Ally & Waldo by Smith & Archer - Together Journal -

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship … We’d been together for over nine years by the time our wedding day came around, and through that time have grown so much together. It’s so exciting to finally be able to call each other husband and wife!

We were in the same group of friends throughout high school, and to this day are still mates with some of the original gang. Our friendship was formed over a shared taste in music, attending gigs together, which led to falling in love over the summer after graduating school. We started dating not long after and enrolled into creative courses at the same campus of university. We bonded over a love of nice things and would spend our time going shopping, travelling and adventuring in nature. While Ally continued her career as a visual merchandiser, Waldo got distracted by the labels of beers, spirits and wines he worked on as a graphic designer and went into the direction of the wine industry where he now works for a family owned online liquor retailer.

We both love wine and always thought that picking a winery as our wedding venue would be “too traditional”, but Boomtown Winery in Castlemaine is one of our ultimate favourites, and is not your typical cellar door. This made it the perfect venue to host our wedding. Part of what was so special about our day was the location. Our invite said Castlemaine Botanical Gardens, but guests were surprised when instead of the perfectly manicured gardens, our ceremony spot was perched up on a hill that resembled the overgrown bush, rather than what they may have been expecting.

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 sat down at the beginning of our wedding planning and wrote out what each of us imagined for the day. We’re almost always on the same wavelength, to the point our answers were almost identical. Outside under the stars in country Victoria, a casual vibe stretching across the whole weekend, intimate and surrounded by our loved ones. We thought about how we liked to entertain at home, and imagined a long table dinner with plenty of food and wine all night long, served as you would a family dinner.

Spring made an early appearance for us with the golden wattle in full bloom and the sun shining despite rain forecast all weekend. Not sure what we’ve done in life to luck out with such good weather. We loved the casual, country vibe and being surrounded by the Australian bush.

Music was really important to us across all aspects of the wedding day. We decided to create multiple playlists in place of hiring a DJ. Cocktail hour and dancefloor bangers followed up nicely from the intimate ceremony playlist. The trick is to not let any of your guests know it’s just playing off Spotify, nobody can come and change a track halfway through. It’s been such a treat to have these playlists ready to go to listen to at home or while travelling on our honeymoon. Some of our most special tracks were an acoustic version of Phoenix’s ‘Countdown’ and Dan Auerbach’s ‘Never In My Wildest Dreams’, which we chose to be our walking down the aisle and first dance songs respectively.

A couple of special details were the cream cans that we used for a native floral arrangement. Ally’s dad restored these and it was a special touch as his father was a milkman. Ally’s dad also surprised us by giving his 1985 Land Rover Defender a wash on the day of the wedding, and driving Ally to the ceremony, as our wedding car fell through the week before. The photos with the car are some of our favourites, and it suited our vibe so well, with green our colour theme.

Tell us about your main outfits:

My dress was one of the most stressful parts of the wedding planning. I had saved inspo photos that were very similar to the one I ended up wearing. When I popped into a bridal boutique to “just browse” and try on some styles during a sale weekend, I tried on a long sleeve lace dress and bought it on the spot. $1800 was the sale price with no returns, but it felt good in the change room, and when the sales assistant put a veil on my head I felt like a bride. Mum took it back to her place and hung it up to keep it safe. I tried it on one day a couple of months later and… well hated it is the wrong way of putting it, but it just wasn’t what I imagined myself wearing. Still wearing that dress I opened up my phone and started googling for a “crepe off shoulder” dress and found this one as part of Bec + Bridge’s bridal range. Bought it that night and when it arrived and I tried it on (at home alone this time) I knew it was what I wanted to wear. I felt like me. It felt comfortable. It was the one. And I didn’t even mind that by the time midnight rolled around I’d spilled red wine down the front.

Waldo’s heart belongs in the country and he wanted to reflect that with a bespoke wool suit. After visiting various tailors in Melbourne and not finding much rustic wool styles he came across Studio Suits online, who made it very easy by just uploading measurements and choosing the fabric and fit. A nice new pair of RM Williams boots dressed the suit up nicely. Waldo didn’t think his signature Akubra hat would be suitable so chose an Akubra belt to tie the style together. The relaxed vibe of the outfit made him feel comfortable and felt appropriate for the country setting.

What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?

Our photographer Ali suggested practicing our first dance while we were alone for portraits at sunset, and it was definitely one of our favourite moments of the day. We’d had a lesson and practiced at home a bit each night, but doing it on the day in that environment gave us the confidence to nail it when the time came to debut in front of everyone. It seemed a silly suggestion at the time but we look back with such fondness at that moment, and it made for some of our favourite photos.

Waldo’s grand-dad moved across to join the family from South Africa earlier this year, and it was incredibly special having him here as part of the day. We were surprised how much he loved dancing for an 85 year old when the party kicked off.

Another special moment was just after having signed our documents. We had a bottle of champagne, 2008 Dom Perignon (the year that we met), we had planned to open for our portrait hour. We decided what better way to celebrate that moment then by popping the cork! Some of the best moments were the spontaneous ones, which just goes to show that all the planning and stress can’t make up everything.

Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?

We were very lucky to not fall victim to any pressure from people around us. We discussed what we each imagined the day to be, and thankfully were on the same page on most things, so compromising wasn’t an issue for us. Our advice would be to sit down and work out what is truly important to each of you, and make that a priority of your planning. Everything else can fall into place around that. And to the people who tell you that married life will feel the same as before, they’re lying to you. You will have a new-found sense of responsibility for each other, and a love that will be stronger than any time before. Surround yourself with good people and they will be there for you on your special day, and on each day throughout your married life. And finally, take some time to really embrace the day. A deep breath and moment of mindfulness every so often makes it all the more special, this is your WEDDING DAY.

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