Having both grown up in the country, Ashleigh and Vincent really wanted to get married at venue close to where they were from. Enter Michelton Wines, which was close to Ashleigh’s hometown. The couple knew immediately upon visiting that this was “the” place. They then set about planning a relaxed and fun wedding with a party atmosphere. With a colour palette of clean white with black, as well as candles for a romantic feel, this wedding fits perfectly into our Minimalist Issue and there is so much inspiration to be drawn from it. Behind the cameras on the day were Nick Skinner and ajr films.

Before we get to their wedding, we love a proposal story so let’s find out how these two got engaged! Vincent had organised a surprise weekend away in the Dandenong Rangers for Ashleigh’s 30th birthday. She had her suspicions that it might happen this weekend, but after night one and nothing happening, she thought she must wrong. But in reality, Vincent was just making her sweat it out! He had organised champagne and nibbles under a fairy-lit area at their accomodation to pop the question. Ashleigh, of course, said yes!

Ashleigh’s original dress was a Prea James silk skirt and bustier. “After having to postpone our wedding a couple of times due to COVID, we ended up falling pregnant and our new wedding date was set to be when I would be 33 weeks pregnant,” she explains. “Everything was organised and we didn’t want to have to postpone again so we decided to proceed. Which meant I needed a new dress! The only reason I didn’t want to go ahead was because I loved my dress so much.” She searched for similar style and found a Michael Lo Sordo slip dress on NET-A-PORTER that a friend altered for her in the week prior to the wedding.

It was important to Ashleigh that her bridesmaids wore what they felt most comfortable in on the day, so they chose their own black dresses.

The couple thought there was no better time than their wedding day for Vincent to wear a tux and liked how it went perfectly with Ashleigh’s slip dress. The tux was purchased from Joe Black. The groomsmen wore matching tweed Country Road blazers with black suit pants.

Ashleigh and Vincent tired the knot at Michelton Wines. The bride walked down the aisle with her, while some of their close friends sung an acoustic version of ‘Home’ by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Ashleigh says it was a super special moment.

The ceremony backdrop was the Goulburn River and the gumtrees, which the couple say was perfect.

Ashleigh and Vincent aimed for a relaxed, not too formal (and an also not too long!) ceremony. “Teagan from Panache & Co was amazing at telling our story, from the moment we met her we automatically clicked and we felt like she just understood exactly how we wanted the ceremony to feel,” says Ashleigh. “So many of our guests asked us if we knew her, as she told our story so well!”

Nick Skinner was behind the camera on the day. “He was exactly what we were after,” says Ashleigh. “So relaxed and easygoing!”

They loved that we were able to bring their dog, Masco, to the venue so they could take photos with him!

Something extremely special about the day was Ashleigh being 33 weeks pregnant with their son. “Although tough on my feet on the day, I love looking back at the photos now knowing we had a little human growing inside and have the photos to hold onto forever and show Willy when he is older.”

Florals were by Blu-Belle Flowers. The brief was for the flowers to be all white. “Premium hydrangeas, babies breath and Ecuadorian roses were the perfect combination and gave us the aesthetic we were after.” They paired the flowers back in the venue with pillar and tea-light candles to create a romantic mood. Ashleigh says Catrina at Blu-Belle was very accomodating of her ever changing mood board and that she was so happy with the end result.

As for DIY, Ashleigh made all of the invites, menus and signage, which she was thankful for after having to postpone!

The couple also had a sunset portrait session and these photos turned out to be some of their favourites from the day. “The lighting was amazing – Nick did an incredible job at capturing some pretty special shots.”

The couple celebrated with family and friends who made a weekend of their wedding. With guests spending an extra night away with them, it made it feel like their wedding went for that extra bit longer.

Ashleigh and Vincent chose not to do a first dance and instead invited everyone up on the dance floor to get the party started with them. They danced to ‘Get Down On It’ by Kool & The Gang. “The dance floor was important to us and so this was the perfect way to get everyone up dancing.”

The talented team at ajr films created this stunning wedding video of this incredible day.

Their advice for future marrieds? Decide what parts of the day are most important to you – that way you can make sure that is where you spend the most money and you can skimp in other places.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful day with us, Ashleigh and Vincent! We adore the romantic yet relaxed and fun party vibes, and your styling choices were oh-so perfect for the atmosphere you created. A big thanks to Nick Skinner and ajr films for sharing their photography and video too.