The best weddings leave you feeling like you’ve spent the day getting to know the couple, and that’s exactly what Emily and Daniel created. Held on family property in Geelong, their celebration was packed with DIY touches, colourful wildflowers, incredible food, and plenty of moments designed simply to make their guests smile. Throw in a few Taylor Swift references for good measure and capture it all by Nikki Russian Photography, and you’ve got a wedding that’s every bit as fun as it looks!

After a few too many drinks one night at a house party, Dan was waiting outside for his lift home to arrive. Emily and her friends decided to keep him company, and he was instantly smitten with her. “He started talking to me straight away, telling me the story of how his parents met. I thought this was really cute. He then asked for my contact info and started texting me while sitting next to me, reading his messages aloud as he wrote them, asking for a “date night”. He messaged me the next day, and the rest is history!”

According to Emily, Daniel has never done anything in his life halfway. That includes their proposal! “During a family holiday (my parents, sisters and Dan) to the USA in December 2022, we went to skate at the ice rink at Rockefeller. He had organised for them to clear everyone off the ice for “resurfacing”. I am not a great skater, so he grabbed onto me and said we should go for one more lap, pushing me back to the middle of the rink. I was panicking that we needed to get off, haha. He let me go, and just as I turned to skate off, “Love Story “by Taylor Swift started to play (we are big Swifties). I knew immediately what was happening. He proposed right there in the middle of the ice,” she shared.

Daniel wore a beige-toned suit from MATTEO STEFANO, with a custom lining complete with their wedding date. His wedding party wore matching outfits sans suit jacket. His dress shirt also had their initial embroidered on the cuff, accessorised with his grandfather’s watch and a pair of RM Williams boots. “He also included our dog Eddie with a pair of golden retriever-themed socks!”

Even though Emily was lucky to find her dress at Foreverness Bridal Boutique on her first try, she regrets not trying on more dresses simply for the fun of it! “I had wanted something princess-like and found myself something with lots of sparkle. My only regret would be that I didn’t try on more dresses. There’s something so special and fun about dressing up in beautiful gowns with the most important women in your life while they tell you how pretty you look. I decided to keep my accessories simple as not to overdo my already very intricate dress,” she explained.

In Emily’s wedding party she had her two sisters and her two childhood best friends. Each wearing a midi-length dress in a rainbow of pastel colours. “I wanted them to feel comfortable and beautiful in dresses that they love, and that suit them. They only had to choose a dress of their assigned colours, blue, pink, purple and green.”

Both the reception and ceremony were held on Emily’s grandparents’ farm near Geelong. It was originally meant to take place in a nearby paddock, but with a forecast of 37°C+, they decided to move to a cooler area. “To keep from melting, we moved the ceremony out of the sun and into a nearby bushland block. This provided shade by the trees and was slightly cooler. I couldn’t be happier with this decision, as the beautiful trees and setting of the bush created a peaceful and beautiful area for us to be married,” she explained.

“I attempted to DIY as much as I could. I wanted to include personal touches everywhere. I made the floral arch for the ceremony using silk flowers I bought online, as well as all the floral pieces in both the ceremony and reception welcome signs. The ceremony sign itself was made by my mother-in-law, who also assisted me in cutting out the other vinyl appliqués used in the remaining signage.”

Both Emily and Dan wore sentimental accessories on the day. Emily wore a bracelet her parents had gifted her, thrifted for her to pass down to her own children someday. And Daniel wore a watch left to him by his late grandfather. “Sadly, both of Dan’s paternal grandparents and his maternal grandfather had passed away. We wanted to still include them in the day, and so we assigned a seat in memory of them.”

Emily walked down the aisle to “You Are In Love” by Taylor Swift with her mum and dad on either arm. “The first moment seeing my bride walking down the aisle made me very teary. Seeing her in a stunning wedding dress, knowing she’d be with me for eternity and thinking about our future full of lots of laughs and happy happy moments,” Daniel shared.

The team from Florette took care of everything fresh flower-related for Emily and Dan’s whimsical wedding. “I gave the florist freedom to choose the flowers for the day. I only cared that they were of the fun wildflower style and brought plenty of colour to the event. The bridesmaids each had bouquets to match their dress colour, and mine was a mix of each with the addition of others, including a beautiful orchid,” she explained.

“My aunt also spent months growing an array of stunning dahlias with which she created stunning, large bouquets for the reception area.”

For their ceremony, Emily and Daniel really wanted it to be personal and on the informal side. “It was officiated by my cousin, who did an amazing job telling our story and using her perspective as family to also include how our family and friends saw and felt about us, not just how we felt about each other. We also had our dog Eddie as the ring bearer in his adorable little outfit, handmade by Dan, to match the groomsmen!”

Daniel and Emily left easter eggs of themselves throughout the day, from wedding pamphlets to friendship bracelets. “I created a wedding day pamphlet with little facts and information about Dan and me and our relationship, the run of the day and a little crossword for fun. We wanted a way to include our beautiful pets aside from Eddie’s participation in the ceremony, so I had painted figurines to look like our cats and our dog to go on top of the cake. We also made a shot wall and a beer pong table,” Emily shared.

“All of the signage was handmade by me, including a giant crossword with answers relating to Dan and my relationship. There was a heavy Taylor Swift influence in the wedding, given that Dan and I are major Swifties. My friends, my family, and I spent months hand-making friendship bracelets inspired by the Eras Tour, with phrases related to our relationship and the wedding, for guests to take. The friendship bracelets would have to be my favourite. They were a fun way to involve my family and friends before the wedding and to personalise the day itself.”

Nikki Russian Photography captured each and every moment alongside Emily and Daniel, and they both loved her dearly. “Nikki was phenomenal. We chose her for her ability to capture both a more traditional and intimate feel and a more candid and fun look for our day. From our first chat to the day itself, she made things easy for us. The pictures speak for themselves!”

This shot of Dan picking up Emily had to be one of Emily’s favourites from the whole album. “It reminds me how happy and amazing the whole day was. We look as in love as we feel. This photo has been my phone screen since the wedding,” she shared.

The reception took place under a marquee from Twilight Event Hire, decorated and set up by the couple themselves. “The backdrop of Port Phillip Bay and the beautiful farmland created a scene that exceeded our expectations and was captured beautifully by our photographer, Nikki. Thankfully, in the end, it only got to 30°C.”

While Emily and Dan loved all of their vendors, one truly stood out for her incredible work. “I don’t think I can gush about how perfect the day was without acknowledging the efforts of our wedding coordinator, Kiri Walker, at Darling Don’t Panic Wedding Planning. As the wedding day approached, particularly for a bride who carefully curated every aspect of the day, DIYed many intricate details and hosted the wedding on private property where the entire setup was self-organised, it was easy for things to feel overwhelming. Having Kiri take over, coordinating all our vendors and ensuring that everyone knew where to go, when to go, and what to do, took a major load off.”

The top five things that made Emily and Dan’s whimsical wedding all the more special included:

“1. Having on the family farm, a place that means so much to both of us.

2. The wedding was officiated by a family member who personalised it to us and our story.

3. Including our golden retriever in our day by having him walk as the ring bearer.

4. All the family that travelled from as far as Germany to spend the day with us.

5. The little nods to our relationship that were incorporated into the ceremony and reception.”

If there was one piece of advice Emily would share above all else, it would be this: Don’t take things too seriously! “The lead up to the day was some of the most stressful times of my life; however, the moment I woke up on my wedding day, all of that stress seemed to just be gone. Things did go wrong, but they’re honestly some of the funniest parts when I think back on the day. It could not have been more perfect, and I think that continues on in life after the wedding. You need to keep experiencing life with your best friend and see the humour in things even when it feels like too much.”

For their first dance, Daniel and Emily learned to box step to a mashup of “Lover” by Taylor Swift and an original song Dan had commissioned for Emily for their previous anniversary titled “My Heart and Soul (Emily)”. “I was so excited when we got the final steps and dip correct (we failed most practice attempts) that I celebrated before the end of the song and fell out of step.”

Thanks to Nikki Russian Photography for not only capturing the fun, vibrant energy from Emily and Daniel’s whimsical wedding but also for sharing it with us! Congratulations to the happy couple – may your marriage be as full of whimsy as your wedding.