Real Wedding // Meg & Luke’s Frida’s Field Wedding

Despite being in the midst of a global pandemic, Meg & Luke decided to push ahead with their dream wedding plans. They opted for a weekend-long celebration in Byron Bay, held across two incredible days so all of their closest family and friends could be involved. In Meg & Luke’s words, “love really does win” and we couldn’t agree more. While the current times may feel like it’s put a huge dampener on your upcoming day, we assure you that you really can still experience the most magical wedding day. 

With an amazing team of suppliers under their belt and a mammoth team effort from all, Meg & Luke couldn’t be happier with how their wedding weekend unfolded. We can truly feel the love beaming from these two, read on to find out why…    

Tell us your story, how did you meet and where did the proposal happen?
We met at work. We both work in the events industry; Luke worked for the production company I was hiring for a three-city conference. Luke was based on the Gold Coast and I was in Sydney. We then did long distance for around 18 months before Luke decided to make the move to Sydney.

Luke proposed at Pier One in Sydney. We had just finished up with a crazy busy two months of back to back events so, we decided to have a night away to relax. I planned it because I always do and Luke said the only reason he would have been able to surprise me like he did was if he did it off the back of one of my plans as I am too OCD and hate surprises usually haha. 

Why style were you striving for with your table settings, florals and reception? Was there a certain look or vibe that you wanted to create?
Burnt orange was my colour inspiration from the beginning. I wanted something elegant but also something that would fit the rustic look and feel of Frida’s Field. My mood board changed a fair bit throughout the process as I really wanted to do something different from what was circulating currently.

I was so happy with my final decision, especially the more unique tablescape and napkin placement. The florals I originally had in mind overhanging structures but when the rigging at the venue didn’t lend itself to that, the amazing Mikarla from Wilderness Flowers sent through the idea of having an extravagant bar installation and I just fell in love it with. It worked with my overarching vision but most importantly was so unique which I loved. I was, however, even more, blown away by the final florals, it was beyond any of my expectations, they were truly incredible!

Were there any vendors that you particularly loved working with and why?
Mikarla from Wilderness Flowers as I mentioned above she was amazing! Being an Events Manager, I am pretty detailed when it comes to everything however I trusted in her wholeheartedly and knew whatever she created would be amazing and I was not wrong!

Dani Tiene my make up artist. She was amazing! All of us loved our make up so much, it stayed all day so well plus she really looked at each of our features and chose colours that suit every individual which everyone was super impressed with. Plus, when I had to have a rush ceremony the week before because of the QLD border closure she went out of her way to make sure she could fit me in which I just couldn’t have been more grateful for.  Not to mention she is just the loveliest and we all had so much fun with her on the morning of the wedding. 

Shane Shepherd our photographer – just WOW! We cannot put into words how incredible his photos are, he really knows his stuff. More importantly, Luke and I are not photogenic people and also don’t love photos at the best of times so the way Shane just made us feel so relaxed and natural throughout the whole process, we are just so grateful for. Plus, his tunes are on point!

Fig Tree Catering – Che and all of the team created the most beautiful, fresh and seasonal food. I think every wedding guest said the food was the best food they’ve ever had at a wedding.

Tell us what were the most important aspects of your wedding day and what moments really stood out to you?
Apart from the obvious, we had three key elements we weren’t willing to negotiate on: they were amazing wine, incredible food and having a weekend-long celebration with our family and friends! Having as many of our friends and family there truly was the most important and we definitely had a lot of curveballs thrown our way but we got there in the end. One and a half weeks prior to our wedding the QLD border closures were announced, my partner is from the Gold Coast and with the most important aspect being our friends and family we jumped in the car and along with the Byron Bay Weddings team pulled together a commitment ceremony in front of Luke’s family 8 hours prior to the closure which was so special. Then to be able to do it all again the following week with the rest of our friends and family (as well as everyone else on Zoom). It truly was a magical day. What topped it all off was having the sun come out after pouring with rain all day as we started the drive out to the venue – it made our day!

You got married during a global pandemic, how did you find the experience?
You know what the lead up was stressful – both of us working in the Events Industry we definitely are not spooked by last-minute changes, however, the stress of the constant restriction changes, anxious family and friends and not to mention having to uninvite guests due to the 4 square metre rule definitely did get to us at times. BUT, that aside once we got up to Byron all that stress went away. There is something so unique about getting married during a time like this and that is everyone banding together even during these crazy times made it even more special. Everyone was so open to any restrictions that were required and there seemed to be even more love and happiness. It was like everyone just went, ‘yep, we’re actually doing this!’ It sounds super corny but, in the end, love really does win! What was even better was that neither of us or any other guests felt the restrictions hindered the day. Sitting down during the cocktail hour – WINNING! Who really enjoys standing in heels? No dancing? Drinking games worked a treat and got everyone chatting amongst each other and all the other elements I honestly couldn’t tell you because they went that unnoticed. If we had to do our time over again yes of course not having a global pandemic would have been our first preference but to be honest, we do not regret or miss one thing that we couldn’t have and just cherish all the amazing memories we did have.

What reassurance would you give to other couples in the same situation that are hesitant or have concerns about their upcoming wedding?
Don’t let the restrictions overcome you and don’t try to fight them, they are what they are. Embrace them and work on ways you can get creative within the government and venue guidelines. Know that everyone around you just wants to see you celebrate your big day and will do everything in their power to help you do so. 

Most importantly never lose sight of what’s important, we had a song (I know super corny) but anytime we had stressful wedding day we would just listen to this song and it helped ground us and remind us why we decided to move forward with a wedding in the middle of a pandemic in the first place.

Meg & Luke xo

Suppliers
Venue: Frida’s Field // Makeup: Dani Tiene // Hair: Alex Outson // Photographer: Shane Shepherd // Florist: Wilderness Flowers // Wedding Cake: Eat Cake Byron Bay // Guest Transport: Byron Luxury Tours // Catering: Fig Tree Catering // Lighting:  Byron Audio // Furniture & Styling: The Wedding Shed // Furniture: Hampton Event Hire // Table Settings: Supper Club Co // Planning & Coordination: Byron Bay Weddings