Paige & David - May 15th 2021
During a time when Covid was well and truly a part of our lives, Paige and David were amongst the many couples needing to reschedule their special day, ultimately leading to them losing their original venue. Luckily, Paige’s sister, Rachel, who was married at Stones four years earlier, got in their ear and the stars aligned. In the midst of Covid lockdowns, Paige & David celebrated amongst the beautiful Autumnal surrounds in spectacular style with their nearest and dearest.
HOW DID YOU MEET?
David
Paige and I are teenage sweethearts, meeting 13 years ago at a popular Melbourne nightclub reunion. It was truly ‘love at first sight’ when we were introduced!
Paige
I remember telling my friends at the time I knew he was the ‘one’ and we would get married. After 6 months of awkward dates and a t-shirt catching on fire, we made it official.
HOW DID DAVID PROPOSE?
Both
Paige’s one request was that I asked for permission from both parents and I was to propose in private so we could savour the first moments together. After spending 12 months secretly designing her engagement ring, I whisked Paige away to our favourite place in the world, our own slice of heaven in Far South NSW, Pambula Beach! I had planned a beautiful day on the beach followed by a stroll down the river mouth at low tide to a secluded, isolated beach where I would propose. Unfortunately for me, Paige fell asleep right before I had planned to propose and the tide would soon swallow the river mouth. After waking her from her nap (which I recommend you never do to your partner!), we started walking down to the ‘spot’ just as a family was setting up for a picnic! Quick thinking had us scaling the rock face down a remote path overlooking the river where I got down on one knee and asked the question. After several minutes of tears, Paige finally said yes!
Paige
I was clueless!
WHAT WAS IT ABOUT STONES OF THE YARRA VALLEY THAT MADE YOU CHOOSE US?
Both
3 months before our wedding date, our original venue informed us they were no longer hosting weddings. By this point, we had already rescheduled the wedding twice (thanks COVID) and were ready to go to a registry office. However, Paige’s sister, Rachel had gotten married at Stones four years earlier and had been in our ear about how incredible the team at Stones is and how they really take ownership and put your mind at ease in the lead up to the day. Within 15 minutes of sending an enquiry online, Stones called and had a date tentatively on hold for us allowing us time to align our vendors with the new plans. Thankfully the stars aligned and everyone was available so we proceeded. We were also excited at the thought of being able to return to Stones each year to mark our anniversary, which we celebrated last Sunday 15-May.
WAS THERE A PARTICULAR VIBE OR THEME YOU WERE AIMING FOR ON YOUR WEDDING DAY?
Paige
We wanted to highlight the beautiful autumnal colours of our surrounds and the sweeping vineyard backdrop and to really bring the outdoors inside with our floral arrangement.
David
We wanted our overall vibe to be reflective of us, so it was important that music played an essential role on our wedding day as we are both passionate music lovers. We spent months perfecting the playlist for the day and it’s still our favourite today!
WHAT TRADITIONS DID YOU INVOLVE IN THE DAY AND WHY?
David
I insisted on having first look at the chapel as Paige was adamant on getting the ‘groom crying photo’ when the bride first appears (which she got!). This also added to the suspense and excitement of the ceremony
Paige
I’ve always loved the concept of ‘something new, something old and something blue’ so I made sure to incorporate that on the day.
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE PART DURING YOUR CEREMONY?
David
This is going to sound cheesy but it was finally being reunited as husband and wife after spending the past 24 hours apart. We were a bundle of nerves and instantly felt at ease in each other’s company. The joy of putting our wedding bands on is also such a unique feeling which we cherish.
Paige
My favourite part of the ceremony was having instrumental music play as our guests arrived and how ethereal the chapel felt after the rain cleared (literally 20 minutes before I arrived). We were even blessed with a rainbow over the vineyard before our ceremony!
DID YOU WRITE YOUR OWN VOWS? IF SO, WHAT MADE YOU DO THAT?
Both
We opted to go for the traditional wedding vows as we had a Catholic ceremony.
WHAT WAS THE BEST THING YOU DID AT YOUR WEDDING?
Both
Definitely hiring three chandeliers as our centrepiece in The Barn! The chandeliers really elevated the space and added a wow factor to the venue. It was one of the most commented on features at our wedding so we knew it was a hit! We were also really stoked with our bonbonnieres which added a personal flavour to the day, we were lucky enough to be able make custom fragrance candles with Wavertree and London.
Paige
Also our florist – Pomp and Splendour. We gave them creative control to do what they liked and they did not disappoint! They weren’t afraid to embrace colour and texture with our arrangements, which really brought our vision to life. Honourable mention to my bouquet – it was so phenomenal I actually reneged on throwing it over my shoulder for my guests to catch!
WHAT DOES MARRIAGE MEAN TO YOU NOW?
David
After recently recovering from couples COVID, we now have a full appreciation of the vow “through sickness and in health”! It’s really important to continue supporting each other and build one another up, especially in our dark moments. Instilling a sense of self-belief in one another to be the best version of yourself every day.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT WHAT LIFE IS LIKE NOW…
Both
The past 12 months has been a trip! Two weeks after getting married we were plunged into the longest lockdown of the pandemic. Unfortunately, we were never able to reflect and celebrate being married with our friends and family. But it did award us time together we wouldn’t have otherwise had. It gave us time to focus on ourselves, our relationship and raise our fur baby, Earl. We were also robbed of our overseas honeymoon, so fingers crossed for later this year!
VENDORS:
Celebrant: Catholic Priest
Photographer: Briars Atlas and Corey Wright
Corey has such charisma and talent, he knew exactly what he was doing and his energy was infectious. We had 20 minutes to accomplish portrait shots before we lost sunlight, and Corey knew exactly how to maximise that time. It’s also worth noting he was a huge hit with our guests.
Oli (Briars Atlas) is the bee’s knees! He is genuinely a great human being. He made everything super easy and understood what we wanted from our wedding photos.
Florist: Pomp and Splendour - Incredible florists located in Brunswick.
Band/DJ: Baker Boys and DJ Luke
The Baker Boys are live music experts and party starters! Their set list was amazing, they read the room well and had our guests dancing all night.
Any additional vendors you’d like to mention:
Highly recommend In The Booth for a Photobooth! We loved how it was an actual booth and everything was taken care of. The attendee was engaging with our guests and rounding them up for photos.
