Jungle Brewery Wedding in Tasmania

Upon entering Lan and Dan’s wedding, you might mistake it for a jungle paradise hidden in this urban setting. Their intimate wedding was fun, full of plants and nestled in the beautiful Welcome Swallow Brewery in Tasmania. Surrounded by their friends, family and their German Shepard Maggie, it truly was the perfect blend of the urban setting and jungle paradise atmosphere.

Joining Lan and Dan as they set out on this jungle adventure was Edward Noel Photo, who used the plants, colourful murals and incredible lighting from the sunset to his advantage.

Like many modern love stories; it was a Tinder swipe that led to these two first laying eyes on each other. “Our first date was at The Whaler, about an hour before Dan was scheduled to play a gig. I walked in and found Dan at the bar, and I was immediately handed a craft beer by essentially a stranger, with a big smile and the kind direction of “Hi, try this!”. It all went well, though, and we bonded over a love of music, so naturally, I went to see Dan do his musical thing at his gig at Customs, after which he snagged my number so we could meet again. It didn’t take long for him to use that number and set up a second date!”

For their proposal, Dan had arranged for them to drive out to a winery on the East Coast of Tasmania as they had done before. Before they left, Lan made sure they would be back in time to enjoy the slow cooker dinner she’d just put on. “Arriving at Boomer Creek, we enjoyed some wine and a platter, and some other visitors had left, leaving the place to ourselves. We took a stroll around the gardens and took in the view, talking about which plants we should add to the garden. Lan wandered off, and then I called out to her, and as she turned around found that I was down on one knee! She froze in place, and I had to tell her to come a bit closer! There were beautiful words shared, many happy tears and the warmest of hugs,” Dan described. “I suffered a wet knee, and Lan couldn’t stop crying for about half an hour! After finishing the wine, we decided it was probably time to head home as the slow cooker was on, and it had been some hours. I drove in the direction of home but then turned off the main road and ended up taking Lan away for the night in an Eco cottage at Spring Bay Mill. A bottle of sparkling wine greeted us, as well as other supplies for an indulgent evening – all thanks to Lan’s brother for organising all the catering, rescuing the dog who was home alone, and, most importantly, the slow cooker!”

Their venue of choice was this craft brewery by the name of The Welcome Swallow Brewery, which had never hosted a wedding before – and we think it’s safe to say this won’t be their last! “We went for a pint at a little craft brewery, and as soon as we walked in, we knew this was the place we wanted to get married. A jungle of plants filled the space, bringing a sense of calm. There were cosy vintage furnishings thoughtfully placed throughout the space, and when we sat in the velvet chairs, it felt like a warm hug from your nan! The beautiful mural of a colourful swallow as the backdrop to the working brewery, and of course, the beer!”

The sheer number of plants inside the brewery is incredible, making the space feel like you’ve entered a jungle – perfect for Lan and Dan’s jungle brewery wedding. They even have to pay a gardener to come in and water them all, it takes them a whole day!

Dan wore a comfy, casual outfit from YD for the day so he could enjoy himself without feeling constricted. “He ended up wearing pants, shoes, a shirt and a jacket – because naked was not allowed by the venue!” Lan joked.

Wanting to create a personal experience, Lan and Dan greeted their guests one by one as they entered the venue. “We wanted it to feel personal and make sure we welcomed everyone properly and thanked them for coming to celebrate with us. This was one of the highlights of the day, and it ensured we got to spend time with everyone – which is hard when you are trying to get around a crowd!”

In place of a wedding party, they had their German Shepherd Maggie and Lan’s 5-year-old nephew Arlo, their very brave ring bearer.

Keeping with the jungle theme of the day, Lan wore a flower crown filled with gypsophila, maple leaves and various other autumnal-coloured flowers. Her dress was a bohemian-inspired wrap dress from Coven and Co. with lace detailing and billowy sleeves. “The best thing about it was that it was comfy, and I didn’t have to adjust it or worry about a train or creases or anything! The experience could only have been improved by having pockets.”

Her bouquet, created by Elise from Florista Sista, was made up of the same gypsophila and autumn flowers as her crown – the gypsophila was a special inclusion, as it was the same flower found in her mum’s own wedding bouquet.

Lan walked down the aisle with her dad, Eric, and Maggie, the German Shepard. As they walked, the ceremony musician, Pete Cornelius, performed a beautiful cover of “This Old Love” by Lior.

The couple wanted a non-traditional and relaxed ceremony, and with their celebrant Kathleen on their side, they did just that. “Our celebrant Kathleen made our entire day come together seamlessly. Her coaching and assistance from when we first reached out to her to signing our certificate of marriage was nothing short of phenomenal. Her storytelling and expert word-craft had everyone captivated. She was warm, friendly, easygoing, always professional, and open to our requests.”

They asked their photographer, Edward, to get a shot of their first kiss from behind to capture their friends and family in the moment. “There’s too many nice things to say about Ed! Professional? Absolutely, and the man has an incredible eye. Hard worker? He was everywhere all the time, capturing all the moments that we couldn’t see ourselves. Personalised? He worked with us and our vision and made great suggestions to ensure we ended up with the kind of photos we were dreaming of seeing,” they shared. “I think the photos speak for themselves quite a lot, with the incredible originality of our posed photos, and then the feel-like-you’re-literally-there journalistic style photos of the night.”

They avoided including most traditions found at a wedding; instead, they wanted to create a night that celebrated the ones they loved the most. “We wanted our guests to enjoy a wonderful evening celebrating our love and the special friendships we have created. We avoided most traditions and cliches, so we only had exactly the moments we wanted.”

These beautiful rings were created by the team at Metal Urges, which Dan himself helped personalise. “We worked together really well during the planning stage, and it all flowed so naturally. There weren’t any huge meltdown moments; overall, it went really smoothly. Our favourite parts were re-telling our whole love story to Kathleen, planning our day with the wonderful crew at Welcome Swallow, and an absolute stand-out was designing our rings with the team at Metal Urges – Dan got to oxidise his wedding band in the workshop, with a blowtorch!”

Some of Lan and Dan’s favourite photos from the day included the stunning sunset. “We’d have to say taking sips of champagne in the autumn sunset – and Dan spraying it into the sky! Sunset photos – you can’t get anything better than a golden hour!”

Instead of a formal first dance at their reception, the couple opted to have more speeches to hear from the ones they love. “There was a variety of speeches, all of which were time-limited to under 5 minutes. It’s amazing what is said when you have a short amount of time to say what really needs to be said!”

It was clear from the beginning that Lan and Dan wanted to include their friends and family in every way for their jungle paradise wedding; and their circle were more than willing to pitch in. “We had a lot of help from our generous friends and family; the highlights would have been dessert, which were indulgent Irish Stout cupcakes lovingly made by a close friend, our wedding favours, which were hand-made cookies, and a photo board for people to attach Polaroid snaps to throughout the night,” Lan recalled. “The Polaroids were great too, and we have a big board in our kitchen with most of the photos we constantly look at.”