Becca & Joel - Love Under The Branches

Joel and I went to high school together and were always good friends however we didn’t start dating until the year after we finished. 

Whilst at high school my family hosted an exchange student from Sweden. She very quickly became like a sister to me and our families ended up visiting each other and we now have a Swedish extension to our family. 

On our second trip to Sweden we went to the beautiful west coast where our family friends have a holiday house. One morning he said that my friend and her sister wanted to take us on a walk up one of the hills to see the view. It was at the top, me in trackies and puffing like I’d ran a half marathon that I heard him say behind me ‘you know what this would be a good place for’, I turned around to see him bent on one knee. I barely let him say anything or actually ask the question before I said yes and jumped into his arms. 

The Day.
We were married in the 2nd of December 2017 at Woodlands Historic homestead. When looking for a venue we wanted somewhere that had a spot for the ceremony and and reception all in one! Woodlands was the first venue we looked at and boy did it deliver. The gardens are stunning and huge, we knew that we would have lots of kids at the wedding so wanted room for them to run and play. They had at least 3 or 4 places to have the ceremony. We fell in love with the oaks and ended up saying I do amongst the beautiful trees.

 

The Details.
I was really unsure about having a veil, it had seemed that many brides had either stopped wearing one or had a really long one. While trying on my dress I said to my mum that I was really indifferent to it, mum never pushed me into doing or wearing anything for the wedding but she did say that she likes the look of a veil. Since I didn’t really mind and mum suggested it would be nice I went for a long veil the same length as my dress. I am so glad I had one! It made me feel incredible and the photos were beautiful.

 

Expectation and Reality.
Everyone tells you that the day goes by so quickly, ours was no exception. I expected to be really anxious and worried about my hair and makeup, worried that it wouldn’t turn out how I’d hoped, even though I had seen and had trials done be by both my amazing artists. On the morning of my wedding I had not one shred of fear that it wouldn’t be perfect, and it was! 

Also, I would suggest if you have the time to have a lunch the next day, where anyone who was invited to the wedding could come. This was a more relaxed day, we had catered finger food and it gave us the opportunity to really talk to people, especially those who had travelled such a long way!

 

From One Bride To Another. 
If I could give other brides any tips it would be to savour ever moment you can. The night before my wedding my bridal party, my mum and I all went and got our nails done, went to the oh so glamours food court for dinner and flooded the supermarket for chocolate and cheese before heading to our accommodation. It was amazing to spend a night like that with all of my best friends, sister and mum. 

 

Best Bit.
If I could pick any moment in the day to go back to it would be walking down the isle with both my parents and seeing my soon to be husband. I could live that moment over and over.