Naomi & Todd

For all of Australia’s grand farms and sprawling cities, it is the country towns that seem to draw the most hidden character and the beautiful setting of Mulawa, with all of its sweet charm, was the most beautiful backdrop for today’s modern Mulawa wedding. The couple, chose a beautiful Golf Course as the setting – marrying beside the wetlands, the water sparkling as their backdrop, before making the most of the lush green lawns as the rest of the day unfolded. Says the bride “The vibe as above was relaxed, spacious, bushland by the water. We are always outdoors adventuring on our time off and Todd has grown up on the rivers and we love the country setting so that’s what we needed to find. I knew we would want these backdrops for the photos as well.” The couple chose Jackson Grant to pick up his camera for the day the images capturing the smallest of details to the biggest of moments.

Naomi fills us in on how these two came to be engaged. “We had just attended a 1st birthday party for one of our friend’s son and thought we would take the dogs for a walk in the afternoon. We always go down to Port Albert (coastline) along the foreshore. Todd said to me I should drive (10min trip & I was confused as I’m not usually the driver!) as he needed to send some text messages. I did not think anything of it (now I know he had the ring in his left pocket so didn’t want me to see it).

As we were walking the dogs we sat on a bench seat overlooking the ocean with the dogs panting at our feet and out came a ring box. As a girl who loves jewellery I knew what it was straight away and before Todd could get the words out I said ‘Yes, Yes, Yes’. As they say, the rest is history.”

The couple worked hard to keep their wedding local, says the bride. “I wanted to keep all my vendors local and used Facebook as the first point of call to review peoples’ work and see their reviews. I knew which kind of vendors I wanted so was very specific in who I picked. I also wanted vendors with a good vibe, who I could see were very passionate about what they do and would fit in well with our relaxed day. It was coincidental but my makeup artist was a childhood family friend of the Groom, my
photographer was in the same grade and went to school with my brother in law and my florist was my matron of honour’s florist for her wedding two years ago. Definitely kept it in the family some would say!”

The bride wore a beautiful Sottero and Midgley gown from Raffaele Ciuca, telling “My dress was called ‘Wyatt’ designed by Maggie Sottero (for Sotterro & Midgely). I’ve always loved Maggie’s classical, romantic designs. I booked an appointment with my Mum & Mother in law only and had a feeling that would be the only appointment I would need. I went in so excited, my consultant Francesca picked a couple of dresses and saw me looking at one and asked me to bring that in too (even though I wasn’t sure it would suit me!). She chose the order I tried the dresses on and left the one I had chosen as number three. I put it on and felt amazing and knew it was the one!”

 

The couple chose Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort for their day, noting “The venue we chose for the day allowed us to have the ceremony, photos and reception all in one place but each part of the wedding day had a different feel. We were able to have our ceremony in the bushland/by the water, photos with the bushland in the background, canapes overlooking the golf course on a beautiful summer’s night and reception in a well lit up room with windows surrounding the outside overlooking the golf course but plenty of space inside and out in the courtyard for guests to spread out and mingle. We were also the first wedding to be married in the new lagoon setting that the venue is now offering so that is pretty special. The photos speak for themselves – it is a breathtaking area! We also loved how we could have a bit of fun during the photos with the bridal party with the golf buggies. It broke up the formal parts of the day quite well and we were all giggling with laughter!”

The bride chose to walk down the aisle by herself to Keith Urban’s “Somebody Like You”. She explains “I walked down on my own which is untraditional but from a young age I said to myself when I get married I want to walk down on my own (as I’m an only child and have been very independent in life). I stared right into my now husband’s eyes the whole way down. It was very special. My mum gave me away once I got to the end of the aisle.”

Simon Goss officiated the lakeside ceremony, the bride recounting “The ceremony was relaxed with a traditional and nontraditional feel. I walked down on my own and we also wrote our own vows. We had no readings but our celebrant put a lot of personal touches to our ceremony that made everyone laugh. We had our mums as witnesses which was very special. We got married by the water and in the bushland which is where we spend a lot of our time so this was important to us. We wanted our ceremony to be unique, funny, romantic and relaxed and pulled that off great. A lot of the guests commented on how different it was but how sweet it was.”

Naomi notes “I am also glad we wrote our own vows and didn’t share them until the day to each other. Todd is the writer and the best with words in the relationship but I shocked him on the day with my vows which were very special. We wouldn’t change anything about the day – the planning we did really help us pull off what we wanted.”

Naomi tells “We enjoyed how we could get straight in the golf buggies afterwards to have photos around the golf course. We raced each other, had food and drinks and chatted away while we got around and had photos. Our photographer really embraced this and it shows in the photos.”

The couple chose photographer Jackson Grant to capture their day, remarking “We knew Jackson as Todd’s brother’s schoolmate and I had followed his work for a few years. He really captures peoples’ emotions and his photography is candid and not staged which I really liked. In every photo, he does you can really feel what was going on in that moment. He also does not get in your face and just gets his job done. He is a brilliant wedding photographer for those reasons.”

The Rutherglen Wedding Company styled the beautiful floral details for the day, Naomi noting “I had natives – my florist Katie was so good to work with. I showed her the wine coloured dresses and what colour flowers I wanted and she came up with the design. It was stunning and stood out really well in all the photos.”

Guests gathered inside for a sit-down dinner by the golf course. Naomi noting “Alicia Leeburn of Yarrawonga Mulwala Golf Club Resort deserves a special shout-out. Anything we wanted on the day she went ahead and organised. If I asked for something she made it happen. Her level of communication was second to none and she was so caring towards all the guests and worked so hard all day to make sure everyone was having a great time. Without her, we couldn’t have pulled it off!”

The reception was not just for speeches, but a little fun as well says the bride. “A memory I will never
forget is the games we played during the reception – bride or groom Q&A,  using a plush footy as the garter and kicking it (we changed up the garter toss!). We loved changing things up! Also, the groom being put on his friend’s shoulders after the garter toss on the dancefloor was funny until on his way down he nearly broke a bone!”

James’ Arthur’s “Say You Won’t Let Go” was chosen for the first dance, the bride noting “We did not want to sway from side to side like most couples do for their first dance – we wanted to give our guests something special. Todd choreographed the dance himself and we practised leading up to the wedding. It went off perfectly and in the last 30 seconds of the song our bridal party came onto the dance floor and boogied with us – it was great fun. The first dance was something I will never forget (also for the reason I have two left feet and didn’t stuff up so I was stoked with that).”

A big beautiful congratulations on your marriage Naomi and Todd! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us! Thank you also to Jackson Grant for sharing today’s imagery!