MODERN BLOOMS BY THE OCEAN

Danni and Nick were married in Shoreham at a private property that belongs to Nick’s dad’s partner. A gorgeous, sprawling property that sits at the base of the Mornington Peninsula with the most incredible views of the ocean and that quintessential Mornington breeze.

Read on to find out all about their loved up day that was super authentic to them!

Tell me a little bit about yourselves - how you met, and how you became engaged?

Nick and I met on Hinge at the start of summer in 2019. A few years later, we were at my grandma’s and went for an early morning walk. We were doing a slow lap of the community garden - a special place to me - and Nick pulled a ring wrapped in a tissue out of his pocket and proposed. It is still the best surprise I’ve ever had!

What did you draw on for inspiration for your wedding florals and styling? Why were flowers important to your day?

Flowers were always going to be an important part of our day. I love how they bring spaces (and outfits) to life. However, finding reference images for what I had in mind was actually really tricky. After scouring Pinterest and Instagram, nothing was jumping out. The vision was always a combination of green and soft whites and I knew I wanted some fun, quirky flowers in the mix. 

What drew you to working with Whimsy Frank?

From her previous works, it was clear that Jacinta has an incredible eye for detail and a natural instinct for what works well together. She has a unique, creative, and playful approach to assembling flowers, and I felt confident she would be able to nail our brief. I look back at the photos from our wedding and still think they’re more beautiful than anything I ever saw when I was researching and planning. 

What special moments did you incorporate into your day that represented you two, or a special memory with loved ones?

We had lots of special people walk down the aisle which was very important to us. It was a way to honour those relationships and feel surrounded by love from the very start of the ceremony.

How did you land on your venue? What sealed the deal, and what were you looking for in your venue?

A family member kindly offered to host our wedding at their property early on in our engagement. We dreamt of getting married outside, surrounded by nature, and this special place – where the bush meets the sea – was perfect.

Were there any moments that were unexpectedly magic on the day?

Surprisingly, the cake cutting turned out to be one of those unexpectedly magical moments. Right afterwards, the dance floor started and it suddenly felt like a big party. It was such a fun transition and really set the tone for the rest of the night.

How did you find the planning process overall? What was your plan of attack?

When we first got engaged we didn’t know where to begin but we had a very helpful wedding planning consult with Jacinta who helped us sort out bigger picture things. From there, our plan of attack was to chat, dream, get aligned on things and then divide and conquer. This meant we split the vendor communication between the two of us — from queries to payments there can be quite a bit of back and forth so splitting it equally worked well. And a few weeks out, we got an on the day coordinator on board - this was a game changer.

Any advice for couples who are engaged?

I suppose I’d say to start with how you want the day/your guests to feel and use that as a guide as you make your decisions. From the start we knew wanted the day to feel relaxed, wholesome, joyful and celebratory. This really helped us with planning the flow of the day. For us, wedding planning was mostly exciting and fun but it did become a bit daunting at times, especially since neither of us had planned a big event before. To avoid the planning becoming overwhelming or all-consuming, we made a rule to tackle one thing at a time—whether that was flowers, ceremony, music, food—and anything else that came up was parked for later. It was a two-year engagement so we’d go months at a time without sitting down to plan, but then we’d do big bursts where we’d get a lot done. Real talk: towards the end, the jobs and errands felt never-ending... but now being on the other side, and truly having the happiest day of our lives, we both feel it was worth every second of work. 

Photos by Mardy at All My Wednesdays