Oh, how we love a simple, rustic wedding with elegant details! And Laura & Braydon’s romantically rustic homestead wedding has that in spades. Captured by Nicole Butler Photography & filmed by Lovereel, their day was a mix of sun & rain (at the most opportune moments!), sentimental touches, epic dance numbers, and, of course, a whole lot of love. Laura tells us their love story and about their glorious wedding day at Tocal Homestead…

Braydon and I have known each other for 15 years – he was one of my brother’s friends. I used to spend my weekends on the sideline of the soccer field with a massive schoolgirl crush! We have always been drawn to each other and it just so happened that our single relationship status’ aligned which meant we started spending time together and the rest is history!

We were at my family’s holiday house (a place which holds a very special place in my heart and now Braydon’s as well), we drove to Diamond Head Beach for sunrise, which is something we have done before so wasn’t really out of the ordinary. We drove onto the beach and set up the blanket ready to watch the sunrise. Braydon wanted to set up the drone to take some photos of the sunrise but asked me to turn away and close my eyes. The drone was on and I could hear Braydon writing something in the sand. He told me to open my eyes and there he was, down on one knee with ‘Will You Marry Me’ in the sand.

Little did Braydon know that during his setup, the drone battery had reached low and the camera angle faced straight to the ground so when he went to turn it off after many yes’ and happy tears, he found out that the drone had actually stopped filming after he had written the words ‘Will you’. Safe to say the next few words that came out of his mouth and the fact that he was ready to drown the drone showed that he wasn’t very impressed.

Although it didn’t exactly go to plan the way Braydon had hoped, it was everything I could have asked for. A secluded beach, the most amazing sunrise, the ring of my dreams and finally being able to say yes to my soul mate.

One of my favourite details from the day was my bouquet charm with a picture of my brother who passed away.

The dress I ended up buying was not the style of dress that I was trying on at all of my fittings but the problem was I wasn’t falling in love with any of them. My sister-in-law suggested I try on a simple/ plain style dress and it wasn’t until the last fitting that I decided I would give it a try. As soon as I put on the dress, I knew it was the one, it was so me. I walked out to my sister-in-law and mum, told them I think it was the one and they both laughed at me because it was completely different from all the other dresses I had tried on but they both agreed it was me. Although the dress, from Belles and Beaux, was simple, the back was the detail that I fell in love with and very much fitted into the style of the wedding. I opted for wings instead of a veil because it helped highlight the back feature.

I walked down the aisle to a cover of Shania Twain’s “From this Moment / You’re Still the One” as it very much sums up the path of our relationship.

Our ceremony was nice and simple. We created our own personalised vows which communicated our love story to all our family and friends. It was full of love, laughter, and many tears on my behalf!

Nicole Butler Photography was one of the best decisions we made. We met Nicole for our engagement shoot only a week and a half before our wedding but from that moment she made us feel so comfortable and had a personality that was so easy to like. With such a quick turnaround, Nicole made sure we had our engagement shoot photos back a few days before our wedding to make sure we were happy with her style and from that, we knew our photography was in the right hands!

On our wedding day, Nicole fitted right in, making sure we were striking all the right poses and making sure the camera captured our good sides. She worked so well with all of our vendors.

A couple of days following our wedding, Nicole posted some sneak peeks and they were absolutely amazing! The sneak peeks kept coming and definitely left us wanting more! We couldn’t wait to get back our whole album and they arrived in the exact timeframe we were told. When we received our album the thing we loved the most was the fact Nicole captured the whole story of our day. No detail was missed which allowed us to fill in the gaps of the moments we weren’t a part of. We now have so many precious images that we will cherish forever and cannot thank Nicole enough.

If you are looking for a photographer in the Hunter Valley, look no further than Nicole Butler Photography – you won’t be disappointed!

The whole wedding styling apart from the flowers was done by myself. Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to be a wedding planner so I really was in my element! My dad was a massive help and was always able to bring my crazy requests to reality.

I had always envisioned our first dance being outside under some fairy lights. Our first dance was a bit of a surprise to our quests, no one really expected it from us as we aren’t usually ones to tear up the dancefloor. We did a choreographed dance which our sister-in-law helped us with and was a mash-up of 4 songs. Our big ticket move of the dance was our lift which was the part we were most worried about – making sure I wasn’t dropped!

We honestly loved every single detail of the day. From the way the décor came together on the tables, how everyone scrubbed up on the day, the atmosphere that was created, the smiles on all of our guests’ faces, the band (Baker Boys Band), and the way they matched the song choices to our guests, the cake and donut tower from Cake’n Around.

Another favourite part of the day was the father-daughter dance when Braydon and his mum joined in at the end.

All of our vendors were great! They all went above and beyond to make sure our special day was one to remember. They were so easy to work with.

The weather was a bit of a mix on the day. The rain held off for our ceremony. Started raining. Stopped for our first dance… Started raining pretty well as soon as our dance had finished which meant we were able to create some of the best photos of the day – our rain photos with our love letters!

Try to relax and take in the moment. Your wedding day goes so fast! Don’t worry about small hiccups, no one expects anything different so they will never know! Make sure you spend as much time with your partner as you can. You want to be experiencing the night together not separately, don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. Take a moment after the wedding to talk about the day, all your favourite moments and tell each other about the morning getting ready. Enjoy the newlywed bubble, it certainly is something that exists and is an extremely special time of your life.

Thank you to Laura & Braydon for reliving their glorious wedding day with us! And to Nicole Butler & Lovereel for sharing their stunning photos and wedding film.