Yarra Valley Estate Wedding of Alex and Shane

Tell me about your The Beginning!
We net at Kings pool house (now known as General Public) October 2016.
Shane did not like Alex as she referred to him as Vanilla ( my friend introduced him as the person she ate a whole Safeway vanilla mudcake with) which put Shane on the backfoot immediately. Shane had recently come out of a relationship and Alex was certainly not looking for the life We both said to our mutual friends we would be quite happy never to see each other again after that day!

When and where did you get engaged?
Shane tossed around a few ideas, I thought about getting her a puppy and having a ring also to propose at the same time. But then I thought after the letter story and applying for the role of her boyfriend that I should apply for a promotion from boyfriend to husband to be. So I wrote a letter and kept that until I could find the right time to do it. I was going to take her out to a nice dinner on her bday and give her the letter. Then I thought I cannot do it on her bday cause in the worst case scenario, her bday is ruined forever. So I decided on the Sunday before her bday when she was out with Lauren that I would do it that day. I texted Lauren and said that we were on and im doing it today. So I went out and bought flowers, I think for the only the second time, I lit candles around the living room and kitchen of our house. Dressed up in a suit, with the letter, the bunch of flowers and my sexy self waiting for her to enter. I made a playlist to play in the background while she came in and figured out what was going on. I gave her the letter and told her to read it. I then got down on one knee and asked ‘Alexandra Emma Leigh Smyth, will you marry me?”She said yes and then awkwardly starting laughing (due to shock) and then continuously told me to take the ring back it was too much. There was a ring. Earlier in the year I asked her father for permission whilst drunk at her brother’s 21st. then 2 days later her mother told me that whenever I wanted the ring tell just ask her and she will sort it out for me.

What style/theme have you chosen for your Wedding Day?
Dark and moody like our souls haha. Actually it is modern/laid back with a sprinkle of traditional thrown in. Shane didn’t want to get married at a winery and i didn’t want to get married at a golf course so we were looking for something a bit different and that is when we found the open air chapel at YVE. Loved the chapel and the dining hall which we have transformed into this moody, romantic room with the largest amount of candles we could find and little nods to our love of entertaining at home and important people in our lives.

What are you most looking forward to on the day?
Shane – Having me as his wife (god he is good)
Alex – Celebrating our relationship with everyone and committing to one another for the long haul!

Top Tips!
– Never too early to start planning (Just ask Rick how early i annoyed him)
– work out what strengths you both have and use them during wedding planning. It’s nice working together on the big day.
– get a planner, whether it be from start to finish or on the day planning. The additional set of eyes and knowledge is amazing to have
– Pick vendors you vibe with, it makes everything that much better!
– Never forget, your day your way! It is you who will remember it all and how every decision and outcome made you feel. You are doing this to celebrate your love not to please everyone else.