Real Wedding // Molly & Steve’s Barefoot at Broken Head Wedding

Molly and Steve celebrated their special day in the tropical gardens of Barefoot at Broken Head. The couple wanted their wedding to be the most memorable house party they’d ever hosted and Barefoot at Broken Head provided the perfect setting. Just a step away from the beach, surrounded by lush green gardens and decorated with the most vibrant coloured flowers, they surely had the grooviest party of a lifetime. Read on to hear more about Molly & Steve’s fun filled wedding day.

Tell us about your story, how did you meet and where did the proposal happen?

There’s nothing like grooving on the dance floor to set sparks flying! We met at a Flight Facilities gig through mutual friends. I (Molly) made the first move with a text that led to a plutonic friendship for a few months, before Steve realised that all the tennis games I was playing with him weren’t due to my love of sports! We started dating in 2015 and have been through so much together since then.

Steve was so sneaky with the proposal and not a single person knew beforehand except the lady in the jewellery store! We were on holiday at Agnes Water just before Christmas 2020. On our first afternoon we decided to take champagne down to the beach for a sunset picnic which is pretty standard for us except that Steve was uncharacteristically stressed about finding the perfect beach spot. After a swim in the ocean, he got down on one knee and asked the question and my response was “what are you doing?!” shortly followed by “yes”! We were staying in a cute cottage on acreage nearby so we could soak it all up and celebrate the perfect end to a very weird year before we told our family and friends.  

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What were the reasons for choosing Barefoot at Broken Head as the venue for your wedding day?

Barefoot at Broken Head was the only venue we looked at, and we knew straight away it was the one! We loved that we could stay on-site and have our close friends stay too. Steve and I have always loved hosting, and we wanted our wedding to feel like a house party with lots of laughter, margaritas, dancing and bringing together all the people we love. It was important to us to have the beach close by, Barefoot provided that and the venue itself is so private and intimate which was the perfect balance.

We were able to settle into the venue a few days before, have breakfast by the pool with our favourite people on the morning of the wedding and not have to worry about moving locations throughout the day! This definitely meant that we were much more relaxed. Most of our guests stayed nearby and were able to pop back in the day after the wedding for a low-key recovery session which meant that we were able to soak up the time spent with everyone and feel like time didn’t totally fly by. Our pup, Willow, was also able to stay with us at Barefoot so she didn’t miss out on all the action!  

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What style were you striving for with your table settings, florals and reception? Was there a certain look or vibe that you wanted to create?

It was important that our wedding was fun, that our guests were vibing and that things weren’t too serious! We decided to go for a vibrant, rich colours to contrast the lush green gardens at Barefoot at Broken Head, bright pinks and oranges. Our bridal party had free rein over their outfits within this broad colour scheme and all looked so incredible! The team at Pikt created a masterpiece for the ceremony that remained the centrepiece for the rest of the day and my bouquet was just perfect. It was a gloomy, rainy day and the floral arrangements truly brought everything to life! We had colourful picnic blankets on the ground, rattan furnishings and lots of places to lounge. We wanted the vibe to be relaxed, joyful, radiant and groovy, the vendors did absolutely the best job at making it happen! 

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Were there any wedding suppliers that you particularly loved working with and why?

All of our vendors were amazing! We were blessed to have Beck Rocchi behind the camera who I am sure needs no introduction! Beck made us feel so comfortable, had us laughing and having a fab time which is really captured in the photos, I’m obsessed with them! The feedback from our family and friends was that Beck felt like a guest herself and was so much fun to have around. We are also stoked that she got so many dancefloor action shots! 

Katrina from Wonderlove is an angel, her ceremony was heartfelt, full of laughter and love and really captured who we are as a couple. It was so lovely that she could meet us at the venue the day before to walk through the ceremony, provide us helpful tips and calm our nerves. I was so lucky to have Maree (Makeup Maree) and Anita Bauer to help get me ready, they were both so calming to be around, brought out the natural beauty of our bridal party and made me feel beautiful but natural.

Our good friends at Range Brewing ensured that there was plenty of delicious beer and wine flowing. Marty, our on-the-day coordinator was an absolute legend and the day ran so smoothly despite loads of changes to the agenda. The whole Byron Bay Weddings team on the day were awesome and really made our wedding stress free! 

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What were your favourite parts of the wedding planning process with Byron Bay Weddings?

We originally thought we didn’t need a wedding planner and boy did Carlie prove us wrong! I was so surprised at how straightforward and easy the planning process was. Carlie provided the perfect balance between giving us choices and pointing us in the right direction when we needed it. It was great to have scheduled check ins to keep the process on track, and I really appreciated having the modules to work through in our own time and refer back to as we needed. Carlie was also so understanding when I changed the agenda and playlists hundreds of times! The tasting at Fig Tree Restaurant was definitely a highlight and made us so excited for choosing the menu! 

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What were the most important aspects of your wedding day and which moments really stood out to you?

What really stood out for us was, that after the ceremony the rain had cleared for the first time in the day. The Pikt team had sneakily provided some petals so Katrina and Beck organised us to walk through the garden for a petal toss. It is not something we would ever have planned but it was so lovely and the photos are incredible! We had a champagne tower just afterwards and then got to hug everyone. We felt so much love and happiness in the room, I’m tearing up just thinking about it! 

Another of our favourite moments from the day was coming back from photos on the beach. Soaked from the pouring rain and having a quiet moment on a private deck at Barefoot with our bridal party. It was so nice to pause and enjoy the moment. We were provided with an amazing platter of food to sample the canapés we had missed during photos. For us it was really important that everyone’s glass was always full and they had plenty to eat, which was definitely fulfilled! It was so fun to have cocktails served throughout the day, it wouldn’t have been a Steve and Molly wedding without margaritas. The food was honestly incredible and the feedback from our guests was that there was plenty despite the canapé style servings. 

The dancefloor was definitely a highlight! Having everyone letting loose was better than we could have imagined, and Beck really captured the energy! 

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What would be your biggest advice to other couples currently planning their wedding?

I think it’s really important to be on the same page as your partner and to have a solid idea of what a wedding that reflects you as a couple would be like. This helps you decide what are the most important aspects of the day and what things you can let slide. 

Wedding planning is all about flexibility! We had our hearts set on a beach ceremony but the garden celebration was just perfect. On our wedding it was pouring rain and we ended up making up the agenda on the day as we went along but it was great. Remember that everyone you love is coming together to celebrate you and make the most of it. When we reminisce on the day, we remember how much joy and love we felt and that we didn’t stop smiling. While lots of things didn’t go to plan it was still the best day and we wouldn’t have had it any other way! 

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Molly & Steve xo

Suppliers
Venue: Barefoot at Broken Head // Hair: Anita Bauer Hair // Makeup: Makeup Maree // Celebrant: Katrina Holt Wonder Love // Photographer: Beck Rocchi Photography // Florals: Pikt // Catering: Fig Tree Catering // Furniture & Styling: The Wedding Shed // Planning & Coordination: Byron Bay Weddings