With a carefully chosen vendor dream team that valued respect and inclusivity, a sustainable lens, and bursts of colours, this relaxed wedding had everything we could ever dream of! Welcome to Tiarne and Lachie’s garden wedding – full of colour, warmth and love. Captured by the creative eye of Jean Bremner, this celebration was a joy to see.

Tiarne and Lachie met while volunteering at a youth-run not-for-profit called Oaktree, but fell out of touch for a few years. They found one another once again when they swiped right on each other on Tinder.

On a trip to Aotearoa in early 2023, Lachie popped that almighty question. “We were in Kaikoura, which has stunning scenery, where mountains meet the ocean and seals everywhere. We had had the best day kayaking with seals, dolphins and baby penguins. After we had some dinner and we were listening to live music when Lachie said, “Let’s go for a walk on the beach”. He got down on one knee and asked the question!”

Tiarne wanted to wear a colourful second-hand dress that she could give a new life to instead of buying a new one she would only wear once. “There’s so much waste in the bridal industry, and it was important for us to be as sustainable as possible. I had been looking on Depop and marketplace for ages when my best friend found the dress I wore. When I got chatting with the original owner, I found out she had greyhounds (and so do we), so it felt like a sign. I absolutely loved my dress; it really felt like me.”

In her wedding party, Tiarne had her Maid of Honour, and best friend, Amanda and her good friend Rebecca. They both wore different green dresses to match the shade variation on Tiarne’s dress.

Lachie had his own two-person wedding party with Grace, his Best Person and his brother Tristan. Each wore an outfit with pieces that matched Lachie’s suit.

With a lifelong love of maroon, it was no surprise to Tiarne when Lachie chose a colourful suit option. “I had my dress first and wanted to surprise him, so I was very careful about helping him choose the right shade. We also had our greyhound a specially made suit to match Lachie’s!” she shared.

These gorgeous bright flowers were created by The Beautiful Bunch, a social enterprise that supports women with refugee backgrounds. “I wanted lots of pink and natives; they did a stunning job. We still have the natives all around our house.”

Their venue for their garden ceremony was the beautiful CERES Environment Park in Brunswick. “We wanted a garden ceremony with a relaxed feel, so it was perfect.

A lot of this sustainable, relaxed wedding was DIY’d by both Lachie and Tiarne – all of the decorations and the bar was done from scratch. The arbour was handmade down to the tassels and matched a similar piece they had at the reception space.

To match the sunny garden vibes of their ceremony, Tiarne and Lachie walked down the aisle separately to her favourite song, “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beetles.

Their celebrant, Divina from Your Queer Celebrant, was an amazing storyteller of Tiarne and Lachie’s love and the incredible community that supports them. Not only that, but she also wore this incredible suit and hat combo!

During the ceremony, Tiarne and Lachie actually got in trouble with Divina, as they went in for a big smooch as they finished their vows and couldn’t wait! “She laughed and said, ‘You’re not supposed to kiss yet!’”.

Out of all of the incredible photos from their relaxed wedding, Tiarne and Lachie would have to pick this shot of them gazing at each other during their portraits in the gardens. “And the ones with our bridal party toasting immediately after the ceremony.”

Jean Bremner was the fantastic photographer in charge of shooting these incredible moments from Tiarne and Lachie’s day. “She truly captured the feel of the day exactly how we wanted. She was flexible and made us feel at ease in front of the camera (despite us both thinking we’d feel awkward).”

Their top five things that made this sustainable wedding so special included:

“1. Having it be entirely vegetarian,

2. Having both locations be meaningful to us for their beauty and for our story,

3. Having a mostly sustainable wedding,

4. Walking myself down the aisle,

5. Our first look.”

Trades Hall was their reception venue, which has hosted some legendary parties over the years! “We’re both political nerds and proud union members, so we absolutely loved being connected to that tradition.”

While a lot of their relaxed wedding was fairly non-traditional, they did have some beautiful speeches done by their wedding party at the reception.

One of their favourite parts of planning the wedding was testing cake flavours for their cupcakes from The Cupcake Queens! “We wanted four flavours to represent the four of us in the family (me, Lachie, Cephalopod the greyhound and Hiccups the cat),” she explained.

To finish off the night, Tiarne and Lachie did a waltz as their first dance to “Sing Your Heart Out” by Camp Cope. “We practised for ages, and it went off without a hitch!”

Please join us in giving Tiarne and Lachie a HUGE congratulations on their sustainable, relaxed wedding! And thanks to Jean Bremner for capturing and sharing it was us.