Real Wedding; Suzie and Tom @ The Cove

About You Two;

Now, How did you two meet?

An office romance story, we met at work at a Christmas party (how cliché). We started dating properly at the start of COVID which sped up our relationship, something good to have come out of Melbourne lockdowns.

Who popped the Question and how did it happen?

Tom popped the question on a weekend away down in the Mornington Peninsula. We’d just come out of lockdown and he’d had the ring for a few months but was waiting until we could get out of Melbourne. I had no idea it was coming! There was nothing too unusual about the day and he didn’t seem nervous although he was adamant on going to a lake to get some ‘drone footage’. It was raining so I wasn’t keen at all, it was an effort for him to get me out of the car. Whilst standing on a jetty on the lake with my arms crossed not wanting to be there, he got the drone in the air and handed me the controller whilst he fumbled about in the drone bag. When I turned around he was on one knee with a ring box in his hand, it was a huge surprise as my face in the footage shows! I was ecstatic!

Why did you choose your venue and how was the venue choosing process?

We love being by the ocean so that was our starting point, a wedding with a beach vibe. As both of us are from England, we knew we would have some guests travelling a long way so we wanted to make more of it than just a day, more of a destination wedding (but in Australia) where we can properly catch up with family and friends and make their huge journey worthwhile. We also knew we wanted it in summer so that the Brits could see Australia at its best. This helped to narrow our search down to NSW and VIC because summer is wetter up in the northern parts of the country. I started Googling away and researching with those parameters in mind and we had some video tours with a few venues but we were struggling to find a venue where everyone could stay on site. I stumbled across The Woods Farm on Google and instantly loved it, it was a stunning but relaxed venue, had accomodation on site and was in a beautiful part of the country. It even had my surname in its name which made me love it even more. The only thing was it wasn’t on the water. Through The Woods Farm I found out about their sister venue, The Cove. As soon as I saw it I knew it was the one. It ticked all the boxes so we had a video tour, found out about their availability and pretty much locked it in straight away. It was our perfect venue!

Quick Fire Questions;

How many wedding guests did you have?

60

Sit down or Cocktail Style?

Cocktail

What month?

March

Planning The Wedding;

Was planning the wedding stressful or did you enjoy the journey?

I would be lying if I said it was a completely stressless process. I didn’t really know where to start at first, it’s a big learning curve and there are a lot of big decisions to make. Initially I didn’t think I would care too much about the finer details but then my perfectionist/ organised/project manager side took over and I got really into the weeds of all the planning. It took a lot more time and effort than I would have imagined but with that being said, I still really enjoyed the process, our day was perfect so it made everything worthwhile.

How involved were you both in the wedding planning, did one of you take more of the lead on certain aspects than others or were you both equally involved?

I was the main planner and decision maker, it would never have worked any other way. I’m a control freak and knew I would want to be involved in all of the decisions. I’m also a lot more organised in general and like to do things ahead of time which I think was key to making the last few months before the wedding less stressful. Tom is more last minute and easy going in that way. I did delegate jobs to him where I could, like researching the alcohol and playlist duties but I was pretty heavily involved in those things too. Tom was happy to go along with my decisions so it worked well.

What was the top couple of non-negotiables or important must-have’s at the wedding for you both?

Relaxed and not too formal, somewhere near water where people can have a mini holiday, relax and enjoy themselves and not have to travel on the day, live music and plenty of delicious food.

Tell us about your dress and that dress-finding process?

I went into it knowing what style of dress I wanted, something fitted and simple, no lace or sparkles. I tried on so many dresses it all got a bit confusing in the end as I liked parts of lots of them but didn’t find something that tied all of those parts together. So I ended up getting one made completely bespoke so that I could get exactly what I wanted

What sort of theme, vibe or style did you go for?

Beachy and relaxed with bright colours

On the Day;

How did you both feel on the wedding morning?

We were both really relaxed on the wedding morning. We stayed together in our beach cabin at the venue the night before so waking up together felt normal and comfortable which is what we wanted. We knew we would sleep better together than apart and it was going to be difficult to avoid each other at the venue in the morning so we didn’t feel the need to stay separately. We did morning yoga with our guests which helped us all relax and set us up well for the day. Tom spent the morning at the beach with all of our guests which was fun, there was a big cricket match and everyone was out enjoying the water with kayaks and paddleboards. It felt like a big holiday which was nice.

What was the best part or moment of your day?

It’s hard to pick. Aside from the vows and Tom’s speech, our first dance was a thrill. We opted for a salsa number that we had learned from some dance lessons. We were a bit nervous about it before but we had a blast doing it and our guests all got around it, cheering us on. It was so much fun. The other really special moment was after the wedding ended, a bunch of us went down to the waterfront to paddle and there was bioluminescent plankton in the water so every movement sparkled and glowed. It was magical.

Anything you would change about your wedding or anything that didn’t go to plan?

Some of the timings for the band sets were off which was minor, nobody would have noticed apart from us. And at first the band couldn’t play our chosen songs on the playlist because they couldn’t connect properly. Apart from that it all went smoothly, the weather was perfect which was a big worry for us as the venue is so suited to outdoor weddings. I did however end up with not 1 but two wet dresses by the end of the night. My bridesmaids made us get on a paddle board which didn’t work with two of us on it so we sank! And after the music stopped down at the waterfront, one of my friends picked me up and ran me into the middle of the water soaking dress number two. Despite the wet dresses, these were moments I wouldn’t change.

Are there any rituals, sentiments or traditions you incorporated into the day?

Nothing really, we wanted it to be as untraditional as possible. I had both parents walk me down the aisle because I knew it would mean a lot to both of them. We did some traditional stuff like the first dance but wanted it to be more fun and upbeat than the traditional slow dance, hence the salsa!

After the Wedding;

Describe newlywed life in a couple of words?

Nothing has changed and we wouldn’t have wanted it to, but it does feel like a new and exciting chapter.

Best investment or money well spent on the wedding that you made?

It’s hard to pick one but co-ordination and set up from Wedding and Event creators. It took all of the stress away and we loved having Emily there with us, she was amazing and it felt like we had known her a long time, like she was one of our guests but a super organised one! Nothing was too much effort for her and it definitely ran smoothly because of her and all of the work the team put in beforehand. She even gave me a piggy back through the venue so my feet didn’t get dirty! What a legend. Henry Clive were amazing on the bar too and so friendly. And the food from Bumpy Road was incredible, everyone complimented them!

Budget-over, under or what you estimated?

Over…all the little things add up and using a venue where you have to bring all the suppliers in separately definitely pushes the budget out. But again, wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Credits:

Coordination/Set Up; The Wedding and Event Creators
Celebrant; Married by Todd
Venue; The Cove
Florist; Jessica Lea Floral Design
Photographer; At Dusk
Videographer; Dream Collective
Catering; Bumpy Road
Bar Staff; Henry Clive
Dessert; Espresso Boy Doughnuts
Entertainment; Honey + Stone
Makeup; Ash Quinn
Hair; Absolute Hair by Tia