Fran & Duncan

There is something utterly sweet about Fran and Duncan’s Terindah Estate wedding. Whether it’s the vibrant colour scheme of yellow and navy, Fran’s gorgeous tea length dress,or the love they have for one another. Either way it’s all been captured beautifully by Jasmine Pettersen.

“We met 10 years ago at our local yacht club. Duncan had just returned from some time in Europe sailing and was catching up with old friends, whilst I was just there to try something new. We got talking about anything and everything and the next day Dunc turned up at my work to ask me on a date. I never kept up with the sailing but that hasn’t really been an issue.”

 

Fran’s bridesmaids wore navy dresses from Jigsaw while Fran’s custom gown was made by Vicky Chatzis. Fran tells, “My beautiful dressmaker Vicky Chatzis from Vasiliki took all my different ideas, then made a dress that was so special and fun and beautiful. The dress was something I didn’t know I cared that much about until Vicky created something so lovely.”

Fran and Duncan met before the ceremony for photographs.

Sinnika Floral Design created the floral arrangements for the day. Fran remarks, “I was very lucky with all my suppliers. I work for an architecture firm and deal with different creative people everyday, so I think my expectations for suppliers was quite high. Fortunately I think I found my match everywhere. Sarah from Sinikka Floral Design really embraced the brief I set her. In order to avoid huge floral cost, Sarah clustered flowers, fruits and herbs using height, texture and colour to create a floral display.”

Of their photographer, Fran says, “I met Jasmine by chance. I went on to look at her portfolio and knew that I had struck wedding gold. The light that Jasmine manages to capture in her photographs gives a real sense of the glowing happiness that we were feeling on the day. Jasmine has such a calm and relaxed personality, that made us and our friends and family so at ease. Jasmine recommended having our photos before. Seeing each other really helped relax our nerves before the ceremony. It also left more time to have fun with our family and friends.”

Terindah Estate  was chosen as the one venue for the day. Fran explaining, “In our nature we are both very laid back people, so we wanted our wedding to be a causal and fun experience for each other and for all our guests. To us this meant a normal formal setting to the ceremony. Duncan’s parents have a holiday place down on the Bellarine Peninsula and found Terindah Estate whilst they were out and about one day. They took us there for coffee to have a look and it was beautiful. Tiffany at Terindah was our wedding planner and she was incredible. Nothing was a problem and everything had a solution – even the weather.”

Fran walked down the aisle to Breathless – Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

Jason Tuazon-McCheyne performed the marriage ceremony.

The ceremony was not deterred by wet weather, Fran remembering, “The morning of the wedding the rain started and it didn’t stop until well into the evening, so our spring wedding turned into a stormy winter night. Luckily Terindah was prepared for anything and they lit the fire and turned on the heaters, which made the space seem more intimate.”

“The other real draw card for us going with Terindah was the amazing food and the award winning wines. We definitely wanted our wedding to be enjoyed – a celebration with all our guests – and what is a party without good food and great wine. The chefs were flexible and adaptive; with a few allergies in our numbers they revised a few recipes so that everyone could eat everything. The meals were amazing and the way that the food was presented, we still have guests talking to us about which dish they enjoyed the best.”

Fran designed all the stationery herself, remembering, “I did the graphic design. My bridesmaids and I wrapped all the favours, which doubled as table settings. Once I had the design locked in for the invitations – I don’t want to mention how many variations there were – this translated its way through everything else.”

The speeches were one of Fran’s favourite parts of the day. “I loved hearing the speeches, from our wonderful friends and in particular my dad’s brilliant father of the bride speech.”

For their first dance, Fran remembers, “We had chosen a song, Just you and Me Darling by James Brown, but that was as far as the planning went. Luckily its a very short song and our bridal party came onto the dance floor to join us.”

Fran and Duncan hired Baker Boys Band to start the party, Fran explaining, ” The Baker Boys Band really hit the spot. We sent through a sample of music, lots of funk and rock. The boys turned up with two saxophones so they could get the sound just right. The dance floor didn’t empty all night.”

The couple chose to cut a beautiful, small chocolate brownie cake for dessert.

Congratulations on your marriage Fran and Duncan! Thank you for sharing your day with us, thank you also to Jasmine Pettersen for sharing today’s wedding with us!