When it came to choosing the theme and style for their wedding day, Madison & Brock knew straight away what they wanted, and the end result was heavenly. “The style I was aiming for as I was planning my wedding day was a simple yet elegant style,” says Madison. “The colour theme was definitely a soft pink with white and some greenery. The atmosphere on my wedding day was absolutely perfect! I could not have asked for a better bunch of friends and family to share our special day with. Everyone was full of joy and love and as my Grandmother told me, “You could just sense the love in the air”. Everyone absolutely danced the night away thanks to our incredible band and it was just one big epic party! Exactly how we wanted it!” Madison tells us all about their love story, and their wedding day – captured by Lovereel Video + Photo…

We met during schoolies week back in November 2013 on Plantation Island, Fiji. I stole his cowboy hat off him on the dance floor which led to a smooch. Once we returned home, we actually didn’t speak for about a month. However, a month later the spark was rekindled.

We had been together for about 9 years, had our first son, and purchased our first home together. We knew that it was definitely time to show our everlasting commitment to one another. On a beautiful, sunny afternoon on the Port Hacking River in the Sutherland Shire, we spontaneously decided to take our firstborn son, Harley for his first boat ride in our tinny. We pulled into a quiet and peaceful bay and then made our way to a secluded beach. Once on the beach, we had something to eat and spent some time playing with Harley. Due to the divine weather, I decided I wanted to go for a swim so I left Harley with Brock and wandered off to take a dip. As I was walking back towards them on the beach I noticed the two of them also coming towards me. As we approached one another Brock handed Harley to me and then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was such a special and intimate proposal which is exactly what I was hoping for. I also feel so blessed to have shared the super monumental experience with Harley. The timing was perfect!

My husband wore a traditional black tux and so did all of his groomsmen. We both have always loved the traditional black suit look and we felt like it was timeless.

I had so much fun getting ready with my family and wedding party. It was so nice to get pampered, have some food and champagne, and just get hyped up for the ceremony! It was one of the best mornings of my life and I definitely won’t forget that positive energy.

My dress was from a designer named Grace Loves Lace. It was custom-made to ensure it fit me perfectly and that certainly was the case. I chose a dress known as “Clo Pearl” which was an ivory lace dress with thin straps, a low cut back, and an 80cm train. Due to my train, the dress also had a finger loop option or a button on the back where I was able to pin my train up during the reception and to ensure I could dance the night away. I knew when I was planning my wedding that I wanted to choose a dress that I’d be comfortable in for the entire night. I personally didn’t see the point in changing dresses so the dress I chose was extremely comfortable and I knew I would be completely fine spending the entire day and night in it. I had seen Grace Loves Lace dresses on Instagram and I knew I had to do a fitting there. I had such a positive experience with them and when I tried on the Clo Pearl gown I just knew it was the one for me, I felt so much like myself in the dress! It ended up being my only dress fitting and I created a custom order that afternoon. I was absolutely obsessed with my dress.

To be honest the only guide I provided my florist, Floral Affects, was that I wanted a soft pink and white. I had full faith that she would be able to create some amazing florals for my special day as her work was divine. I also gathered some Images for Inspiration and sent those through to my florist.

My bouquet was a posy of opened white and soft pink roses, white lissianthus, and David Austins, with a touch of greenery throughout (they were so stunning, I was utterly obsessed). My bridesmaids had the same as me just smaller and then we had the boys’ buttonholes to match. We also had pew flowers and scattered rose petals down the aisle, a timber arch that had a corner, and a side floral arrangement.

We got married at Peterson House in the Hunter Valley. The ceremony took place in the breathtaking chapel that they have built on-site and the reception took place in their marquee. The thing I loved about both locations was that I didn’t have to stress about the weather or rain because both were indoors. To be honest, I think this took a lot of stress and pressure off me for my special day as it just removed a factor of worry altogether. Both locations were honestly perfect on their own so the florals and styling just made it even more breathtaking. Amazing venue!

We had hired two local babysitters to help us out on the day and they were driving my 6-month-old to the venue (a 2-minute drive) while myself, my 2-year-old, my wedding party, and my family hitched a ride to the venue in a stretched hummer. While we were on our way one of the babysitters called my maid of honor and informed her that my baby had done a full poo explosion all in his little outfit. Of course, I hadn’t bought any spare wedding outfits for him and he was matching with his older brother. But nonetheless, it was a huge poo explosion so he needed to be changed. We informed the babysitters to head back to our accommodation and just change him into something neutral from the suitcase something that doesn’t look too daggy. We were now running late so our celebrant was just checking in to get an ETA. My maid of honor let her know about the situation but told her we’d be there ASAP. The celebrant informed all of our guests of the “poo situation” and it added a bit of humor to the room before we walked down the aisle. At the time I was like, “Omg why today??” but my mum made a good point that thank goodness it wasn’t on my wedding dress or one of us! He then walked down the aisle with my mum in a random white onesie but everyone informed me his smile lit up the entire room as soon as he entered so it didn’t matter what he was wearing.

I just feel like the day as a whole was incredible! I keep reliving the day over in my head and honestly wish I could go back just one more time. I would have to say it was pretty surreal pulling up at the chapel and having my dad walk me down the aisle. My dad has always been such a huge part of my life and he’s always been there for me, so this was a really surreal moment. The other thing I wanted to mention was just the whole atmosphere of having our nearest and dearest family and friends all together in one place because I’m not sure that will happen again or anytime soon! So that was a really awesome part of the day also.

I love the tradition of the father walking the bride down the aisle. I know this isn’t always possible for everyone, but for me, I really wanted to honour this tradition as I have a great relationship with my dad and just knew it would be a special moment for us both. We also made a special mention to our late grandparents during the ceremony and I felt like this was a nice touch.

I was lucky enough to have live music as I walked down the aisle and they performed “Simply the Best” but the acoustic version by Billianne. It was so beautiful. I really love the lyrics to this song, I just think they resonated so well with me. This particular version just has such a beautiful/calming feel to it. The perfect mix of happiness, love, and warming. The other reason for this song choice is due to my grandmother absolutely loving Tina Turner so I knew it would be super special for her to see her granddaughter walk down the aisle to one of her songs.

Our ceremony was absolutely perfect! We had the most incredible celebrant, Jessica Mutch, who set the most beautiful tone right from the very beginning when people started to arrive. She travelled for us from Sydney and I feel so blessed to have worked with her for our special day. Jess really took the time to get to know us and our story prior to our wedding day and this was evident throughout the ceremony. She felt more like a friend I’d known for years rather than our marriage celebrant. When I was speaking to Jess about what I wanted our ceremony to feel like, I explained that I wanted it to have a perfect balance between heartfelt and funny. She definitely perfected the atmosphere of our ceremony and I just felt so much love and happiness throughout it. I had so many of our guests comment on how beautiful our ceremony was and how well-spoken Jess was! We didn’t have anyone come up to do a reading we just had Jess speaking and then Brock and I read our vows that we had personally written for one another, this was super special for both of us. I also requested that I didn’t want the ceremony to drag on for too long and this was reciprocated.

At the end of the ceremony prior to Brock and I exiting the chapel to the band performing “This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)”, Jess added a nice little touch where she got our guests to have a little fun and make some promises to us. It was such a nice and positive ending touch and I felt it created such a fun atmosphere as Brock and I exited the chapel as Mr and Mrs Johnstone.

Our photographer from Lovereel Video + Photo was incredible! From the moment he arrived at our accommodation, I knew we were in good hands. He was full of life and made getting our photos taken fun! My husband and I don’t usually love getting our pictures taken but our photographer definitely made the experience a breeze and we actually had such a good time. The photos are nothing short of amazing and I just keep looking through them. We have so many amazing photos! However, there is a particular photo of Brock and me out in the vineyard after the ceremony and it’s such a gorgeous picture! I love it so much.

I honestly cannot say that one particular vendor stood out from the rest because they were all equally incredible. We honestly couldn’t have done it without them and I feel so grateful to have worked with the best bunch of humans.

One of my requests was that I actually didn’t want to have to do any DIY. While I was planning our wedding I had a one-year-old and was pregnant with my second so I obviously wanted to plan a beautiful wedding but I wanted to make it as stress-free as possible. This is why I fell in love with Peterson House! Their wedding package was all-inclusive and they set up the most beautiful ceremony and reception area. Our florist was also our stylist so she worked alongside Peterson House to bring our dream wedding to life. It meant we could focus on trying to relax and get ready on the day of the wedding. I had full faith in my vendors that it would all come together perfectly and there was never a worry in my mind.

I actually loved the wedding planning process and I’m really missing it if I’m honest. I loved communicating with my different vendors and just trying to envision our special day and how we wanted it to be. It was fun organizing tables and the florals and choosing songs for special moments throughout the evening. I think because my vendors were so amazing it just made the planning process so enjoyable and easy.

We had a floral arrangement on the welcome sign, bunches of flowers in large mason jars for the ceremony and reception, the wedding table had 3 low floral arrangements and some candles in large glass jars scattered throughout the table. The guests’ tables had large candles, tea light candles, and flat-lay greenery with flower heads. All of the floral arrangements matched my theme of soft pink with white and some greenery. It all worked together so beautifully.

We had both of our parents, maids of honour, and best man do speeches during the reception – it was really nice to hear their stories about us both, and wish us all the best in the next phase of our lives.

Once again we had live music from Baker Boys Band who performed the song “Dancing In the Moonlight” by Toploaded. I really loved this song choice as I felt it was such a fun song and it really pumped everyone up to come and kick the dance floor off for the night! I didn’t want anything too emotional so I felt like this was a really perfect first dance song. Brock and I also had lots of fun having a bit of a boogy together before the rest of our guests came to join us.

Their wedding was photographed and filmed by Loverel Video + Photo.

I guess my main advice would be to just enjoy every moment of the planning process and of the actual day. I know they’ve probably heard it all before and it may seem cliché but it honestly goes by so fast and then it’s just a memory. So soak it all in and really enjoy every bit of the wedding process. On the day, make sure to take some time with your partner to just take it all in and appreciate one another and your special day. Also, try to block out outside opinions and make sure to create a day that you both want. My other advice would be if your budget allows get a photographer and videographer! The day goes by extremely fast so it’s so special to have a wedding video and photos to look back on to help you relive the day. I’m so glad I invested in these options!

Thank you to Madison & Brock for sharing their stunning wedding day with us, and to the Lovereel Video + Photo team for the couple’s incredible images & wedding film!