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You guys…. I am crushing hard, like real hard!  Storyboard Wedding favorite Australian wedding photographers Heart and Colour are back with another gem that has seriously got me beyond smitten!  The Byron Bay Australia Wedding of Elaina & Ben O’Shea is a virtual love letter to the beautiful things in life.  Never mind the gorgeous surroundings that the Byron Bay area is know for, Elaina & Ben set to task putting a day together that was a much chic & sophisticated as it was down to earth.  Uniquely Australian country locale, Harvest Cafe, featuring organic detailing in the form of terrarium centerpieces and suspended greens, check.  Bold vibrant floral arrangements from Wedding Flowers By Julia Rose that injected the perfect amount of whimsy & drama, check.  Wedding fashion that is dialed to 10 in all areas, check!  Two smitten kittens who literally can not take a bad photograph together, CHECK!  From the gorgeous bridal fashion, did we mention Elaina’s wedding dress was a custom design from Kerry Xynias Bespoke Bridal (so incredibly gorgeous I can’t even) to the poured on beautiful rose gold J’Adore bridesmaid dresses, you’d think that was already enough!  Not to be out dressed, the men donned beautifully fitted custom suits in navy from Black Jacket Suiting and scored the coolest ride ever, borrowed from a close friend, a vintage VW bus that even boasted the couple’s names!  There are so many sweet little details to this Byron Bay Australia Wedding, that the beauty is truly discovering them as you go.

Novella of the Bride…

We met through a friend after Ben heard about a girl who liked to go four wheel driving, fishing and camping. We dated for just over a year before we went our separate ways with Elaina going out to the mines for work and Ben staying in Brisbane to work in the family business. Eighteen months later, out of the blue Ben contacted me to catch up and to explain that he still very much cared for me. Twelve months after that we took the boat out on a perfect flat day to Moreton Island and climbed the sand dunes as we had done many times before. It was at the top that Ben asked me if “I would take him to be my wife”. After a brief response from myself, stating that that’s not what he was supposed to say, Ben rephrased and I said yes. Nine months later we celebrated surrounded by family and our closest friends, in a day (and weekend) that was about the joining of two families not just the joining of us as husband and wife.

We didn’t want a big city wedding. We are normally a pretty laid back couple and we wanted our day to be like this. We wanted a lush setting whilst keeping it simple. When we drove down to Newrybar to see Harvest and Newrybar Downs, we took a drive around the area, we knew without a doubt that it was the perfect place for us to celebrate. When we saw St Martin’s, especially the inside, we fell in love and knew it was that special place for us to have our ceremony. St Martin’s has wonderful acoustics which complimented the Greek Ceremony, which is sung.

There were four things we wanted our wedding to be when we looked back. We wanted our day to be about family, great food, good wine and to reflect Elaina’s Greek heritage. We didn’t want to create a day just about us. We wanted to create a weekend about the joining of two families. We chose a beautiful estate to spend the weekend on with both our families and we chose Harvest for our reception and their provincial banquet because there is nothing that brings people together like sharing a beautiful meal of many plates. We introduced Elaina’s Greek heritage by having a Greek

Ceremony and by using olive leaves as part of the floral arrangements, on the invitations and for our confetti as we left the church. The look and feel came together based on items we really loved. Lots of bursts of colour, simple but beautiful terrariums used as place settings and the bonbonniere,and little whimsical gardens for our centre pieces.

A Little Help From Their Friends ~ Our mother’s helped us with planting all the terrariums which we used as the place settings and the bonboniere. Our dear friend Nathan, offered to drive his Kombi as the Grooms car. We didn’t know at the time that he was going to add special touches like painting our names on his car and adding vintage suitcases to the roof.

Favorite Moments ~ When we saw each other at the church for the first time. Both trying not to cry but Ben failing. Then as we started the ceremony, Ben turned to me and made a joke. I knew that even with the traditional formalities of the Greek ceremony unfolding around us, that we were still us and we were starting our married life still laughing at each others jokes. It seemed a perfect way to start our forever.

Vendor Love

Photographer: Heart and Colour | Ceremony: St Martin’s Anglican Parish, Mullumbimby  | Reception: Harvest Cafe, Newrybar  | Wedding Dress: Kerry Xynias Bespoke Bridal  | Bridesmaid Dresses: Jadore  | Shoes: Guess  | Hair + Makeup: Allure Hair and Makeup  | Groom’s Attire: Black Jacket Suiting  | Invitations: Cara Maria Designs  | Transportation: Groom’s Car: Kombi – Friend’s, Bridal Car: Kenz Classic  | Music: Hamilton Band  | Lighting: North Coast Events  | Florist: Wedding Flowers By Julia Rose  | Caterer + | Baker: Sweet Obsessions for Harvest  | Wedding/Event Planner: Little Details