Ashleigh and Darren, 10th June 2017

Reflections

15 June

Written By No7 Healesville

Ashleigh and Darren’s moody wedding at Stones of the Yarra Valley perfectly captured the colours and ambiance of winter. The entire wedding was a reflector-beam of their bona fide love!

Tell us about your proposal

Darren proposed on a holiday in New York in 2016. We had such a fun day in the hustle of the city, but the proposal was a beautiful private moment in our hotel room, overlooking the city as night fell. We celebrated with a bottle of champagne by the fireplace in the lobby. It was perfect. The next few days were a blur of champagne and teary (but happy!) phone calls to family back home.

What’s the best piece of planning advice you can share?

Choose the few things that are most important to you, and focus on those. There are so many great planning resources, blogs, forums out there, but it can quickly become overwhelming and it’s easy to put unnecessary pressure on yourselves. Write your wish list, and then close Pinterest! We decided what were the most important things for us that would help make the day special and put them on our ‘must have’ list.

What was the inspiration for the look and feel of your day?

We love the colours and ambiance of winter so chose to have our wedding in June. We felt naturally drawn to the Yarra Valley and its rolling vineyards so the aesthetic came together quite quickly. It was important to us that despite the cool temperature the whole day felt warm, and Zoe at I Heart Flowers brought this to life, with stunning greenery, deep crimson roses and what felt like thousands of candles.

What was it about Stones of the Yarra Valley that made you choose us?

We wanted a location that could host the whole day, from ceremony through to reception so that narrowed down our list quickly. When we drove up the long, tree-lined drive of Stones on our first visit we instantly felt that it was ‘us’. The setting is beautiful, the aesthetic rustic and romantic, and the food and drinks second to none. But most importantly, the service was second to none – the entire team were so kind and professional and made the process from start to finish so easy for us.

What did you think would be your favourite part of the day? What did it end up being?

We thought dancing the night away with our loved ones would be our favourite part of the day, and it did live up to those expectations! We had so much fun and it was so great to see our family and friends enjoying themselves too, and by keeping our guest list to a reasonable size it meant we were able to spend quality time with everyone. That said, we really cherish the quiet moments we had alone together after the ceremony, before we joined our guests for cocktails. It was so special to take a breather together, and enjoy our first moments as husband and wife.

What did you splurge on? What did you save on?

We decided to do fewer things, and invest in them well. We forewent a lot of elaborate decor & favours – it helped that we had a winter wedding so there was little need to dress outdoor spaces, other than providing blankets for those wanting some fresh air. We invested in create a warm and welcoming atmosphere – the venue, live music, a great menu and drinks list, and our incredible photographer Jai Long of Free The Bird Weddings to capture the amazing memories.

What was your first dance song and why?

Our first dance was to an acoustic version of “Latch” by Disclosure! It’s not your typical love song but if you listen to the words you find that it has a really beautiful message. It was performed by the very talented team at Baker Boys Band who blew us away and made that moment so special.

What wedding traditions did you involve and why?

We aren’t incredibly traditional, we wanted to get most formalities over with so that we could relax! We cut the cake and did our first dance upon entrance to our reception. What was important to us was to make the day as much of a family affair as possible. Our siblings were our small bridal party, and Darren’s sister was our incredible MC. We are very lucky to have a talented brother in law, who played a beautiful playlist for the ceremony. A marriage also symbolises two families coming together, so it felt important to us that the day was not just about the two of us.

What does marriage mean to you?

For us, our marriage symbolises the love, commitment and trust that we have for each other.

Where are you now? Living, career, family?

Shortly after we were married we bought our first house together in Seddon, and have spent the last few years enjoying our new space and working on a few DIY projects and exploring our neighbourhood. Ash grew up in Williamstown, so family are nearby, but we also visit New Zealand each year to visit Darren’s family too. We have been fortunate to travel a lot, both for business and for pleasure, so the last three years have really flown by! In its own way and despite the recent circumstances, it has been nice to keep our feet on the ground these past few months, and we’ve kept ourselves busy finishing a long list of home projects.