The meeting

Our journey started at a young age, whilst getting amongst it at a hens and bucks weekend in Bendigo.

It wasn’t long before we had exchanged numbers and on the first work break from Perth I headed to Bendigo. 

We survived a long-distance relationship for six months before I made the decision to move to Bendigo and give this relationship the attention it deserved.

Before we knew it a day became a month and a month turned into a year and we knew we were ready to make a commitment that would join us in marriage and in life as a team.

The proposal

My first birthday I shared with Blair he surprised me with a  night away at the Madison Spa Resort in Echuca, and three years later he whisked me away again to the same resort and proposed.

The wedding day

Our wedding was a little different. It was held over three days at a 100-acre property called The Kangaroo Valley Bush Retreat in Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales.

We were lucky enough to have this property all to ourselves for the whole weekend which included all accommodation for our guests, the ceremony and reception function room. The Bush Retreat is a beautiful natural setting which created a relaxed atmosphere for our guests to unwind and enjoy the celebrations.

We had a meet and greet barbecue on the Friday night so our family and friends could get to know one another around the fire pit, and then the Saturday was our wedding day.  Our ceremony was held in a cathedral-like rock cavity providing an amazing backdrop, followed by drinks and canapés on a viewing deck that looked over the views of the valley.

Our reception was catered for by the amazing Katrina Endeans of Caterina in Kangaroo Valley. The food was amazing. It was all local produce and our guests are still raving about it.

We took our local Balgownie Estate wines and champagne, as a nice touch and to bring a piece of our home town to our special day.

As soon as we stepped foot onto this spectacular property we knew it was for us, and all our guests loved it and couldn’t believe we had found such a special place.

The dress

My dress was from Bendigo Bridal Collections. Bron from Bendigo Bridal was amazing and was so helpful. 

I went with a Jean Fox – Only You collection gown and fell in love with it straight away. It was the first shop, second dress I tried on. It was meant to be. 

The cake

I am lucky enough to have amazing friends in the wedding business and Mardee Mitchell from Luxe Event Décor – Wollongong NSW and Leah Battley from Leah Mitchell Florist (Wollongong) not only styled my reception with beautiful flowers and candles with a native touch, but Mardee also made my cake.

We had 70 chocolate and caramel mud cupcakes with a cutting cake on top and it was delicious.

Our guests also indulged in the deluxe lolly buffet which was very popular.

The photographer 

Holly and Jess from Holly Prins Photography were amazing. 

Again we were lucky enough to have mutual friends and we all hit it off from the beginning.  

Holly had joined us to have a look at the retreat back in January to see what the property was like and then took us to the Beautiful Hyams Beach, south coast of NSW, for our engagement photo shoot.

I couldn’t have asked anything more of Holly or Jess, they were both so lovely and a lot of fun, which made our day even more amazing. 

It was so nice to feel at ease with our photographer and gave us the chance to relax and enjoy time with our guests instead of spending every second of our day posing for photos.

The honeymoon  

We had seven nights in Port Douglas, North Queensland, and stayed at the beautiful Pullman Port Douglas Sea Temple Resort and Spa. 

It was a great place to relax and unwind.