REAL WEDDING – CARGO HALL – BEN AND ELLIE – MELBOURNE WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER

Where did you meet, and when? Please provide month and year. How did the string of events unfold? Trent and I went to Primary school together. Trent’s 6 years older then me so we were never exactly friends but our mums met at a school function and have been friends ever since. We reconnected over facebook in 2013 and have been together since the 24th of March 2014. At the time Trent was doing FIFO work in Queensland. It was on one of his weeks home that he, after a few months of being in the friend zone, demanded to take me out on a date. We’ve been together since then.

What attracted you to each other? What are some of your common interests? We both love animals, pizza and AFL.

When did you know you’d found ‘the one’? Trent says that he knew I was the one when his sister in law asked if he was going to marry me only a month after we had been together. I love the quote from The fault in our stars, ” I fell in love with the way you fall asleep, slowly and then all at once”. There was never an exact moment for me. It just always felt right.

How did the proposal come about? Please provide month and year. Where were you? What were some of the sounds in the background? What did the engagement ring look like? Trent purposed at the Kīlauea Volcano in Hawaii on the 3rd of January 2017.  We had a very interesting day leading up to the proposal after we had been accidentally booked on a Korean tour for the day. A group of American Tourists started cheering when Trent knelt down and the first thing he said was “you know what this is” (I didn’t know). The engagement ring was a pear shaped halo ring in white gold. Trent sneaked onto my pinterest before getting the ring made so he nailed it.

In a sentence, please provide a description of your dress, and the name of the store it was purchased from, including suburb. My dress was the Olbia dress by Pronovias and I purchased it from Raffaele Ciuca Bridal in Brunswick. It has a slim silhouette with low lace back and a long train.

What was your most anticipated part of the day? I had surprised Trent with having our dogs in the ceremony which was nerve racking to organise and execute.

What was the biggest surprise on your wedding day? That we actually remembered our choreographed first dance.

What was the date of the wedding? 15th Dec 2018

Where did you marry? St Annes Vineyards

Where was the reception? St Annes Vineyards

How many guests attended your wedding? 90

Looking back at your wedding, is there anything you would’ve done differently? Words of wisdom for other couples planning a wedding? We wouldn’t have done anything differently. We had such an amazing day. My advice to couples planning a wedding would be to decide what is most important to you and spend your money on those things.

Was there any vendors in particular who made your day easier? (cake decorator, celebrant)  All of our vendors were amazing. Megan at St Annes Winery made sure our day went perfectly.

How did you go about finding your wedding day Tribe of suppliers? Please specify which blogs, magazines or resources you utilised. We chose most of our vendors at the St Anne’s Winery Wedding Fair. I think its a good idea to book vendors that are already familiar with your location.

When viewing wedding blogs or magazine what did you find most useful? (eg. Inspiration via real weddings, inspiration through styled shoots, articles or information on specific suppliers). I got most of my wedding inspo from Pinterest and looking at real weddings on Instagram.

Did you use any online wedding planning tools or apps when planning your day? If so, which? I didn’t use any planning tools but I wish I did. It got very confusing and unorganised near the end.

What does marriage mean to you? Marriage means having someone who will stick by you in good and bad times. Someone who will push you to follow your dreams but will be also there if it doesn’t work out.

Name your wedding soundtrack (aisle, reception entry, first dance songs): I walked down the isle to Spell by Raveena. Our reception entry song was Return of the Mack by Mark Morrison and our first dance was to Hesitate by Stone Sour.

Any funny stories (or near disasters) in the lead up to or on the day? I was really disappointed that it was raining everyday leading up to and the day of my wedding so I didn’t get to have an outdoor ceremony. This was really devastating to me but the silver lining was that the sun came out in the afternoon and we got so many beautiful shots on the St Anne’s Winery grounds. A funny thing that happened on our wedding day was that our first dance choreography had allowed for the song to start from when we were seated at the bridal table. So the song starts, I go to stand up and my Maid of Honour’s seat is on my dress. I can’t stand up and she can’t hear me over the music. Luckily I made it to the dance floor just in time to start the dance.

Was there any aspect of planning your wedding that took you by surprise? There’s so many tiny details that you would never think of!

WEDDING TEAM

Ceremony venue/reception venue: St Annes Winery.
Photographer: Brenton John (www.brentonjohn.com.au)
Celebrant: Amber the Celebrant (https://www.amberthecelebrant.com) Amber made our ceremony so relaxed and we couldn’t have been happier with it.
DJ: Ei8ht Entertainment (https://www.facebook.com/ei8htentertainment/)
Florist: Bacchus Marsh Florist (http://www.bacchusmarshfloristandnursery.com.au)
Rings: Ellissi Jewellery (https://www.ellissi.com.au)
Hair: Hair by Neveen (https://www.instagram.com/hairbyneveen/?hl=en)
Makeup: Makeup by Amanda Rose (https://www.instagram.com/makeupby.amandarose/?hl=en)
Cars: Classic Lincoln Limos
Cake: Look at that cake (https://www.facebook.com/netticake/)

What were your MUST HAVES criteria when choosing your wedding photographer? We wanted a photographer that had two photographers with you on the day and had the right combination of formal and relaxed shots.

Love Notes:  If you would recommend us to one of your friends who are getting married, what would you say? How did we make you feel on the day? Or what main thing that you loved MOST about having us share and capture your wedding dayIt was obvious that our photographers Brenton and Allie have such a passion for their work. The were willing to go above and beyond to get those amazing shots. They created a fun and relaxed atmosphere, which made everyone feel comfortable. So many of my guest remarked on how good our photographer was and we couldn’t agree more.