Sheree + Matt
#&FLREALBRIDE FEATURE
THE AUSTRALIS
We are forever in love with a modern boheme wedding, and Sheree and Matts wedding epitomizes whimsical romance. The couple dreamed of an effortless weekend away with family and friends, and decided on the gorgeous Merribee house in NSW, a perfect blend of farmhouse, botanical gardens, and coastal beach vibes.
Echoing the romance of the botanical theme, Sheree chose our long sleeve, lace AUSTRALIS gown, paired with a modern and clean veil. The dress complimented the house perfectly, and with guests roaming around in the beautiful gardens, cocktails in hand with live music playing in the background, the evening finished with an outdoor dancefloor under the stars. It was undoubtedly, a perfect celebration.
The Deets:
Bride: Sheree
Hubby: Matt
Photographer: With Love Weddings https://www.withloveweddings.com.au/
Location + venue: Merribee House, South Coast NSW, Australia
bridal boutique: Your Art Bridal
accessories: Engagement and wedding rings from Chiltons Antiques https://www.chiltonsantiques.com.au/
Earrings are from online brand Ruby & Sage https://rubyandsage.com.au/
hair/makeup: Monique Kazokas https://www.moniquekazokas.com/
shoes
cake: By Gigi https://bygigi.com.au/
flowers: Aisle of Eden http://www.aisleofeden.com.au/
Describe you and your guy? We are both easy going people who grew up on the coast and love spending Summer days at the beach or hikes in nature. We love going for weekends away with friends down the coast or country wineries, trying out amazing restaurants, listening to music and seeing live gigs and travelling and exploring new places together (pre covid!)
How did you meet? Our mutual friends thought we'd be a good match and tried to set us up but as we are both fairly shy, the meeting didn't go very far. A couple of months later at the mutual friend's wedding and after a couple of drinks to ease the nerves we hit it off and I guess the rest is history!
How did you know he was The One? You can't go past Matt's genuine personality. He's easy going, kind hearted, loyal and hard working.
Describe yourself. What do you do? What is your regular street style? I am a pretty easy-going, positive, patient person who grew up by the beach so love the outdoors and swimming in the ocean. I work for an emergency assistance team for an international travel insurance company so it was quite a year for work and wedding planning amongst navigating the effects of covid in 2020! I am a pretty relaxed dresser... especially since working from home since the pandemic! And would describe my style as relaxed and feminine
What was bridal style? I've always loved lace, long sleeve and backless wedding dresses. I love the timeless and feminine look. I was very open minded when trying on dresses and wanted to get that feeling of it on to know if it was the one or not. I absolutely loved the Australis dress when I tried it on.. it was everything I wanted my wedding dress to be but was worried about getting something long sleeve as we were getting married in Summer and didn't want to feel too hot in it. Many people had different opinions on this but in the end I went for what I loved and the fabric was so light weight and breathable, the long sleeve did not bother me one bit on the day.
What made you fall in love with your &FL dress and where did you find it? I hit the jackpot going to Maggie's beautiful boutique near my parent's place in Coledale, NSW called Your Art Bridal. She is an absolutely stunning and kind woman who gave you everything you could imagine for your wedding dress experience. I had some horrible incidents in other stores but Maggie made the whole experience feel so special and personalised. She sat down and poured a champagne for me, my bridesmaids and my Mum - asked about me, my wedding day and what I was looking for. She allowed me to try on as many dresses as I wanted and helped with dressing and styling advice. You could tell she just genuinely loved what she does and nothing was too much to ask for and she was just so approachable and amazing to work with.
Describe your wedding- any inspiration or themes were your drawn to when planning? What was the vibe? Matt and I always go down the coast for weekends away with our friends so knew we wanted to make it a weekend away for friends and family to enjoy. We fell in love with Merribee House when we saw it and it was the perfect mix of an amazing property amongst farmland and also being a close drive to the coast so guests could book their accommodation at the beach. It had lots of elements we were looking for and some amazing bonuses with a renovated heritage cottage from the 1850s which me and my bridesmaids stayed in the night before and to get ready in, the old dairy farm silo had been converted to a multi-level accommodation with internal spiral staircase where Matt and I stayed the night of our wedding and the gardens are just incredible for our guests to roam and admire and enjoy a cocktail with live music and lawn games on the property before the reception started with an outdoor dancefloor under the stars.
Fave thing about your day? Any surprises?! Our venue was an absolute dream to get married in, we also had so much fun running around the gardens of our venue taking photos with our photographer.. even Matt and usually hates getting his photos taken! I think also because our wedding was at the end of 2020 and things had got pretty good with covid by that time in Australia with a lot of restrictions easing, all our guests were just excited to be able to celebrate at a wedding and it was so much fun to let our hair down and dance the night away after a pretty stressful year!
What does marriage mean to you? Choosing each other to do life with and making a commitment for our future together. It also marked a day for us to bring two families together, taking Matt's surname and joining as one so we can start our own family together.
What's the one piece of advice you could give to brides? Do not sweat the small stuff on the day of the wedding - no one else will notice what things were meant to look like our how the day was supposed to run in your head. My venue was very DIY which I love being creative with the set up and styling etc. but I do wish I hired an on the day coordinator to help direct the day so I could relax a little more.
Life post-wedding means .... we are expecting a baby! So we are excited to start our next chapter as a new parents and starting a family together!
Words by Sheree