Nicole & Matt

There is so much magic when it comes to fairy tales and this outdoor romantic winery wedding, which was, as the bride describes, “an enchanting romantic fairytale” brings together all of those fairy tale elements – sweeping staircases, beautiful gowns and sparkling lights into one very magic day. Captured beautifully by Freedom Garvey-Warr I can’t wait to show you how it unfolded.

The bride chose a classic strapless lace gown by Donna Tobin Couture, remarking “I loved the whole experience of choosing a dress especially going from shop to shop with my mum and bridesmaids trying on many different dresses to find the perfect one. We had narrowed it down to 3 stunning dresses from Donna Tobin and when making that difficult decision I always had in the back of my head that Matt prefers simplicity and I love romance and details. We ended up mixing Donna’s designs to get exactly that. The dress was a unique lace with a very simple, free falling style with a long train.”

Nicole and Matt met for their photos at La Forêt Enchantée. “Standing on this beautiful romantic staircase surrounded by gardens the first time we saw each other on our wedding day; hardly even noticed the photographers at the time yet the images captured the unforgettable moment.”

“Xanadu is a beautiful rustic building and in its centre is an enclosed courtyard which was perfect for our ideal twilight reception; outdoor and sheltered from the winds,” says Nicole of their wedding venue Xanadu Wines. Adding “It’s so calm and peaceful at Xanadu, you can stay there for hours relaxing, drinking wine, sharing plates and not notice the time go by.”

Adrian Wilson played the bride down the aisle. Nicole remembers “My father walked me down the aisle to Adrian Wilson’s cover of Tenerife Sea (by Ed Sheeran).”

“We wanted everyone to feel relaxed and have a part in our ceremony. We had a special Rose Ceremony for our mothers and the joining of our families at the beginning and most of our bridal party had something to say in either the ceremony or reception. A special part was having our musician, Adrian Wilson play live acoustic music during the ceremony with covers of songs that had special meaning to us. We were lucky to have such an amazing singer and the live music really created the romantic and magical atmosphere that was special to us; including walking back down the aisle to Taylor Swift’s Love Story.”

Of their photographer, the bride notes “Freedom was amazing! She was so down to earth and made us both feel very comfortable (even Matt who hates posing for photos). She captured the night for what it was, absolutely magical! She goes above and beyond her role as photographer, and guided us through the day with surety and kindness, looking after us every minute and making sure we took moments to ourselves. Freedom also helped us so much with the planning of the day, she really knows weddings and we are thankful we took on all her advice, particularly her idea for the First Look, which ended up being one of the highlights of the day!”

 

“We hired Villa Kula as our wedding stylist. They traveled from Perth with a truck load of furniture and details to decorate the venue and ensured that we got the exact wedding event of our dreams,” says Nicole who worked with Villa Kula to design the romantic vibe of the day. She tells “They were a huge help in making sure the set up was successful and organized all the other vendors so that everything came together smoothly and with the best results. Such a professional and creative team, we would recommend them to anyone looking to have an event.”

“Having our family and friends take time out of their busy lives to travel down to Margaret River with us for the whole long weekend to help us celebrate really made it so much more special to us. The whole weekend could not have worked out any better!”

Nicole notes “My favourite detail of the day was fairy lights covering trees and creating the ceiling of the outdoor reception which had the most beautiful effect at twilight and after dark. It created this magical and enchanted atmosphere like you were transported to another world.”

Nicole remembers “Matt is a man of few words but his Groom speech surprised everyone with words so heartfelt he had all our guests in tears.”

It was all about a classic favourite for the first dance. “Our first dance was inspired by the final dance from Dirty Dancing; Time of Your Life. As one of my all-time favourite movies and being a dance teacher myself, we thought it would be a great surprise to have a fun dance with the bridal party.” remarks Nicole. “We recreated some of the iconic moments and then added our own swing to it with bridal party joining in. It was loads of fun and was a highlight of the night; the sneaking around practicing the secret dance with the bridal party before and during the big day created wonderful memories in itself.”

Congratulations Nicole and Matt! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day! Thank you also to Freedom Garvey-Warr for sharing today’s wedding with us.