Garden Party Wedding in Somerset

In the middle of all the excitement a wedding brings, Lauren and Patrick carved out space to simply enjoy it: to pause, to laugh, and to take it all in as it happened. Their garden-party celebration at Two Oaks reflects that mindset: thoughtful without feeling heavy, and joyful without trying too hard. Rheanna Lee Photography captured it all with a warmth we know and love.

Lauren and Patrick both secured intern pharmacist roles at Launceston General Hospital in the same cohort and moved states to join the program at the same time. Lauren from New South Wales and Patrick from Queensland. “We had only met each other over Zoom prior to meeting in person, and only really knew of each other. I moved into a share house with other interns, while Pat moved into a different share house. Patrick would often come over to the “intern house” and always bring some beer. One time, Pat brought a whole case of beer and would frequently have the excuse that he needed to come over for dinner to drink his beer, but he would always bring some extra,” she explained. “I thought this was particularly unusual, but didn’t question it too much. Once we started dating properly, Patrick confessed that he would use the beer at my house as an excuse to see me… every single night after work (even though we literally worked together)!”

When Lauren’s friends were about to get engaged, suddenly she was suspicious. Why hadn’t she heard about it? Why did they need her and Pat down in Hobart next weekend? She had sooo many questions! They would all, of course, be answered soon enough, but her scepticism was putting Patrick (and his hidden plans) slightly on edge. “Patrick was excited and said, “Ok, but we need to go either way”. He bought me a dress online and made sure it was packed so “I would look good in the photos at dinner”. We got to the hotel, and we had the penthouse suite… weird, so I said, “Uh, why are we in this room? We can’t afford this”, and Patrick tells me, “Oh, they remembered us from last time and gave us an upgrade”… weird. We get ready for our dinner and sit overlooking the bay of Hobart anxiously waiting for our friends to message us that they got engaged… Patrick was VERY sweaty… then I thought “Oh god, he’s going to propose… here? in public?” He did not,” she continued. “So we finish up our dinner and get in the Uber to the next location, and Patrick tells me “, I just need to pop up to the room and get my wallet. I left my ID” and I say “ok you go I’ll wait here” and he says “no can you please come with me?” I say “no it’s ok I’ll wait here” then he tells me “no seriously you need to come with me”… I comply. The whole way I’m complaining “now our uber is gone what a waste of money. It would have taken two seconds”… We walk down the hallway to our room, and there’s a man at our door with champagne. He sees us and walks away. Patrick goes in first, tells me to wait outside… ok, no worries, he’s just getting his wallet right (why am I here, I think to myself) then he opens the door and asks me to come in. I step inside the penthouse suite to find rose petals in the shape of a heart with pictures of us all around. Candles everywhere, lights dimmed, and Patrick was in the middle of the heart on one knee. I sobbed immediately and, of course, said yes! Our friends who were “getting engaged” had set up the whole room. My childhood best friend from NSW was there in the room (hiding) watching the whole thing (also sobbing), and I hadn’t even noticed until they all came out. They had recorded the whole thing. The tears do not stop. Then Patrick tells me his big plans to get me here and how I almost ruined it for myself (true). Then we decided to go to the original bar we wanted to celebrate at for some drinks. We (Pat, me, and our friends) get to the bar, and it’s PACKED. I scan the room and stop in my tracks. THE WHOLE BAR had been booked out and was full of my family, our friends, and his family. It was a whole engagement party. Every single person we loved. All there for us. I sobbed again!”

For their garden-party wedding, Patrick chose a tailored tuxedo from Oscar Hunt. His goal was to wear something elegant and timeless, and he hit the nail on the head perfectly! “We both cried when he put it on. It was perfect.”

His wedding party wore black suits with a black bow tie to match Pat. In Lauren’s wedding party, the girls were given the brief: pink, floral and comfortable.

Lauren wore the incredible Hydrangea Gown from Milla Nova, with the train removed to showcase the beautiful, sweeping bow. “I wanted something elegant and timeless. This fit the bill. My experience trying on the dress the first time was truly out of a movie. I really did have the moment of “yep, this is it!”

Instead of wearing family heirlooms, Lauren and Patrick picked out their own! “Patrick and I bought each other gifts for the wedding day. I bought his cufflinks, and he got to choose the jewellery I wore on the day. I got a real pink pearl necklace and matching earrings that we intend to give our future daughter to wear on her wedding day,” Lauren shared.

“We also did private vows before we walked down the aisle, then shared a glass of champagne with our wedding party and told them how much we loved them, and we all went down the aisle, just happy, excited and full of love.”

The couple visited Two Oaks after crossing off a long list of other venues, and instantly fell in love with the owner, Damian. “We loved the rustic look of the place with plenty of room to get ready. We met Damian, the owner, and it just sealed the deal for us. He was just such a great guy, knew our wedding planner and photographer really well, and, quite frankly, we really wanted to support local Tasmania businesses. The gardens were stunning, and the exposed brick was the photo backdrops I knew I needed.”

Lauren and Patrick worked with Hall of Flowers to hand-pick the flowers for the day, using high-quality artificial pieces that looked unreal against the rustic ceremony backdrop. “We wanted to have flowers that would last us a lifetime, and they are perfect. Writing this, all the flowers six months later surround me in our lovely home, and I’m transported back to that day. Best decision we made!”

Patrick and Lauren walked down the aisle together, as “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do” by ABBA played. “This was a shared decision because we didn’t align with the idea of being “given away”.”

With the help of their talented celebrant, Janelle Wilson, the ceremony was exactly as they’d hoped. “We stood face on to our guests with Janelle off to the side. We met with Janelle beforehand and spoke with her on the phone so she could get to know us, and it felt like one of our close friends had married us! She just got us. We had some lovely readings, surprise witnesses, and it all went off without a hitch. ” I couldn’t wait a second longer to get that kiss,” Lauren explained.

Of all the incredible shots captured by Rheanna, this moment as Pat and Lauren walked out of the ceremony takes the cake. “My absolute favourite photos are the ones when we’re coming out of the hall, freshly married with the confetti canons and that beautiful exposed brick wall behind us!”

One of Lauren’s favourite styling choices from their garden party wedding was the disco balls hanging from the trees in the garden. “We wanted everyone to know that this wasn’t a super serious day for us. We would have been happy eloping, but wanted a party for our friends. This really made it feel like a party and a fun night. Everyone loved them!”

As we mentioned earlier, the wonderful photographer for this couple was the ever-talented Rheanna Lee! “We got to meet Rhee because we worked with one of her family members. We had our engagement photos taken with her, and we were worried about being awkward, but Rhee brought us out of our shells so easily that we felt like ourselves again immediately. On the wedding day, it’s so easy to feel worried or stressed, and the whole morning, I felt pretty nervous about seeing so many people. As soon as Rhee walked in to take photos while we were getting ready a pang of relief washed over me,” Lauren explained.

“The energy and true sense of womanhood that radiates from Rhee is infectious. She had me laughing and excited within seconds. She was like this all day, carried her speaker around, got us all moving and dancing, and she felt like she was our best friend, just there to enjoy the day with us (which I think she did). But you can see in every single photo just how comfortable and how much fun we truly had. I had a Pinterest board of inspiration, and she nailed all of them. I don’t know that I can put into words my true gratitude!”

We love to see Rheanna’s incredible work, and we especially love it alongside Bekk from Mollie & Mae! “We had Bekk from Molly & Mae, who was our wedding planner and on the day co-ordinator, and anything that needed doing… she did it. She made everything perfect, and I couldn’t have imagined the day without her. We met every couple of weeks and talked about the wedding, yes, but then she truly became a very close friend, and we still talk to this day, six months after the wedding,” shared Lauren.

“She made everything easy and simple and kept us on track, told us when things wouldn’t be in our budget, dealt with the vendors and organised the run sheet. If anyone out there is not sure about a wedding planner. I promise it’s worth the money, and Bekk is the best one you can find. The combination of Bekk and Rhee was amazing, and they felt like my best friends who just wanted to have a good time, and they got up and danced with us, and it was just perfect.”

The best advice Lauren could share with couples doing it their own way is this: “Just have fun with it. It’s easy to put a lot of pressure on a wedding. But it really is just one day of the rest of your life. Choose what you want, not what you think will look good or trendy. A wedding is an expression of you and your partner. Stay by each other’s side for the whole night. Don’t let the day slip by without your husband/wife by your side.”

The moment Lauren and Pat made it to the dance floor for their first dance, they couldn’t stop chatting and laughing! “The Way You Look Tonight” by Frank Sinatra was just the backing track as they swapped stories and giggled over how much fun they’d had all day. “We swayed and talked and laughed about what a great day it had been and how all the stress was worth it and how the little details didn’t really matter after all,” they explained.