Tell us a little about yourselves!
Navarre and I are currently enjoying newlywed life on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. I am originally from Perth and Nav is from South Coast, NSW. We met at a friend's place back in 2018 when Nav visited Perth for the first time with a childhood friend of mine. And for the rest of the year, Nav kept travelling back to Perth every 2 months - I was completely unaware of why.
Not long after though, he stole my heart and we started doing long distance, which included having to go nearly a year without seeing each other because of Covid. Eventually, we had enough, and I moved to Sydney during the pandemic. We spent the next few years on a journey and growing up together. Ending in a proposal and a 3-month engagement because we couldn’t wait any longer!
Why did you decide to get married where you did?
We always knew that because we were from different states, some of our friends and family would have to fly in for our wedding. So, we decided if we were going to make them fly, let’s make them fly somewhere we love. We decided to have our wedding up near the Byron Bay area. We flew up to Byron to check out some venues the weekend after we got engaged, but there was nothing we loved. After a full day of unsuccessful venue shopping, the beautiful friends that we were staying with, generously suggested that we could have the wedding on their private property. It is a beautiful 15-acre-old orchard farm in Tuckombil. We were speechless - because it was our absolute dream wedding location.
We love summer and were a little bit down about the fact that our wedding was in winter. Because it is up north, we were hoping for at least a 23°C day, but we got so incredibly lucky and our wedding day had a random heatwave - it was a beautiful 32°C! We never imagined our wedding would be as beautiful as it was.
How many guests did you have?
We had about 100 guests.
What was your budget?
Our wedding budget was around $30,000. DIY weddings are not as cheap as people think they are, but you can be so much more creative and choose things that are really important to you both - like serving cocktails all night.
Tell us about your outfits.
We knew we did not have a lot of time to get this wedding together, so we were very relaxed when it came to our outfits. We decided to go for a chocolate brown SABA suit for Nav and the groomsmen and classic low-rise Dr. Martens. The brown suited the overall theme of our Byron farm wedding and he looked so handsome!
I had no idea what type of dress I wanted. I was less than 8 weeks out at this point and decided to book a dress appointment. I found my dress within the first 6 dresses. It was very traditional and timeless. We paired it with a neck scarf from another dress design and loved the way it looked. The simplicity of the dress made it easy to dress it up. I wore a lace-fringed veil for the ceremony and a neck scarf for the reception.
What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?
To us, the whole point of having friends and family come to your wedding is to be able to celebrate this massive milestone with them. So, basing our wedding around being a huge day of celebrating was our main priority. We wanted it to be relaxed and chill, not overly concerned about little details, timing and traditions. We just wanted to party, cry, laugh, eat, and drink with our loved ones. You could feel that everyone was so happy for us. We wanted it to be like one big backyard party. It was a very emotional day.
Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?
It was incredibly special to have my brother walk me down the aisle, he helped me stay calm and take in the moment. In addition to this, most weddings are adult-only, but for us, this was not going to be the case. I am 1 of 7 siblings, ranging from 4-27 years old. I love my younger siblings, and many of our friends who were so generously travelling for us have lots of little kids that they could not leave at home. We are so grateful that because it was a private property, we could easily accommodate all the little ones. We had garden games set up for them, they were great fun!
Any tips for couples getting married?
It can be very expensive to have a wedding. Do not get caught up in feeling like you have to have it all. The secret to a good wedding is the people who you have there. When you invite the ones you truly love and that love you, then it will be the most magical day. Being engaged and getting married is such an exciting time, but do not let that distract you from what is ahead. It is about who you get to have your morning coffee with every day for the rest of your life.
Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?
Literally every vendor we hired was amazing. We would not change a thing!
Brooke McBurnie - We are not super comfortable with getting our photos taken but I completely forgot she was even around. When we got the photos back, I didn’t even notice her capturing those moments. This girl knows what she is doing. Also, if you are having her do your photography, you MUST get the Super 8 film as well. We watch the wedding video daily haha.
The Italian Job Catering Co. - We are still having people come up to us telling us that it was the best wedding food they have had. The Italian Job did such an amazing job, with so much food and such a variety. 100% recommend!!!
Isaac and Paerau Simpson (part of the band SunzaChief) - incredible!! They were taking song suggestions on the spot and performing them like they had been practising them for years. Not to mention they did not mind it when Fienne got up and stole the mic for some bad karaoke.
The Vintage Bar Co. - they made the most delicious cocktails all night long and their bar set-up was so beautiful. Everyone loved it!
Photography & Super 8 Film: Brooke McBurnie Takes Photos @brookemcburnietakesphotos | Planning & Styling: by the couple | Flora: A Tiny Florist @atinyflorist | Ceremony & Reception Location: Family Friend’s Private Property - Tuckombil NSW | Celebrant: A Friend | Hire: (Furniture & Garden Games) Memorable Moments Hire @memorablemomentshire (Toilets) Portable Powder Rooms @portablepowderrooms & (Marquee) Northern Rivers Wedding & Event Hire @wehire_northernrivers |
Makeup Artist: Ava Belle Bridal (Lauren) @avaebellebridal | Hair Stylist: Hair by Harriet @hairbyharriet_ | Catering: The Italian Job Catering Co. @theitalianjobcatering | Bar: The Vintage Bar Co @thevintagebarco | Cake: Navarre’s mum, aunty and grandmother | Band: Isaac and Paerau Simpson (part of SunzaChief) @sunzachief | Sound: Byron Audio @byronaudio | Dress: Marry Me Bridal Mosman @marrymebridal_ | Suit: SABA @sabastyle | Veil & Neck Scarf: Marry Me Bridal Mosman @marrymebridal_ | Engagement Ring: Family friend | Wedding Rings: Blonde @blonde.desiign | Shoes: Doc Martens (Navarre) @drmartenofficial & Steve Madden @stevemaddenau (Fienne) | Wedding Party Attire: Sndys @sundaysthelabel
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