Sarah and Angus, who met while playing beach volleyball. “My Best Friend/MOH (Amy) had a team going with her workplace, however, one Tuesday night none of her work friends could make the game. Amy knew Angus from Uni and I’ve known her since 2009. When she was struggling to find players she happened to run into Angus at the gym and asked if he could fill in and also asked me.” They had a clear vision in mind for their wedding day “luxury with a life of the best party ever!”

Sarah and Angus? These two made it happen, choosing the incredible country venue Barunah Plains as their backdrop, and the ever clever Tony Evans Photography as their photographer; even a flood could not hold them back from celebrating in utterly glam style. Laughs Angus “It was our perfect image that came to life with all of our favourite people there to experience our day with us. The drama of the weather only added to the excitement and when the sun came out just in time for the ceremony – it was magic.”

Speaking of Angus, he popped the question in a sentimental winery spot! Sarah reminisced “On December 27th, 2020 we had organised a day trip for us down to the Mornington Peninsula where we galivanted in the hot springs before heading to T’gallant winery – the exact spot where Angus first asked me to be his girlfriend. He had peppered the day with things he knew I would adore…wine, lunch and berry picking. And there, as Angus went down to pick a strawberry, he turned towards me, on one knee, and proceeded to say ‘“Look how big this one is”, however, no strawberry was in hand, it was my engagement ring.

You know we love to kick things off with a film, and this one by Down the Road Weddings of Sarah and Angus’ day is no exception.  Tells Sarah “Ruby is a ball of sunshine. She goes the extra mile with handy hints and tricks pre-wedding and delivers on service and quality.”

 

It just so happens that the day these two got married, was also the day of incredible floods across Victoria, remembers Sarah. “While it might sound a little crazy my favourite story of the day could be the worst part of the day. We got married when all the flooding in Vic was happening. Around 10 am the morning of our wedding, we found out that the bridge at our venue that we needed to walk over to get from our cocktail just the reception space was completely underwater (we even had backup plans of very large trucks to get guests from one area to the other). Additionally, the roads for our guests were also being closed off and massive detours had been put in place.
However, about an hour before the wedding, the water went down, all our guests arrived in time and about 10 mins before I walked down the aisle the sun came out and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Felt like the day did revolve around us.”

Angus was very set on the colours he wanted to wear on the day, finding his perfect match for a suit at Institchu, tells Sarah. “We searched high and low for a suit for Angus as he had a vision of the colour. We had just finished watching Yellowstone and he was obsessed with the idea of the colours he saw in the show. After no luck with the traditional route, we went to Collins Street Institchu who was able to create a custom suit in the colour that he wanted. Working with their team so beyond amazing and allowed us to have some special embroidery included in his jacket. We had our wedding initials embroidered in blue inside his jacket.
One of Angus’s groomsmen and low-key fashion icon in my mind, helped Angus along the way to finding the perfect pair of Monk shoes from Aquila.  We also had custom pocket squares made for the boys that were Japanese ocean inspired.”

Sarah immediately fell in love with her beautiful off-the-shoulder gown. “I brought my dress from Bluebell Bridal – specifically from a designer they carried – Corston Couture. It was the very first dress I tried on and it felt like home. Coming from a design background I knew there were some custom changes I wanted, like my sleeves, the back, and extra flower appliqués to name a few, and Corston Couture was so great at helping me achieve them (even sending extra material and beading). The Bluebell team couldn’t have done a better job in, alterations, they fit the gown to me perfectly and I cannot thank them enough for the hour’s put into getting the neckline, sleeves and careful sewing on hand-placed beading and flowers.

“My shoes by Amina Muaddi. were something new & blue. I fell in love with their shoes a few years ago and because of our venue, I knew I needed a slightly thicker heel. I still can’t get enough of these works of art.
In my hair, I used a strand of pearls to tie around my ponytail, to match my earrings and had a blue sapphire and diamond ring that my dad gave my mum.”

The couple were married at the beautiful homestead of  Barunah Plains. Says Sarah “Barunah Plains was one of the first venues that we went to look at. Originally when Angus and I discussed what we wanted for the day Angus said a castle in Scotland and I said an Italian chateau. While we got neither, we got so much more. When we first went to see the venue it was rainy and cold and as soon as we walked onto the property it was like the sun came out. We loved that we were able to have our family and friends stay with us overnight at the wedding, that there was no cut-off time, the picturesque landscapes and the fact that we could make it our own.”

Sarah walked down the aisle on the arm of her father to an acoustic version of “Northern Wind” by City and Colour.

The celebrandt performed the official part of the day. “Our celebrant Kat did an incredible job of telling our love story. Her ability to capture your story and create a wonderful ceremony was too good to be true. She makes you feel like you’ve been her best friend for years.

We really wanted our guests to enjoy the ceremony by experiencing a little bit of what makes us, us and going through the journey together. We laughed and cried but mostly we got to hear the beginning and memories of our lives together to that date. We wanted the feeling that all the people around us felt the love and laughter that we shared.”

The Champagne tower, post-ceremony, remains a favourite memory, tells Sarah. “At the end of the day, the important part is marrying your person. Life is full of mishaps, disasters and imperfect moments, don’t let one of them ruin it for you.”

 

The couple asked their wedding party to wear their own outfits. “All of our wedding party got to choose their own outfits. We requested that the girls wear long black dresses and the boys to wear black suits.”

These two could not praise their photographer more! “Talk about a living legend! Throughout the whole process, Tony was so chill, easy going and truly made us feel comfortable. He had us all in stitches and took charge of getting things done. He was one of the very first vendors we booked after the venue and wedding planner. I had been following his work for a while and he didn’t let us down. His style is candid and makes you feel love, laughter and all other emotions through the lens.”

And with the potential issue of that enormous flood? Never was there a time that Angus and Sarah were happier that they handed over the planning of their day to wedding planners Pop Up With Style? “Pop Up With Style goes above and beyond,” says Sarah “The team really do bring your day to life and how to handle a crisis. We did get the vendor team dream, they were all above and beyond our expectations.”

The beautiful floral arrangements on the day were the work of  Wildflos. “Nat was so easy and helpful to work with” remembers Sarah. “We wanted babies breath with beautiful orchids, roses etc to be included. We gave her some inspo pics of table scapes we loved and colouring however, we really leant on Nat and her team for the creativity. The best part was she came back the next day and bundled the flowers up and created extra arrangements for people to take home. Truly a gem.”

“It sounds cheesy but all of our details were super special. Everything from our wedding from vendors, tablescapes, lighting, generators, toilets and beyond was hand-picked by Angus and I. Every part of our day from feel, look and taste was a true reflection of us as a couple.

We DIY’ed all of our signage with some extra help from a girlfriend of mine. The night before the wedding I was sticking all of the names on the seating chart with wax seals.  We also did smash some travertine stone up for our table numbers, wishing well and the tables/bar area.  And lastly on Friday with help from our wedding planner, & my brother we did all of the fabric draping ourselves.”

The couple and their guests enjoyed a sit-down feast catered by Fourside Food Design + Events. “We still have people raving about the food at our wedding. They were so organised, incredible to work with and honestly just beautiful people. Angus’ favourite part of wedding planning was the food tasting.”

These two kicked off the night with a first dance that was a little different. “We didn’t have a traditional first dance. We had our MCs at the end of speeches ask everyone to stand for a toast and then jump directly onto the dance floor to share a “first dance” with all our guests. We spoke about it in a meeting with our musician first to pick a song we thought was going to get the crowd going and last minute he decided that he had a better one (which he let us know about) and boy oh boy does that man know what he is doing – to this day I can’t remember what it was but it started the biggest dance floor that honestly didn’t stop all night.”

Congratulations Sarah and Angus! What a beautiful wedding day to be able to share. Thank you both for sharing your stories and Tony Evans Photography for sharing today’s beautiful images.