May and Ruairi approached their wedding the same way they approach life together, with intention, humour and a refreshing lack of stress. Rather than getting caught up in strict plans or Pinterest-perfect tension, they chose to trust experienced suppliers, honour their heritage in meaningful ways, and focus on creating a celebration their people would genuinely enjoy. The result was a day layered with personality and easygoing joy. Captured by the ever-talented Michael Briggs Photography – it’s the perfect addition to the Joy Issue!

May and Ruairi’s story began with a classic workplace conundrum: eating a coworker’s lunch. However, in their case, it was intentional! “We began our friendship via swapping our bulk pre-cooked lunches (on a week-by-week basis, so May would bring in x2 sets of lunches every day for a week, and Ruairi would do the following week). This soon evolved into a cooking competition between us on what we could do with our lunches, from Chicken Briyani’s, French chicken stews, Banh Mi’s made with KFC, Bulgogi Pork with Roti wraps, etc.,” May shared. “We stayed just friends for over 2 years amidst rumours at work until ‘I’ gave ‘us’ a chance. Ruairi made it clear he’d been interested for some time, but I wasn’t ready to risk friendship and work with a relationship. Ruairi soon proved that my concerns were overthought, and we have been together since (we still work at the same company).”

An intimate proposal had always been the plan for May and Ruairi, and it was during a trip to China that Ruairi finally carried it out. “We did not have the foresight to plan for the sheer amount of tourists and visitors at popular travel destinations, and Ruairi did struggle for a moment alone – eventually, we got lucky at one of the many, many lakes, and when there was no one else around, Ruairi popped the question.”

When it came to picking their venue, one of the most important aspects was the ability to return and relive the experience for anniversaries or special occasions. “Re ’em only re-opened with a new building with the ability to host weddings, and we figured why not hold it at a venue we already frequent and enjoy,” May explained.

“We had our guests stay on site as Re ’em offers 16 hotel rooms, which can be included in the wedding party. We ensured that the bridal party wouldn’t go missing as they stayed on site the night before and night of the wedding and that all little bubs and children were able to rest/nap comfortably at their leisure.”

Ruairi worked with the incredible team at Institchu Melbourne, choosing a three-piece suit complete with a sage-green bow tie.

His wedding party wore black and blue suits, and Ruairi and May supplied the ties and handkerchiefs for them as many of them were coming from out of state. “Institchu definitely helped with their multiple chain stores across states in Australia – our groomsmen did jump on the bandwagon and got a discount for any suits they were interested in commissioning for themselves.”

As May was looking for her wedding dress, she instead stumbled upon a gilded evening gown – and her wedding dress was just a fun bonus. “I did try a number of boutiques but ended up settling for a small boutique wedding store named Orthree in Canterbury,” she shared.

“Additionally, I wanted to shoutout to my makeup artist, Miao. She arrived with one extra helper on hand, and she set up both hair and makeup with all accessories for me, my matron of honour, and both mothers. I did not need to plan anything; she provided me with all matching necklaces, earrings, tiaras, wedding veils, for both outfits, including wig hair attachments for my mother (who actually has short, cropped hair that cannot be tied up in a bun). She was also pregnant but ran around the venue changing up my accessories and makeup touches between photos on the day (this was not requested, she went above and beyond)!”

Debbie O’Neill was the florist for this romantic wedding, coming highly recommended by their photographer, Michael Briggs. “She was wonderful. She helped me plan the colours for my bridesmaid dress and the green ties/pockets for the groomsmen, and planned, organised and set up all the flowers/decoration for the day. We requested seasonal flowers/leaves and fruit decorations for the tables to keep guests entertained between dinner service. She delivered above and beyond.”

May walked down the aisle with her dad on her arm, as Alex from Lark Music performed their entrance song.

Lachlan Grisold from Weddings By The Beard officiated this wedding and helped Ruairi and May bring their ceremony to life. “We wrote our own vows to personalise it for us, but we didn’t want it to be too long so we kept it to a limit. We kept the vows as a surprise, and Ruairi, being nervous about public speaking, was super anxious during his speeches. It came with much laughter and surprise between us when we both landed on snacks in our vows.”

May’s Vows: It’s dangerous to go alone – so take this: Take this: my hand in marriage, life, and probably snacks.

Ruairi’s Vows: You are the best partner I could ever have dreamed of – both in life and in gaming – and whether it’s in this world or a digital one, I vow to share with you my adventures, my love, and of course, my snacks.

Ruairi and May worked hard to bring in their heritages and unique symbols into their day. Working with Jasmine Fraser, they create bespoke wedding rings that match this ethos. “I’d always loved unique rocks and she sourced us a grey Australian sapphire and created me a matching ring keeper necklace. Our wedding pieces are all tied together with the serch bythol symbol as a nod to Ruairi’s heritage, which symbolises ‘eternal love’, which also shows up on our handfasting rope by Ceotha on Etsy,” she explained. “We wanted to show through our decorations a nod towards both our backgrounds, and we kept both Chinese and Celtic parts to our wedding. We did pass on the tea ceremony (for time reasons) and jumping the broomstick tradition, which was also kindly offered to us by Ruairi’s Mother.”

Michael Briggs Photography captured May and Ruarir in his signature high-energy, vibrant style – and this romantic wedding wouldn’t have been as special without his help. “He has a lovely sense of humour. I found his website while browsing for a celebrant, and I loved his blog so much that I ended up hiring him instead. His photos show a lovely warmth and a genuine vibe of the moment, that we fell in love with. He’s excellent at capturing the magic of the moment and framing it in an everlasting memory.”

If there was one thing May wasn’t interested in on this special event, it was blisters. “I forgot to wear white socks under my wedding runners. I didn’t want to wear nice heels as I wished to avoid blisters, and my dress would have hidden my shoes for most moments of the day. Stay comfortable 😀 Your wedding shoes are whatever you want them to be!”

As part of their wedding favours, May and Ruairi laid out persimmon storage jars for their guests. “Persimmons symbolise good luck, happiness, and prosperity due to the phonetic connection between the word for persimmon (柿, shì) and the words for ‘things’ (事, shì) or ‘everything’ (事, shì), implying that everything will go as wished (“柿柿如意” – shishi ruyi),” she explained.

“We additionally requested our florist to add walnuts to the table. We had two varieties of walnuts sprinkled on the tables (for guests to forage and snack on the table decorations), two bags of local Yarra Valley walnuts with no frills, and a few packets of ‘easy hand-cracked walnuts’ from the Chinese snack section. The idea was to spark challenges amongst the guests when someone is able to easily crack a walnut, and another gets a challenge walnut.”

Their surprise MC was the talented Nick Kay Magic! “We even kept Briggsy in the dark, apparently it took them a little while for them each to figure out that they were both wedding suppliers. Both ourselves and our friends can be introverts and aren’t confident in front of a camera, but between them, we had lovely photos of entertained guests with huge smiles on their faces.”

Speaking of Michael Briggs, if there was one vendor in their dream team that stood out, it was him. “I followed his guide, and he assisted me in finding the musicians, the florist, the bakery for gluten-free cupcakes (as we have family members who are Coeliac, it was surprisingly difficult to find a baker who was willing to make both a wedding cake, cupcakes and further cupcakes with dietary requirements). I had quite a few friends and family who insisted I consider a wedding planner, but between Briggsy recommending people he’s previously worked with, trusted and had a great rapport with, I didn’t have to plan or lift a finger; they organised everything themselves and we could see that they were having a great time too!” May shared.

“Our baker also went above what was expected due to her close history of working with Debbie, the florist, due to the nature of all the recommendations from Briggsy, Yarra Valley Cakes used to be neighbours with Debbie, the Florist, and they have had years of collaboration experience, we opted for a green cake for buttercream icing (as suggested by florist to keep everything to shades of green) and Debbie provided the rest of the flowers and decoration. We also left that to their creative wisdom.”

If there was any advice May would give couples planning their own weddings, it would be this:

“Don’t expect that life changes drastically after marriage; it’s the sign of a healthy marriage if there are no dynamic changes in the way you treat each other. You chose them for who they are and who they (and you) will grow over time to be. Trust the wedding suppliers you have chosen.

I did not create a wedding Pinterest board, colour schemes, or plan our outfits. I did not use a wedding planner, I trusted each suppliers decades of experience to do what they felt was fitting – this is not saying we didn’t have a budget, the suppliers each quoted us what they believed a price of what they expected to be paid for what they wished to deliver, and were provided freedom to add their wisdom and expertise on what they thought would be right. They stayed within very reasonable grounds and impressed us with what they could do.”

Their first dance was to “Lucky” by Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat. A song that holds a special place in their relationship, marking their growth into marriage.

Thanks to Michael Briggs Photography for capturing and sharing these beautiful moments with us. And please join us in congratulating May and Ruairi on their nuptials!