Brittany and Luke’s gorgeous, Hunter Valley wedding featured four seasons in one day! Thankfully though, the weather didn’t stop them from having the time of their lives at the lovely Spicers Guesthouse. As bride, Brittany describes, “it was a two-day wedding at Spicers Guesthouse, which we chose because everyone could stay with us there on site, the food was great, as was the coordinator Brea. We love it there. It was the first place we ever went away for the night too.”

I own a PR company, and my colleague was working on an event and invited Luke along as a guest. Luke and I crossed paths at that event and did that awkward looking at each other and not really knowing what to say thing. There were sparks!

He didn’t realise that I was working with her, so when I turned to greet another guest, who was a guy, he assumed we were dating. So, he said bye to me and left.

Three months later I went to delete my Hinge app and noticed that Luke had matched on me two week earlier. I gave him until the end of the day to reply and he did.

When we met in late 2019, we decided that in 2020 we were going to Tasmania because neither of us had ever been before so we thought it would be fun to go together.

Then the pandemic hit! Luke ended up purchasing the trip to Tasmania for my Christmas present in 2020, but then the Northern Beaches went into lockdown on the date we were meant to go. We ended up getting over there for my birthday in 2022 and that is when he proposed.

We were at a beach over from Wine Glass Bay, the weather was incredible, no one was on the beach at all during the proposal, and then like 5 minutes later all these families came along. It was meant to be.  

My ring is very special to me. A friend of mine, who is also semi responsible for me starting my business, Talitha Cummins was about to open an ethical lab-grown jewellery brand, called the Cut Jewellery. Talitha and her uncle made my wedding band for me. I love it. It’s so shiny and suits me perfectly. I was also concerned about blood diamonds, but because I didn’t know much about jewellery before, it was good to know that I still have a valuable piece, but the environment and people were not harmed in the making. Lab-Grown ethical luxury is right down my alley, and I get compliments on it all the time.

I ended up choosing the second dress I saw, as I always get overwhelmed by decision fatigue when I am shopping, and I knew that if I didn’t make a decision fast enough, it would become stressful.

I wore the Pronovias “Drew” dress and purchased it at White Lily Couture in Brisbane. It was lovely; however, it was too big, and because of all the beaded detail, it was impossible to take in.

My second afterparty dress was a little, white tulle number from Katie May which I purchased on Revolve.

Luke went for a beige suit which he had custom made from Suit Supply. The guys had a similar suit in a subtly different tone. They had a Mcleod Tartan pocket square too!

I didn’t realise how many close friends I had until I started organising a wedding so my bridesmaids were Courtney, Georgie B, Bec, Rach and Tess. Georgie R was also a bridesmaid, but she fell sick the day before the wedding.

Luke had Josh, Marty, Jimmy, Ronny and Nick.

Our dog Pikachu was the ring bearer.

We had family and the bridal party arrive on the Friday night for his and her dinners. The boys had a private dinner in the restaurant on the Friday in this really amazing room overlooking the wine cellar. The girls headed offsite to Baumé for dinner. 

I love that it was a two day wedding. Most people met at the bucks and hens, but for everyone who couldn’t attend, they got to meet everyone at the wedding, and hang out again on site and at the after party.

We had stunning bouquets made from Hunter Valley Bouquets. They were so pretty.

For the ceremony, because it was so hot, we moved it to be under a big gumtree near the Spicers reception.

The theme was “: a touch of tartan,” and I had McLeod Tartan shipped in from Inverness for it.

Other than that, we had a lot of greenery, with some dry flowers too. I wanted an autumn theme, but we ended up getting the hottest day of the year, so we added more fresh greenery into the mix too. We kind of DIY’d the arbour, and all of the reception flowers.

The wedding and reception flowers were all done by the legendary Dianne Marsh. Luke’s mum is the best florist in Australia.

My Dad and Mum walked me down the aisle.

I walked down the aisle to “Everlong” by Foo Fighters. 

I love that my husband let me have 6 bridesmaids. I don’t care if it looks silly, all my friends need to be by my side. I would have had 7 looking back.

The ceremony was great. A family friend of Luke’s, Ray Ronnefeldt married us, he is also one of the groomsmen’s dad.

Luke was feeling emotional, mostly because of me, but also because his Mum and him (mostly his Mum though) spent hours building this incredible arbour, but because of the heat it snapped in half 5 minutes before the ceremony began.

I was stressing because I lost my engagement ring on the way down. Luke realised halfway through the ceremony and started laughing. I wasn’t sure how it would go down, but we found it thankfully!

My husband Luke and I had a great wedding. It was a dream day, despite being the hottest day of the year, and ending in a severe storm, right as we were about to go outside for the dancing part of the evening under the stars.

It was a two-day wedding at Spicers Guesthouse, which we chose because everyone could stay with us there on site, the food was great, as was the coordinator Brea. We love it there. It was actually the first place we ever went away for the night too.

Saturday was the main event, with our ceremony taking place on the grounds, followed by drinks and canapés at Spicers e-Remo restaurant, and a sit-down dinner in the stunning Lovedale room.

We had our wedding on the hottest day of the year. At 9pm the storm wiped out all the power at Spicers and the rest of the Hunter Valley. Literally, all the power in the Hunter Valley went out, but luckily the venue was prepared. 

As the last speech ended, we just see everything flying around outside, staff running to catch things. Next thing you know, they have removed all the tables from the dinner room and turned it into a dance floor for us. 

The reception part of the venue didn’t lose power and they were absolute pros. They had a backup generator, so it was business as usual.

It was so impressive, I didn’t even know what was happening, and then I turned around and the whole room had been turned over ready for the first dance.

We ended up having an indoor/outdoor dance party.

All the food was provided by eRemo restaurant, and it was epic.

Our first dance song was  “Joy Of My Life” by Chris Stapleton. Luke loves Chris Stapleton and so do I. Luke has a country music career in his future I am sure! 

All the vendors stood out for us.

Luke had an artist come in and paint some artwork for our home called Sarah Rowan, it was great. Our musicians Daniel March and Loz D were awesome, Heath our photographer was great, Spicers were great. Loved it!

Heath Bennett is incredible! Our wedding looked like an editorial.

Don’t let the little things stress you out. I was getting stressed about my guest list blowing out, but it was all fine on the day. 

Also, make your wedding yours. You don’ have to do things just because other people do. If you want 6 bridesmaids and other people think it’s silly, who cares!

Thanks for sharing your beautiful wedding day with us, Brittany and Luke, and thanks for sharing their beautiful photographs, Jac & Heath Photography.