Lauren & Jarrod - by Had To Be You Weddings

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…

We met through mutual friends and an unlikely attraction sparked from the beginning. From then on it was pretty much all in! Throughout our relationship we’ve supported each other in some pretty hefty life changes – Jarrod went back to uni to study winemaking and Lauren went back to uni to study teaching. We’ve both landed jobs that we love, working in unique
contexts with other passionate people, and we’re both really grateful for that.

We’ve decided to move out to the Valley, basing ourselves in Healesville – which was a bit of a change for us both but we love living and working in such a positive community. We’ve both given each other the courage and conviction to go after what we care about, and that has been one of the best things about being together.

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 could not think of anywhere we would rather get married than at Seville Estate, where Jarrod works as the Assistant Winemaker with such a warm, passionate and lovely team. We decided to get engaged while watering the garden in early October – this decision was born of a conversation around when our international/interstate family and jet-setting friends were likely to all be in the same place again and when we realised that it would be that NYE we decided to go for it!

Our engagement was only a few months, so our approach was very focused – we were only going to spend energy, time and money on the things that we cared about. We set up a website for the wedding and sent that instead of invites, our styling focused on the gorgeous location at Seville and we did little to alter the already beautiful setting, groomsmen wore their own suits and the groomslady and bridesmaids chose their colours and dresses. What we cared about was celebrating the amazing food and wine from Seville Estate, the gorgeous location and buildings, and creating a fun and bright party for our guests.

Tell us about your main outfits:

I always wanted a gold dress and I wanted to look like a powerful warrior, not a demure flower! I wanted a high neck and backless, so when I found this dress on a hire site I contacted the owner to buy it. It was a sample from several years ago so there was literally only one that I could find. Luckily it fit (I was actually suffering from an undiagnosed kidney issue which left me bloating throughout the lead up to the day – you’d think I’d be stressed that despite my diet I wasn’t losing weight, but I actually didn’t care!). Jarrod was very set on navy and his groomsmen each had a navy suit – so if it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

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

The day was such great fun, supported hugely by the team at Seville, Laura at Had To Be You Weddings and our awesome band! We had gorgeous wines and great food to celebrate with, and as a primary producer this was really important to us. We spoke to the team at Seville, emphasising that we wanted to celebrate the great food that they consistently do, leaving the details up to them (we just really wanted a gnocchi and some sort of prawn!). Highlights include Lauren sharing a special moment with each parent and sibling and each bridesmaid/groomslady to give them a card and let them know why she is grateful for them, why she loves them and all the ways they inspire her, the great food, the band allowing us to live out our rock star fantasies by getting us up on stage to sing an unrehearsed rendition of Mr Brightside by The Killers, then giving Lauren a solo for What’s Up by Four Non-Blondes, lots of dancing, and definitely wandering through the vines at Golden Hour after our reception, just being all loved up and ridiculous!