Teegan and Mahatia

I wish I could express to you simply and eloquently why I love Teegan and Mahatia’s wedding so much, but instead, I can’t so I am going to let them do it for us. The sun shone brightly as these two tied the knot, in a stunning colourful garden party wedding that was about much more than wedding vows. their beautiful day was a public declaration of not just their relationship but an acknowledgement of the need for acceptance and equality for marriage.

With Christian Marc Photography behind the lens to capture it all, the newlyweds finished their story to us with these words “We know that marriage doesn’t change any aspect of our relationship, but it would still be really nice if the Government allowed us to be legally married and have equal rights to our heterosexual counterparts. So for us, marriage means equality and acceptance.”

 

Be Always Blooming Studio created the bright and beautiful floral arrangements- including floral crowns for the brides. Teegan noting “Our florist was incredible – we just wanted pops of colour flowing throughout the theme of our wedding day. I chose to have a flower crown and Mahatia ended up surprising me with a flower hair piece in her hair too! Tara was nothing but prompt and amazing to communicate with. It never went more than a day before she replied to my millions of questions and I never felt like we were on different wavelengths about the vision that I had. But what really struck me was when I asked her whether we would be able to borrow her awesome pink vintage car for the wedding and she happily agreed and also said that she herself would drive us (after setting up all morning at the venue).”

The brides met before the ceremony for a first look, Teegan explaining “When we had our very first discussions and started planning our wedding, we had I suppose, all of the traditional visions in our head….a sit down meal, a serious ceremony, high heels etc. Mahatia’s sister, who is an amazing advice-giver and who always thinks outside of the box, told us to forget about any other wedding we had ever been to and forget about what “usually” happens at a wedding; and make our wedding truly OURS and a reflection of us and what is important to us.”

Teegan and Mahatia both wore gowns designed by Grace Loves Lace. Teegan explaining “Just like everything else with our wedding, I kept this process very simplified. I had found my Grace Loves Lace dress while looking online when we were overseas. Mahatia knew that she wanted a dress from Grace Loves Lace too. We flew to QLD with our sisters just for one night so that we could go to the QLD showroom and try dresses on. I knew that the Vida dress was the one for me, I had known since I saw it online so I only tried that one dress on. My instinct paid off with the Vida, because I absolutely loved it.”

Mahatia’s gown was also as equally easy to find, Teegan continuing “Mahatia tried on a few dresses, but none of them was really jumping out at us. Then we noticed some dresses on a rack that had a really unique lace. We were told that those dresses were from the BLANC range which had only just been released the night before. She tried on the Cedar and it was that definite “uh huh” moment when you know that dress is the one for you. The unique tribal lace matched Mahatia’s tattoos and edgy style perfectly; and the added bonus was that when we tried them on together, they looked beautiful and complimented each other perfectly.”

Teegan walked down the aisle with her parents, while Mahatia walked down the aisle with her mum – both brides choosing Joshua Radin’s “Today” as the processional.

Marry Me Dee officiated the ceremony, which began with an Aboriginal smoking ceremony, Teegan explaining “One of the things that we decided was important to include was Mahatia’s cultural heritage. Mahatia is Aboriginal, which is a very spiritual culture. We included an acknowledgement of the land and an Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony, which was performed by Mahatia’s mum. An Aboriginal Smoking ceremony is a cleansing process, whereby the elder calls upon the spirits of the land to cleanse our souls through the smoke so that we are pure at the time of making this life-altering commitment to one another.”

Of their photographer, Teegan remarks “When we first met with Christian I instantly became aware that he was a very emotionally intelligent person. He is great at reading people in situations, which means that he can really make you feel at ease and comfortable in situations that would usually be a bit awkward. But on top of that, he is probably the most genuine and caring person I’ve ever met.

He offered us one of his connection sessions, which took place a couple of months before our wedding. The connection session was amazing and Christian’s style of making his subjects feel at ease is like nothing I’ve ever witnessed before. Having this connection session was invaluable to us because it meant that we knew what to expect on the day of our wedding and that we were already comfortable with Christian and his photography style. We were so relaxed on the day that we were able to truly open ourselves up and connect with one another, despite him and his camera being present. We are so grateful for that connection session because it means that the photographic memories of our day will truly capture those raw emotions, rather than a stiff, posed portrait that has no feelings.”

The decor was very simple on the day, bright flowers, wooden pallets turned into a timeline and menus crafted by Teegan herself, fun signage, blankets and haybales keeping the vibe simple and cheerful. Teegan says “We both agree that there were a few individual details that came together on the day to create our favourite. These were the pallet tables, the flowers and the cheers sign on the bar. We feel like those three details brought all of the spaces from the day together as one whole space. We just loved how well everything we had planned out for so long, all came together and flowed so perfectly throughout the spaces.

Mahatia and Teegan chose the country venue of Baxter Barn for their wedding date, noting “While we were overseas, we got stuck in typhoon weather; which meant that we had lots of time to talk about wedding ideas and make a great Pinterest board! Baxter Barn was the first venue that Mahatia showed me.  The main thing that was important to us was a great outdoor venue with lawn space. We went and saw Baxter Barn when we got back to Australia and we booked it then and there. It was the first and last venue we looked at or considered.”

Guests celebrated with a cocktail reception as the sun went down, Teegan noting “The thing that I am really glad we did was to have the wedding that WE wanted. When planning a wedding so many people try to have input in the day, particularly family members. We had some people who weren’t very keen on the idea of a cocktail wedding and there were a few other aspects that people had input on too; but we stuck to the vision that WE had for the day to be what we wanted it to be and I am so glad that we did that and didn’t do things just for the sake of keeping other people happy, because it was absolutely perfect and all of the feedback we got from the guests was the same too – even about the cocktail food.”

“It is SO hard to only choose one favourite moment! I think my favourite part of the day was the feeling of the day. Everyone had said to me beforehand that it would be the best day of my life. I really didn’t believe them though. I feared it would all go by too quickly and that it would sort of be like when somebody else makes you a sandwich and it’s delicious but then when you make it yourself it’s never as good because you know what went into the process of making it.

I could not have been more wrong! The feeling of complete and utter love that was bursting from every seam of Baxter Barn on our wedding day was truly indescribable. Every single one of our guests had beaming smiles on their faces. Their words to us when congratulating us were so heartfelt, which was amazing because these positive affirmations aren’t things that are often said on a day to basis. I remember just looking around and being SO filled with happiness that all of these people were here with us, celebrating our love and they were having such a fun time.”

There was no first dance, the newlyweds deciding to join the dance floor whenever it took their fancy on the night.

Big congratulations to Teegan and Mahatia for sharing your beautiful day with us. Thank you to Christian Marc Photography for sharing the beautiful images!