Driftwood Shed Sarah & Abra LGBTIQ Wedding
Driftwood Shed Sarah & Abra LGBTIQ post wedding interview.
What made you choose the venue? Driftwood came up in a google search we did when we first started talking about the type of wedding we wanted back in 2018. We knew we wanted somewhere that we could have the ceremony and reception so that people didn’t have to travel between. We wanted something that was a little bit farm and country vibes, maybe with a shed or barn etc. When we realised it was a venue on the South Coast we decided to go and look at it and it was everything we were looking for. Our vision for the wedding was that it feel like a big dinner party and the marquee with big long tables really sold that. We loved that there were so many places for people to mingle, take photos and simply enjoy the view.
More of the interview at the bottom of the page
What was your favourite detail?
Do I have to have just one?? Everything! Being such a plant lover, I (Sarah) loved the amazing flowers that Mandy did for us combining natives and succulents, she also took so much care with decorating the tables and marquee and moving the arrangements from the arbour so that we could enjoy it all night. Something that was really beautiful was our bridal party making sure that Abra’s grandmother was with her on the day in a special locket attached to her bouquet.
Favourite moment?
Abra – For me walking back down the aisle after we were married was the best. Everyone was so happy, I was so happy and it was just so fun hearing everyone cheering and throwing confetti at us; that was like the start of the real celebrations!
Sarah – I think one of the highlights for me was the entire marquee erupting into fits of laughter when someone misheard what was being said in one of the speeches. Looking around at all my favourite people enjoying the food and each other’s company was perfect. Another is the moment we spent on the lounge in the shed with our best friends and siblings, it was so nice to just take stock of what an amazing day it had been so far and toast with them for helping make it so perfect.
Vendors:
Celebrant:
Holly Smith from Holly Matrimony. Holly was so great to work with. From the minute we met her in our first meeting she just felt like someone we would be friends with. She made everything so easy and took a really personal approach. She even came up from Tasmania for our wedding as she has moved down there a few months earlier. We didn’t want a long or stuffy ceremony and she made it fun and personal.
Driftwood Shed:
Karen is the absolute best, she was so easy to work with and accommodating of all our plans. She and her team just made everything happen and set the property up so beautifully.
Rabbit & Co Caterers:
Choosing the menu was one of the hardest choices we had to make because all of Rabbit & Co’s menus sounded delicious. We knew we wanted a grazing table at cocktail hour but after going to a tasting and trying the canapes we had to add those too and the stout pies were a huge hit! The mains were all perfect, roast duck, pork belly and peppered beef were cooked perfectly everyone was impressed with their dinner. Finally the late night ham rolls couldn’t have gone better – people are still talking about how good they were!!! The staff were also very lovely, everything was seamless and they just made things happen.
Valley Moss:
Mandy Breeze specialises in natives which is why we chose her. She is based in Kangaroo Valley, we saw her work on Instagram and then after speaking with her knew she was the right florist for us. She was there to set up on Friday and pack down on Sunday as well as moving arrangements between the ceremony and dinner – a true superstar that made the marquee look spectacular, it also smelt amazing from the greenery hanging from the ladders. She also created amazing boutonnières for us with succulents and created unique bouquets that included them too.
Taylor (Acoustic Duo):
We found Taylor through Event Entertainers and due to having to postpone our wedding the original duo were not able to make the May date – it kind of worked out for the best because Taylor made cocktail hour. Even though we were out taking photos I could hear them all around the venue. Taylor has a stunning voice and they nailed the cocktail afternoon fun vibes with their music choices.
Blow Bar on Queen:
Kyra from Blow Bar was a rockstar getting through all of the bridal party with time to spare. She was so easy going and was able to create a beautiful hairstyle for Abra based on a brief description and a couple of reference photos. The curled look she created for me (Sarah) was awesome and lasted well into the evening.
Sophy Barnett Make Up:
Another superstar vendor who didn’t stop working all day! Sophy was also a guest at the wedding but she was always available for a touch up and checking in especially on poor Abra and her watery eyes! We were lucky that Sophy is a friend so we didn’t have to look around too much when it came to finding a mark up artist and she did an amazing job on the bridal party (including some concealer for the boys) and mother of the bride.
Grew & Co Jewellery:
Our wedding rings are from Sydney jewellery designer Grew & Co, the team worked with us to design our engagement rings in 2019 which included using salt and pepper diamonds and diamonds from my mums wedding rings. We knew we would go back to them for our wedding rings and they created rings that fit into our engagement rings perfectly.
Oh and that guy who took our photos goes alright too 😉
Suit:
I had a pretty strong idea on wanting a floral suit but I was finding it really hard to firstly find somewhere that made suits for women and secondly had the types of fabric I was looking for. Couture Menswear came through with the goods. Whilst I ended up changing to an ivory suit it wasn’t just a plain white suit. The fabric had a lace overlay which gave it something special and you could see the detail on up close, it was finished with satin cuffs and my favourite bit a colourful plant pattern lining. Shay and the team at Couture Menswear were so welcoming and fun to work with from our first consultation all the way through to the final fitting.
Dress: Getting Abra to go dress shopping was a bit tricky, she isn’t a fan of shopping at the best of times but with about three months to spare she went shopping and found her beautiful dress at Brides of Sydney. It had a lace bodice with satin skirt and train that could be bustled up – most importantly as all good dresses do, it has pockets! It was also long enough that she could wear her silver glitter boots underneath ready for party time.
Advice for other couples:
Try not to let the planning stress you out too much, try to have fun whilst you are doing it. It can be so easy to get caught up in the stress of everything that needs to be done but a good To Do List (and maybe some wine) will help you get through it. Knowing that we had a plan and everyone was across it made our day so relaxed and fun. So don’t forget to enjoy your wedding – it’s about you and a celebration of you both. Eat the food, dance, enjoy your family and friends; make sure it’s everything you want rather than what other people expect you to do. One of the biggest compliments we got about our wedding was that people felt like it was ‘very us’ and that it was such a wonderful day full of fun and love. Don’t lose sight of why you re doing it.
Why did we pick Michael Boyle Photography?
We really liked his style of photography, if you haven’t guessed by now we aren’t very fussed on formal and traditional things. We wanted the day to be captured in a way that showed how much fun everyone was having and the celebration of love. Looking at Michael’s other work really aligned to what we wanted, the framing of shots, use of light is just beautiful. He had also worked at Driftwood before and we really liked the photos from there that he had done. Finally, when we spoke with him, it just felt like a good match and like he was going to be able to deal with our bridal party antics, a bride who doesn’t love getting too many photos and would really capture the beauty of Driftwood. Having seen the photos I know we absolutely made the best decision, they are so beautiful. We love that we have all of these candid shots of people enjoying themselves as well as some super fun bridal party shots. Thank you for putting up with us all and just going along with us. You also gave us direction, let us know when things weren’t working and suggested different shots that have turned out brilliantly.
