By
images by beaux art co
"We meet in chemistry class in year 11 of High school, where we had our first conversation about marriage, it was a ‘friendly’ debate. You could say our intellectual chemistry was undeniable." Moana tells of how she and Storm first met.
After two and half years together, it was after Storm’s birthday dinner they went for a walk under the stars and 5 minutes in, Storm stops and gets down on one knee, asks me if I could give him his last Birthday present and agree to be his Wife. Moana giggles as she says "I told you it was corny, but of course I said yes."
what led you to decide on Maleny Retreat for your Wedding venue? Having worked in events before, we had the pleasure of working at Maleny Retreat together, before we even engaged and we had both said it was the perfect site for a wedding. Funnily enough we chose our first venue because it reminded us of our dream venue. 6 months before the wedding after our first venue had fallen through, we looked at countless venues but none of them lived up to our expectations. When it came down to it, we wouldn’t say it was easy, but we felt like it was meant to be, so we made some wriggle room in our budget and that was that. We were getting married at Maleny Retreat.
what was the inspiration behind your Wedding theme? Storm and I wanted to feel like everything was personalised and authentically us. We knew we wanted to DIY, it helped that we are both creative and are surrounded by many talented and creative friends and family who were more than happy to help us with our polished, folksy BoHo vision.
favourite detail: The personal touches, everywhere we looked around on the day we could see where my family or friends had helped us create not only an incredibly beautiful day but a personal celebration dedicated to the both of us. The signs took Storm’s sister weeks to paint, the flowers were done the night before by one of our talented bridesmaids and myself, my mother spent hours creating beautiful ceramic love heart favours, the cake was decorated by my mother-in-law. It was theses details that bought everyone together, not only on the day but leading up to it.
tell us about your dress: I always knew I would never wear white, because I wanted to be just a little off beat. I was originally looking for something in grey and searched the internet, but nothing struck me. My sister in law and I went to my first wedding dress appointment at LUV Bridal where the lovely consultant encouraged us to look around and select three dresses that caught our eye and she could work off that. I was instantly drawn to a strapless dress with a nude underlay and ivory lace. So along with my two other choices, we were in the capable hands of my Bridal consultant. Before trying any on she asked me which dress was my favourite; so I held up the nude one by Maddi Lane, and she responded with ‘Oh, the ‘Storm’ dress.’ What are the chances? I tried it on and surprise surprise! Just like my fiancé, I knew that Storm was the one for me.
what resources helped you the most during your Wedding planning? We drew inspiration from what we loved from all the events we had been to together and the countless wedding videos Moana would put on the TV every chance she got, including videos from our videographer Luna films. We took all of that inspo and put our signature Moana and Storm spin on it all.
favourite detail: The personal touches, everywhere we looked around on the day we could see where my family or friends had helped us create not only an incredibly beautiful day but a personal celebration dedicated to the both of us. The signs took Storm’s sister weeks to paint, the flowers were done the night before by one of our talented bridesmaids and myself, my mother spent hours creating beautiful ceramic love heart favours, the cake was decorated by my mother-in-law. It was theses details that bought everyone together, not only on the day but leading up to it.
tell us about your dress: I always knew I would never wear white, because I wanted to be just a little off beat. I was originally looking for something in grey and searched the internet, but nothing struck me. My sister in law and I went to my first wedding dress appointment at LUV Bridal where the lovely consultant encouraged us to look around and select three dresses that caught our eye and she could work off that. I was instantly drawn to a strapless dress with a nude underlay and ivory lace. So along with my two other choices, we were in the capable hands of my Bridal consultant. Before trying any on she asked me which dress was my favourite; so I held up the nude one by Maddi Lane, and she responded with ‘Oh, the ‘Storm’ dress.’ What are the chances? I tried it on and surprise surprise! Just like my fiancé, I knew that Storm was the one for me.
what resources helped you the most during your Wedding planning? We drew inspiration from what we loved from all the events we had been to together and the countless wedding videos Moana would put on the TV every chance she got, including videos from our videographer Luna films. We took all of that inspo and put our signature Moana and Storm spin on it all.
Moana: When I FINALLLY got to walk down the aisle
Storm: Dancing crazily with all my friends and family and somehow ending up in a circle dance to Down Under by Men at Work
what does marriage mean to you?
Moana: Marriage means washing and brushing Storm’s crazy hair when he is too tired. I mean I also get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend/favourite person/adventure buddy/hubby. I think that’s pretty amazing and exciting.
Storm: It means a promise to listen when your partner needs to talk and to promise to try to fix all their problems even if they insist they just want to vent, it means to kiss them first thing in the morning and when I get home from work at night but not enough to wake them because she is definitely asleep, it means to not be able to imagine your next adventure without them. Oh, and patience, marriage also means patience.
any funny stories from the day? During the bridal party photos, we had a bouquet tossing incident, resulting in a slight head injury for one of the bridesmaids when the bouquet landed stem first on her head, and of course some great photos.
advice for other couples planning a Wedding? Have fun with it! Don’t be afraid to DIY, it can bring an even more personal touch to the big day. It’s your day and there are no rules, so get creative. Also, add in an extra half an hour for photos you won’t regret it.
any stand out vendors for the day? Levi from Beaux Art Co, our amazing photographer and Kristen the videographer from Luna Fims. We genuinely had so much fun when we went off for photos, we felt like we were with friends. We were totally comfortable and couldn’t stop laughing. I mean what other photographer gets you to whisper your favourite vegetable seductively into your new wife’s ear?
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Moana & Storm - Wedding Highlights Film from Luna Films on Vimeo.
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BEAUX ART CO
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Wedding songs:
Aisle song: How long will I love you – Ellie Goulding
Recessional and first dance songs were Best Night by Vaudeville Smash
Wedding songs:
Aisle song: How long will I love you – Ellie Goulding
Recessional and first dance songs were Best Night by Vaudeville Smash
Dress: Maddi Lane @madilanebridal // Rings: Custom Jewellery Co. @customjewelleryco // Hair: Olivia Kate Hair @oliviakatehair // Makeup: Tasleema Nigh Makeup @tasleemanighmakeup // Flowers: Bride and Bridesmaids // Venue: Maleny Retreat Weddings @malenyretreatweddings // Photographer: Beaux Art Co. @beauxartco // Videographer: Luna Films @luna.films // Celebrant: Kath Tilly Celebrant @kathtilly_celebrant // Tent: Sperry Tents Sunshine Coast @sperrytents_sunshinecoast // Art + Embroidered signs: Mon Ellis @_mon_ellis // Catering: Lavish Platters @lavishplatters and the Paella Fella @paellafella.sunshinecoast // Furniture Hire: First Class Functions @first_class_functions // Groom and Groomsman Attire: Roger David @roger_david // Cake: Flour of Life Bakery @flouroflifeofficial // Styling and AV: Bride and Groom
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