A laid-back outdoor winery wedding with gorgeous scenery, epic party vibes, and some of the coolest wedding lawn games we’ve ever seen? Yes please!
Lauren and Marc, a doctor and a speech therapist, opted for giant chess, connect four, AND human snakes and ladders during their canapes — how fun is that?! And what a great way to keep kids (and, let’s be honest, adults too) entertained.
We’re also obsessed with the couple’s beautiful, colorful ketubah from Smashing The Glass Recommended Vendor BRITcolors. We are huge fans of Britt’s work, and we’re totally not surprised that Lauren reports she was lovely to work with.
Oh, and did we mention that the couple’s parents — who just happen to be friends with each other — built their chuppah for them? So sweet.
Photographer Chris Kapa and videographer Anthony Spiteri of Videoboutique did an amazing job capturing all the fun and emotion of this fab day — don’t miss the wedding trailer!
We’ll let Lauren, who hit the perfect balance between laid-back and glam in her dress from Jane Hill Bridal, take it from here.
How we met
Lauren, the bride: We were introduced by mutual friends.
A Laid-back Winery Wedding
We got married at Mount Duneed Estate winery in Geelong, Australia. We wanted to do something out of the city with a relaxed outdoor vibe.
It was only the second place we visited but immediately the staff were so laid back and welcoming that we knew it would be a pleasure to work with them.
The scenery was beautiful and the space inside had a perfect combination of funky bar and laid-back atmosphere framed by the big wine cask wall.
Fun and Stylish
We were both pretty keen to do something which was simple in style but really fun. We wanted lots of food and drinks and put lots of thought into our band to get everyone really pumping. We used a wedding planner so that on the day we didn’t have to worry about things and could focus on the importance of the moment.
Paperless Post
We opted for Paperless Post e-vites to make the process a little simpler.
Hair + Makeup
My hair/makeup was done by Wendy Bunnet and Carla Dyson. Kim Tavares did my mum and bridesmaids’ makeup. They were all lovely to work with!
A Jane Hill Dress
My dress was from Jane Hill Bridal. The dressmaker was a pleasure to work with, and incredibly accommodating. The dress was really comfortable on the night, which made it easy to relax and dance the night away!
The handsome groom
Marc wore a Ted Baker suit with a Country Road shirt, blue stripe suspenders and burgundy bow tie from DeClic and Aquila shoes.
Mix and Match Bridesmaids
I had 5 bridesmaids who all chose their own dresses.
Chuppah by the Dads
Our parents are good friends and our dads decided to build one! They found and put together the structure while Marc’s mum created the canopy for the roof.
A Traditional Ceremony
We wanted our ceremony to be simple and traditional. Marc wanted to use an old tradition where the couple cover themselves in his tallit for the sheva brachot with several different symbolic meanings. It’s an old German tradition our rabbi told us.
BRITcolors Ketubah
Our ketubah was a beautiful design by BRITcolors whom we bought it from via Etsy. She was lovely to work with.
Sweet Pea
Jonathan Skovron played at our chuppah. We chose Sweet Pea by Amos Lee for Lauren’s walk down the isle. Most of the rest of the music we left up to our band.
Leave it to the Florist
Gina Laksa from Georgie Boy arranged all the flowers for our chuppah, bouquets and centre pieces. I left all the style decisions in her hands as I wasn’t sure what I was after, and was very pleased with the result!
Our photographer
Our photographer Chris Kapa is a lovely quirky guy, really great fun on the day and we loved his shots. Hard part now is choosing our favourite for the mantelpiece!
Our videographer
Our videographer Anthony Spiteri of Videoboutique was fantastic on the day, really chilled out and made the process really just flow. We absolutely love our highlights video!
All about the music
Music music music. We spent a lot of time choosing a band and they absolutely rocked our night. Full of energy, we had Brett Kay sing the hora with them, then their vocalist took the reins.
Lawn Games
We loved the lawn games during canapes. Kids and parents playing giant chess, connect four and human snakes and ladders while drinks and food circulated.
Honeymoon
We went to Sri Lanka, we wanted somewhere a tad exotic with delicious food and interesting backpacking and hiking to do!
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
Don’t sweat the small stuff, pick what’s important to you and if people are willing to help with the other stuff let them take it off your hands. If you can, get a wedding planner to help out on the day. We used Nat Roth from P2P Events. She was an absolute gun and made sure everything ran smoothly in the lead up and on the day, which meant we could just sit back and enjoy ourselves.
Lauren & Marc’s little white book
Photography – Chris Kapa
Ketubah – BRITcolors {offers 10% discount to all members of Smashing The Glass’s Brides Club}
Videography – Videoboutique
Wedding planner – P2P Events
Venue – Mount Duneed Estate winery
Bride’s dress – Jane Hill Bridal
Groom’s attire – Ted Baker, Country Road, DeClic and Aquila
Hair + Makeup – Wendy Bunnet, Carla Dyson and Kim Tavares
Flowers – Georgie Boy
Chuppah singer – Jonathan Skovron
Invitation – Paperless Post
