Dining by candlelight, with sparkling chandeliers, toasting your newlywed status with champagne bubbling from a champagne tower, carrying a bouquet that looks like it’s been picked straight from the garden and doing it all in a venue that your aunt has poured her heart and soul into, it’s a special kind of magic combined, and it’s exactly the way Jack & Rhiannon’s simply romantic country wedding played out.  And it was a dream even in Rhiannon’s description “Our wedding was theme Country/European/Garden. Simple, classic and romantic styling. Lots of fairy lights and greenery.”

Brooke McBurnie was witness to the occasion behind the camera and with heavy heavy rain proceeding the wedding, the couple and their guests had to move mountains to quickly change plans. She shares “There was a village of hands and helpers to make Jack and Rhi’s day as beautiful as it was. To the point, my husband, Tyler (my favourite camera assistant), helped stone the front courtyard only an hour before the ceremony! Even though much of the day was planned as it was happening, it did not seem like it – everything ended up to plan and it was truly a wedding to remember and dream about.

Jack and Rhiannon were friends long before their love story began, the couple part of the same friendship group. Remembers Rhiannon “My husband always tells me how he thought I was so cool and he wanted to get to know me. Now, maybe not so much haha.”

Jack popped the question within a sunset proposal, she tells  “Jack took me down to our local beach in McCrae at sunset. We sat there and watched the sun setting over the water. He was hiding a bunch of flowers and a card, and he took it out and got me to read it. I had a little cry at the beautiful words he wrote to me. Then he took out the ring and got down on one knee.

The ring, we had chosen together from an online store. I hadn’t seen it in real life and seeing it for the first time, it was so much more beautiful than in the pictures. After this, we hugged and sat and watched as the clouds lit up with colour.”

Rhiannon found her elegant slip gown at Asos. “It was affordable and exactly what I was after. A simple slip dress, spaghetti straps and a cowl neckline. The hem was lifted at the front to show off my shoes and with no train. Super comfortable and elegant.”

The couple married at Gippsland venue Amarti. Says Rhiannon”My grandparents bought this venue a couple of years ago, with plans to do it up into a wedding venue. It will be open to the public in September. It’s an old butter factory, they have kept all the old features and all the character of the building. In renovating it, they have gone for an infusion of European style. It suited my style and taste exactly. All my friends and family pitched in and made the day happen when we all thought it wasn’t going to.”

“We made sure we did a first look” remembers Rhiannon. “It was good for photos, and it took away any nerves we had.” Jack donned a linen-coloured jacket with a white shirt, black tie, black chino pants and light tan-coloured suede shoes. “Very country and casual.”

Rhiannon walked down the internal spiral staircase to the ceremony, escorted by her father.

With the days filled with bucketing down rain, the couple opted for an inside ceremony, wanting to keep the vibe close and intimate.

The beautiful blooms of the day? Also by Rhiannon’s aunt of Amarti.  “My Aunty is a florist (among many other things). She did my flowers for me. I wanted to have the look of I’ve just gone out into a field and I have a bunch of random wildflowers. The pictures speak for themselves.”

Rhiannon offers up this advice “Find a way to make each other laugh every day. Life is stressful and serious and it breaks the tension of each day.”

The couple chose just two people to stand beside them. “We had a best man. He wore the same thing as the groom. I had my cousin as my maid of honour. She had a slip dress with the same neckline as me, knee length and dark forest green.”

“I have two favourite photos! ” tells the bride. “My absolute favourite is the one of me and my new husband on the balcony, he out of nowhere dipped me and kissed me. It’s a really good shot. My other fave is me and my cousin on the bridge, having a laugh about something. We look so happy and it just captures our close relationship.”

“Brooke! Ugh! She’s amazingggg!” raves Rhiannon of the couple’s chosen photographers. “She fit the vibe so well and she definitely understood the assignment haha! Love every picture and you didn’t even know she was there. We felt very comfortable.”

This was a day truly community-built. “We did all the food, greenery, flowers, guest gifts, and decorations and set up ourselves. We even did a champagne tower. It was so much fun and made for such good photos.”

The first dance was to a favourite artist that Rhiannon has always adored. “We had a song by Angus and Julia Stone, who I’ve grown up listening to my whole childhood and absolutely love. The song was called “In My Arms”. I was listening to their newest album on the night in bed and I heard this song and started crying because of how it made me feel. I knew it was the one.”

The biggest congratulations to you both Jack and Rhiannon! What a way to end our week! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us and thank you to Brooke McBurnie for sharing today’s beautiful wedding with us.