PLANNING THROUGH THE EYES OF A BRIDE!

9/9/2020

Today I was lucky enough to chat to the lovely Hannah Milford-Robertson about her wedding day. I have always wanted to know what the brides think when they look back on their special day, What would they have done differently? What did they love about the planning process?
What suppliers did they use? Literally anything & everything to do with their day!
Here is a little insight to everyone in their planning process.

Hannah & her partner Jay got married on Hannah's parents paddock in Devon North.
Initially Hannah had trouble gaining a vision of what she had imagined the whole day to look like aesthetically. Having to plan literally everything from scratch was quite the challenge, once she had found an AMAZING florist, the supplier for a marquee & furniture she was then able to relax a little then piece it altogether.
This is when Hannah started to enjoy the process a lot more.

Lets talk supppliers;

Invites & Bar menu- DIY off Etsy

Florals- Little stag floral couture which is located in Prahran. Hannah randomly came across Little stag floral couture on Instagram & never looked back. They vibed immediately!
Hannah trusted Juliet with her vision of what she expected the day to be like.
They gave her endless amounts of ideas. Then they helped her figure out what to do for signage as well as the overall vibe for the day. Hannah wanted a garden luxe feel for the day. Little stag went above & beyond!

Marquee & Furniture- Elderberry Events
One of Hannah's friends suggested these guys, as soon as she saw their set ups she knew it was going to be perfect!

Catering- Duarts Catering
Hannah was told these guys do awesome cocktail packages. They were also a lot cheaper than the alternative option she had in mind. She was so happy she ended up choosing Duarts, her guests were happy & gave great feedback.

Signage- Ink & Snow
They were awesome they hand painted Hannah's sign to match the invite she created on Etsy.
Ink & Snow were a recommendation from their florist Juliet. Hannah said she loves how when vendors work together things are just amazing!

Cake & Cookie wedding favours- Miss Lady Bird Cakes
This was another recommendation from our florist Juliet, These guys dropped the cake off to the florist to drive down from Melbourne to Gippsland- AMAZING service!

Alcohol- Woods Wine distribution
Hannah was lucky enough to have a connection with these guys who could get her beautiful winery bottles at cost price. This meant they could have a variety of alcohols.

Dessert table- Lamana
Hannah went with these guys as they tried some bite size pieces & absolutely loved them, they were delicious & easy to eat which went perfectly with the cocktail style wedding.

DJ- DJ Nige
In Gippsland there aren't too many options for DJ's but WOW for DJ Nige his music matched perfectly to the overall fun vibe they wanted for the party.

Celebrant- Kellie Eddy
Hannah & Jay picked Kellie as they wanted to have a super fun quirky ceremony as well as short & sweet, she was perfect!

I thought it might be helpful to brides in their planning process to read some of Hannah's responses about her special day! This lovely wedding wasn't held at our venue here at the Shearing Shed but it's a little insight to the things to be prepared for wherever your wedding may be! The Shearing Shed is a blank canvas for you to create whatever you want for your wedding! I will continue to do questionnaires like this with so many amazing brides to get as much information out there as possible to help all you lovelies get hitched!

Which suppliers went above & beyond to make your day amazing?
Juliet the owner of Little Stag floral couture. She was incredible, she knew the wedding day was going to be hot so she made sure she organised a refrigerated truck to drive the florals on the 2.5 hour journey. She picked up our wedding cake on the way & was there bright and early. She made me feel at ease. She took control of the morning, situation & made it extremely stress free!

Who was a pain in the ass?
Honestly, I found some suppliers (none of which I used by the way) extremely shit with communication! I had a caterer of whom I was about to drop almost $15,000 on for the day not replying to emails, phone calls for weeks on end. I feel like I’m pretty chilled but enough was enough. I needed people on my team who I trusted. Once I changed to Duarts it was so stress free.. and SO glad we did it

Did you use a wedding planner?
I planned the whole thing myself. I’m a school teacher so having December off was probably the only way I managed the situation. It was a huge job!!

If you had your time again what would you do differently?
I feel like I was pretty chilled with the whole situation. I would make sure 100% of the wedding day is ready to go the day before. Family members were rushing around the morning of the wedding to make sure everything looked perfect, while I’m super grateful for that we probably should have done 100% of the set up the day before.

Where was all your wedspiration from?
I got heaaaaps of inspo off Pinterest & also I loved my florists Instagram. I loved Pollen & Patinas Instagram for inspiration. I knew I loved classic whites and greenery so I looked for any inspiration that matched that concept.

What did you overlook & not really think about until the moment you needed to do something.
Where to put things structurally, but also the very minor details such as organizing a cake knife & confetti. If you do it at home you really need to nut out absolutely every minute detail prior to the day. We ran around the day before looking for those small things.

What was your favourite part of the process?
The actual day. It is a big process but enjoying it all was so worth it. Wish we could live the day over again it was so special

Any advice for Brides in their planning phase?
Be careful for hidden costs. There are always extras that you don’t think of. Travel fees, alterations, cutting & serving the cake etc. make sure you always have budgeted for unexpected costs. We are only (hopefully) getting married once, enjoy the process and just buy the F**** Valentino’s if you want them!