I found Matt through searching Instagram pages and different wedding websites. There’s a sea of photographers out there, how in the world do you choose? When I found Matt’s work it was a no-brainer, I was captured by his use of light, his elegant creativity and a touch of quirk. After a few emails and a read of his website I knew we found a goodie!

He was so easygoing, so professional and made it such a good time. He made us move without it being awkward or staged. He made my “I don’t like photos” husband into a male model. I’ve let Matt know but everyone needs to know – he’s top shelf and we are forever grateful he captured our day so perfectly.”

Laura’s advice to you? “Create a visual list for both of you to see for the continuous planning, allocate specific jobs to each person. This will keep you both on track and accountable. A wedding coordinator is a very, very, very good idea. I nearly didn’t and then booked one-two months out and it was honestly a lifesaver, I could not imagine the day being even close to being as successful as it was without one. There are some really affordable options out there too, but Wedding & Event Creators were the absolute bee’s knees. Last but not least – you do you and it’ll be perfect!”

Laura and Mitch opted for a cocktail style celebration. “The only non-negotiable for our wedding was no formal seating. I wanted it to be a party. Not a rigid formal event, though still have that touch of elegance. We had a mix of bar tables, lounges, ottomans, wine barrels and some regular dining tables for the oldies. We went with whitewash, softs pinks and toffee colours. The atmosphere was all that I dreamt about. Warm weather, warm family and friends, candles, soft florals, happiness and laughter.”

Ben Rainford Videography captured this beautiful film of the day. Says Laura “We also had Matt’s off sider Ben Rainford do our videography. When we found Matt we were still looking for videography and Matt gave us Ben’s information to research and we loved his work also and he had the same vibe as Matt. He was also legendary, fun, chilled and helpful.”

A big thank you to you both Laura and Mitch for sharing your beautiful day thank you also goes to Matt Ashton Photography’s imagery!