Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
I’m Radi, a Holistic Dietitian and ITA Energy Practitioner/Facilitator at Paynt Your Life and my husband Blake is a business owner for Drainage at ProDrainage. We’ve been together for a little over seven years and were engaged for two years. The day Blake propsed to me, he asked me to go for a walk at Whiteman Park (a nature reserve close by, where I walk most days), and he got down on one knee as we arrived at the beautiful river. Having no phones on us, this allowed us to enjoy the moment and soak it all in by the time we walked back to our car to share the news with family and friends.
Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details…
We had initially planed to get married down south, at Yallingup Caves House Hotel. However, in the beginning of October 2016 we secured a beautiful property on Jane Brook, 5 acres bordering the John Forrest National Park; thanks to my Mum for her persistence in getting everything settled.
This dream come true is now our future home/farm, which we decided was too good not to get married on. We cancelled all our plans at the start of the year and started all over again, planning our wedding on our property. Given the natural forest, the theme came easy: greenery, wood and classic white. We didn’t need much else as the scenery was so beautiful already!
Honestly, every detail was just perfect! But as I loved the nature feel, the wooden light ladders with all the flowers made the clear marquee feel as though we were still outside. I loved everything!
We had a lot of DIY projects! Organising your own wedding is an enormous job, and luckily Blake is a superman at getting things done. As our property was a blank canvas of bush land, it needed a big clean up: from cutting down old tree branches and mowing the entire five acres of grass, to putting in a drive way down the sloping landscape and cutting in a level marquee platform. We honestly did it all. And boy, was it worth it! It was so beautiful.
Tell us about your main outfits: This was surprisingly easy. Shortly after our engagement (so almost two years prior to our wedding), Mum and I decided we would have a Mother/Daughter day to ‘check-out’ some dresses for the first time- and just like that, the second dress I try on we both look at each other and laughed “I think this is the one!”. Then and there we bought the dress from Dion for Brides in North Perth, and opened the champagne together in celebration.
Little did we know, later that year Mum would fall ill with her diagnosis of brain cancer. We were so lucky to have shared that special moment together as she was the only person to see me in the final dress fitting before I got married.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day? We actually got married 3 days earlier (Wednesday 1st November) as my Mum Kathryn was unwell (she was diagnosed with brain cancer Oct 2016 and experienced a seizure a week prior to the wedding, which meant she was in hospital and unable to attend our planned wedding). We decided that day to plan a private wedding ceremony in our small back yard and took Mum out of hospital for a couple of hours so she could witness us marry, along with 10 of our closest family and friends.
I have so many amazing memories from the day. Seeing Dad for the first time, hearing his heart-felt speech and enjoying the laughs with our celebrant Glen. A moment that took us a long time to prepare was our first dance. Blake and I took dance lessons for months leading up to the wedding to perform a choreographed dance, and we did it! Some hilarious moments were Glen (our celebrant) making moves on the groomsmen (jokingly) and Blake’s speech starting with “How GOOD do I look!”
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together? Marriage is a moment of celebration and commitment, that is already binding. It’s having the courage to be open in sharing your deepest feelings of love in front of your closest friends and family, as they are there to support you both growing forward together. Stay flexible; plans can quickly change!
Remember why you’re doing this. End of the day, this about you marrying the person you love with all your being, and you’re sharing that with the family and friends that are dearest to you. Don’t stress the small stuff.
Photographer: Paris Hawken Photography | Ceremony and reception location: Private property | Celebrant: Glen Tully | Singers: LAVAL Entertainment | DJ: DJ Shannon, Streamline Entertainment | Styling: Confetti & Co. | Flora: Petals & Poppy | Catering: Drummond Catering | Cake: Bakes by Alana | Hair: Marissa Lauren | Makeup: Tori French, Mary Phan | Wedding dress: Maggie Sottero | Veil and bridal boutique: Dion | Shoes: Billini | Robes: Homebodii | Groom and groomsmen’s attire: Terrace | Rings: Miles Henderson Fine Jewellery | Bridesmaids’ dresses: Shona Joy
