Stones of the Yarra Valley Wedding of Ayesha and Corey

Tell me about the beginning!

We officially met on a camping trip with Ethan and Chelsea when Corey was in Year 8 and Ayesha was in Year 9. From this first meeting, Ayesha thought little of Corey and his mop of hair, and Corey was more interested in chopping wood and eating snacks than girls at the time. Fast forward to Ayesha and Chelsea’s joint 21st birthday, and by then an almost adult Corey realised girls were pretty neat and reconnected with Ayesha.

Shortly after, Ayesha had moved in with Chelsea and Ethan, which Corey was coming around on the occasion to go on motorcycle rides with Ethan. They soon became aware of each other and started hanging out as friends at the Thompson house. However, it wasn’t until one night when Corey was supposed to be playing Xbox with Ethan that Ayesha randomly jumped on instead. Funnily enough, the game they begun playing together was called ‘Destiny’.

After more conversations and long nights texting each other, Corey decided to ask Ayesha out. However, before he even got the chance, Ayesha told him that she wasn’t ready for a relationship. Crushed, Corey hit the gym with his friend Tom (who told Corey to care less about women and more about lifting) and decided to give Ayesha some space, deciding girls weren’t so neat after all.

After some weeks later, Corey and Ayesha begun talking again, back to their usual selves. Ayesha then decided that she was in fact ready for a relationship and begun dropping very obvious hints that she wanted to go out with Corey. Corey being the oblivious man that he is at times, took far longer than expected to finally ask her out.

When and where did you get engaged?

We got engaged at the Warburton Redwoods in late June 2022. Corey had set up a little secluded spot out of the main area with fairy lights with photos of him and Ayesha together attached to them, and a small picnic. His friends Carly (also Ayesha’s bestie) and Fraser helped orchestrate the set up and were hiding in a bush nearby to surprise Ayesha after he had proposed as well.

What style/theme have you chosen for your Wedding Day?

We are leaning into the elegance and class Stones of the Yarra Valley exudes, alongside bringing in hints of the Italian countryside since the vineyard is inspired from there. Think single-stem roses, lots of candles, everyone in classy suits and dresses, and little limoncello bottles, that kind of vibe is what we wanted.

What are you most looking forward to on the day?

Seeing all our hard work putting this event together culminate into one of the most special days of our lives, which we get to share with our cherished friends and family. Also the gelati cart we have planned should be amazing too.

Top Tips!

Where to start? While wedding planning may feel daunting, it was made easier (for both of us) due to several reasons. Firstly, Corey was a massive help throughout the process. It wasn’t a one-woman army, and that helped alleviate a lot of the stress planning the wedding. Obviously not everyone’s situation is like this, however, as he likes to put it, “If I am paying for half the wedding, I want to make sure at least half of it is stuff that I like too.”.

Secondly, from the moment we decided to start wedding planning, we dedicated a particular night of the week to it – which was Wednesdays. So every Wednesday we’d do some wedding research, booking stuff in, planning various bit and pieces, etc. for a couple hours. This made it easy to chip away at it all, rather than having to rush it in one big go.