After tying the knot “officially” in a Perth registry office wedding, and a COVID elopement, earlier in the year, Ashlee and Lindsay’s wedding day was the complete opposite. In the middle of Lindsay’s family’s farm, surrounded by friends and family who all chipped in their talents, Ashlee and Lindsay, with a bright and beautiful rainbow colour palette, and surrounded by their very favourite people in the world, cemented their pledge in the most relaxed of ways.

With the talented Greta Wolzak Photography behind the cameras, the merry crew took to York, in Western Australia for a day Ashlee describes perfectly as “farm fancy”. A sparkling, sequin wedding gown, a reception lit by festoons of lights, paired with country touches – a four-wheeler arrival, a bathtub filled with beer and of course, Ashlee’s favourite – fairy floss skies!

The story of how these too met? It all kicked off on Bumble! Ashlee remembering “His profile mentioned he was a coffee roaster so my opening line was something cheesy like ‘if you could only drink one coffee for the rest of your days what would it be?’ Unexpectedly the man replied with what seemed like an essay that included roasting profiles, brewing temperatures and methods to which I had no real reply.

After 3 weeks of chatting, he finally asked me out. Naturally, we met for a coffee. It went so well, or I thought it did, but I didn’t hear from him for 3 days, which in this world is a red flag. However little did I know I’d met a true gentleman who was so out of touch with dating that he thought the 3-day rule still applied. How we made it to husband and wife is beyond both of us.”

Lindsay took the opportunity of lockdown ending, to ask Ashlee to marry him. “We were just coming out of a small lockdown and it was my birthday. He surprised me with a trip to Yallingup the very next day. After a long lunch at a local brewery, we checked into our forest retreat and as we went for a walk around the property he dropped down on one knee.”

Ashlee found her sparkling white dress and teamed it with her own touch of boots.  “I wore an off-the-rack sequinned, long sleeve white dress. I wanted to add a little fancy to the farm but accompanied it with some sturdy cowboy boots. But at the end of the night the dress was covered in red dirt and red wine. Lindsay wore a khaki suit jacket with black chinos and his RM Williams boots.”

It was the groom’s family farm, the couple’s favourite place, that naturally was chosen for the ceremony, reception and camping adventure, says Ashlee. “We were married at Lindsay’s parent’s property. It’s our favourite place to escape to when life gets a little hectic. My parents grew up in the country as well so red dirt has always been in my veins. We wanted fairy floss skies over rolling hills.

The ceremony was in a paddock in the middle of the farm so we had everyone gather at the homestead and then convoy to the paddock. The reception was back at the homestead, outside the machinery shed.”

“Greta is pure talent” remarks Ashlee. “She’s who I’d dreamed would photograph our day, so it was absolutely meant to be when I contacted her 3 months out and she said yes. We felt like we’d known her for a lifetime. She’s cheery and chatty. Our friends and family raved about her. We wanted candid moments and she was there for all of them. It takes a special human to travel to a paddock in the middle of nowhere and capture the love we have for the land so dearly.”

Ashlee had one brief for the florals, “colour”! The pair enlisted the help of friend Blush Weddings Perth to create the floral details for the day. “My beautiful best friend is a florist and I had given her free rein over the creative. We have an old stone fireplace in a paddock that we chose for the location of the ceremony. All I asked was for pops of colour! My bouquet was absolutely dreamy, she’s so incredibly talented.”

 

Lindsay arrived on a four-wheeler to the ceremony, a can of Emu Export beer in one hand.

Ashlee walked down the aisle with her dad to “You and Me” by Penny & the Quarters.

As they’d officially tied the knot months earlier, Ashlee and Lindsay were able to have a friend “marry” them. “So two months earlier we eloped and married officially so for the wedding at the farm we had our best friend Blair stand in as celebrant” explains Ashlee. “He’s always the life of the party, a big personality who knows how to get everyone laughing. We decided we wanted to include our guests on our big day so we went with the story that we were nervous and we needed our friends and family to show us how easy vows can be. We collated a bunch of famous tv and movie vows and chose 6 guests….randomly of course…..to vow their love to each other. One of our faves is below:

Red reads –
Matt, you’re the only evidence of God I have ever seen, except for the mysterious force that removes one sock from the dryer every time I do my laundry. So I am just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.

Matt reads –
Red you and me…..we’re in a club now. You will always be my greatest adventure. I made a wish upon a star, I turned around and there you are.

We finished with our vows, a confetti exit and an esky on the back of the ute with celebratory drinks.”

Says Ashlee “Lindsay’s fondest memory was the two of us driving back from the ceremony on the four-wheeler. It was 10 minutes for us to just catch our breath, decompress and enjoy the sun setting.”

The couple set up and DIY’d everything for an outdoor reception. “Dreaming and brainstorming was my favourite part of wedding planning” remembers Ashlee. “Pinterest was my best friend, but my oh my, it was also so overwhelming. We planned our wedding in four months and I’m glad it was that quick because it forces you to be decisive. I couldn’t choose just one vendor as my favourite. We had a small team of creatives and they each made our day what it was. I chose them for their talent and they all delivered.”

In the midst of planning your own big day? Take this advice from Ashlee, “Say yes to anyone that offers to help you. They’re offering because they want to be a part of your special day, or take the stress away.

Communication is everything. You have to be on the same page as a couple. The lead-up will test you and it’s how you deal with those moments that build a marriage.”

The newlywed’s dance floor debut was to “My Girl” by Otis Redding.

Many of the couple’s guests spent the weekend at the property camping, so of course, celebrations also involved a bonfire, leading to Ashlee’s very favourite memory. “The whole day was dreamy. Our loved ones making the effort to come up for the weekend meant the world to us. But there was this moment at the end of the night when it was just Lindsay, myself and a few friends left. We sat around the bonfire, drinking red wine, and watching a blood moon over the paddock. The tables were littered with beer cans, and leftover food and you could see the trail of good times.”

Congratulations to you both Ashlee and Lindsay! Thank you for sharing each an every one of your stories with us and thank you to Greta Wolzak Photography for sharing today’s beautiful celebration with us.