Real Wedding // Trudy & Luke’s Forget Me Not Wedding

Trudy and Luke opted for a small intimate wedding at the stunning Forget Me Not after their plans for a large event were changed due to Covid. They were surrounded by immediate family in the dreamiest setting and they were thrilled to have both their families together to witness such a special day.

Tell us about your story, how did you meet and where did the proposal happen?
Depending on who you ask, there are different versions of Trudy and Luke’s story. But for the sake of time (and truth), let’s hear from Trudy…

I recall the first time I met Luke. After he was away for the first month of our new nine-person share house experience in Mackay, Queensland, one Friday afternoon Luke suddenly barged into the kitchen demanding the owner of the Camry in the driveway to immediately move their car. Turns out he wasn’t overly interested in meeting his new roommates, rather, he just wanted the green car blocking him in to move it posthaste. And, that pretty much set the tone for our first few months as co-inhabitants. Schedules. Rules. No excuses.

After my best friend and roommate moved back to the Sunshine Coast, Luke and I started to hang out outside of the share house. What started as an innocent friendship quickly turned into something more – or as Luke would put it, apparently I solely instigated us breaking the ‘roommate’s code’…

ANZAC Day 2020, under the guise of one of Luke’s over-the-top and overly-dramatic birthday celebrations – and smack bang in the midst of the nation’s full COVID-19 lockdown – I returned home from a friend’s house to find that Luke had covered our timber deck with flowers, candles, and fairy lights. Even then, I had not put two-and-two together. With ‘our’ song playing softly in the background, I walked up the stairs to see Luke on one knee. Without hesitation, Luke raised a small white box, opened it, and with a smile on his face, he asked me to be his wife. And to add to the surprise, Luke then introduced me to the private chef that was hiding in our bedroom waiting to cook us a five-course Italian meal in our own kitchen. And the ring? He nailed it! He obviously took all those hints along the way. 

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What were the reasons for choosing Forget Me Not as the venue for your special day? 
We initially opted to get married in Noosa. In Luke’s words, he thought he’d give my family somewhat of a ‘home game’ now that our life is in New South Wales – at least for now. On Boxing Day 2020, after still being unable to cross the border for a seventh straight month to finally see our venues, sample our food, or meet our vendors – and fresh off the back of yet another QLD/NSW border closure – we decided that we were going to have to find a new wedding location, probably somewhere in northern NSW, just to be safe. That night, we booked accommodation in Bangalow for the entire Australia Day long weekend with the goal to quickly find our Plan B. 

The first venue we looked at was Forget Me Not. After inspecting the venue, walking through the new cottages next door, and meeting the owner, Jo, we ended up cancelling the other inspections we had scheduled that weekend. Forget Me Not just felt right. 

I am a country girl who grew in Clermont, 1,000km northwest of Brisbane, and Luke grew in the laidback southern beaches of the Sutherland Shire. Forget Me Not had the energy of both of our backgrounds and also provided us with the opportunity to have an exclusive week together with our families due to the new onsite cottages. For me, I had not seen my family for more than 18 months due to the global pandemic and the resulting lockdowns so a week-long celebration with my most loved ones could not have been a better proposition.

In hindsight, we’ve since agreed that the primary reason we chose Forget Me Not was actually Jo herself. From the outset, Jo was so genuinely happy for us and could not have given us a better tour of her beautifully immaculate venue. We asked so many questions before, during, and after our inspection and in every instance Jo was so candid yet accommodating, and we could just feel how much she loved her venue and how proud she was of her nearby cottages. Within minutes of meeting Jo, we just knew we could trust her – especially when the next time we’d see our wedding venue would be on our wedding day! 

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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’s almost a little cliche to say this as I feel everyone answers this the same these days, however, we just wanted a very minimalistic approach for our wedding. I wanted a crisp white palette with Australian flora weaved in to match Luke’s eucalyptus-coloured suit. We also requested raw timber, brass, and candles where we could without making the end product too crowded or loud. 

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Were there any vendors that you particularly loved working with and why?
Byron Bay Weddings and Fig Tree Restaurant were an absolutely pleasure to work with and we’ve already spoken so glowingly about Jo from Forget Me Not, however, to be honest, we cannot say a bad word about anyone who helped make our day so special.

Right from the beginning when we were sourcing Luke’s suit (MJ Bale, Martin Place) and my dress from The Bridal Atelier, Double Bay, it was so much easier than we thought it would be. Then when coming up to meet our musician, Luke Yeaman, our celebrant, Andrew Michael, and our makeup artist, Kerri Nash, we were blown away just how fortunate we were to be able to lock in these incredibly talented and warm human beings. 

On our wedding day, Mikarla at Wilderness Flowers also surpassed my expectations when I finally got to see all of our beautiful floral arrangements and then there was Julian Beattie, our photographer. Wow! He is a magician! What a gifted yet humble man.

Again, we can’t say a bad thing about anyone!

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What were your favourite parts of the wedding planning process with Byron Bay Weddings?
This is the easiest question to answer. Our favourite part of the wedding planning process was having Byron Bay Weddings do everything! 

After we initially planned our wedding in Noosa, we were too exhausted to do it all again. Calling on the services of Byron Bay Weddings just reinforced our fears that we had forgotten so many key elements in our original attempt to self-manage our big day. Carlie and the team were so easy to deal with and the ongoing and, where possible, proactive communication gave us such peace of mind that everything was going to be great on the day. I have to say, planning a wedding was NOT one of my life’s most stressful events.

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Tell us what were the most important aspects of your wedding day and which moments really stood out to you?
After moving away from our initial plan of hosting a large wedding of close to 180 guests to a ‘micro wedding’ of just 25 of our most immediate family, the memory that we look back on and talk about even today is seeing both of our families together on the day.

Given we didn’t have to bounce around a large venue, jumping from table to table, just to momentarily greet and quickly chat to a much larger crowd, we instead got to have everyone on the one long table sharing jokes, sharing stories, and interestingly enough, sharing cigars too. With our families living 2,000km apart, this will be a rare gathering and selfishly, we are so thankful it was on our very special day. 

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What would be your biggest advice to other couples currently planning their wedding?
Everyone always tells you to find a moment during the night where just the two of you can take some time to reflect on the day that has just been; a few minutes where you can step away and let all the madness be digested. For us, given we had what we now know is termed a ‘micro wedding’, we had numerous opportunities to stop and acknowledge our surroundings. So, I would have to agree that if you go large, ensure you take a moment where it is just to two of you. It’s true; it all goes by so quickly.

What we would also say to other couples currently planning their wedding, and perhaps this is somewhat contentious, but remember the day isn’t just about you and your partner. While you don’t want to cater to everyone’s wants and needs on the day, you should definitely allow your loved ones to feel the love too. Whether it is allowing them to have a certain photo in a certain area, assisting you in picking the playlist, having a personal conversation with them at an appropriate time, or even you telling them how beautiful/handsome they look. It’s a highly emotional day for all involved, particularly the immediate family of the bride and groom, and the love shared doesn’t have to be one-way traffic. They, too, will remember this day for the rest of their lives.  

Trudy & Luke xo

Suppliers
Venue: Forget Me Not // Hair & Makeup: Kerry Nash Makeup // Celebrant: Andrew Michael // Photographer: Julian Beattie // Florals: Wilderness Florists // Musician: Luke Yeaman Music // Transport: Go Byron // Catering: Fig Tree Catering // Lighting:  Byron Audio // Furniture & Styling: The Wedding Shed // Planning & Coordination: Byron Bay Weddings