Grace + James
Wedding Date: 19th October 2019
Venue: The Oval, Waves Campground, Crescent Head
Grace and James are two of the most chilled people we have ever met. They have this kind of love that radiates through everyone that surrounds them. All of their mates were involved in the wedding in some way which created this really connected and loved up event.
Turns out love was just around the corner
On ANZAC Day 2013 Grace and friend went to the local pub down the road from Graces’s house. Just so happens that this local pub was also Jame’s local pub!
Grace & James got chatting after their friends had struck up a conversation. It turned out that the pair lived only 500 meters away from each other. From this impromptu meeting they continued to date before moving in together in a beachside apartment. They had a good few years travelling and living the life until - they found out they were expecting twins! They had a rough start to parenthood with the twins being born at 27 weeks, then it was adjusting to life with them to following year. Grace says “However [even with the difficult start], the girls made us a family!”
An extra special surprise
“I actually didn’t think we would ever get married – things are different with kids! So, it was a massive shock when James proposed.”
“He had inherited his great grandmother’s engagement ring and had apparently been hiding it for about 6 months. When I was away for a Hens weekend, he drove up the coast and asked my parents to marry me (so sweet!). The next weekend we went back to my home town and he somehow convinced me to go for a walk on the beach on a winter’s night. He proposed on the beach. I still can’t quite believe it. It was perfect.” - Grace
A venue location perfect for this relaxed couple’s style & theme
The couple live in Newcastle, but James is originally from Far North Queensland and Grace is from the Mid North Coast of NSW. They thought it was going to be tricky to find a venue location that would fit all of their friends and family together, that was accessible and accommodation was easy. Their inspritation was to simply have as many of their friends and family as possible together for a weekend. Simple, kid friendly and relaxed.
“The weekend we got engaged we were going to a wedding. On the way up we drove past the turn off to Crescent Head and started googling venues. We had been camping around Delicate Nobby for a few years and stayed in Crescent for our first holiday with the girls. It was always our favourite place to holiday. When we got a hold of Kit at Waves, it sounded too good to be true. We ended up visiting Waves after the wedding on our trip home and fell in love. There was no question after that and we booked it a few days later.
They didn’t want to spend too much time on décor or theme, however they didn’t need to. The Oval at Waves is beautiful as it is. They had seen photos of a previous wedding held there – done by us. “Between the crew at Waves and the ladies at Salt & Wildflowers we essentially planned it all in one walk through” - Grace.
Simple and sweet ceremony
Grace & James were very fortunate to have most of their vendors as friends! Grace’s primary school best mate is a celebrant and another is an artist, James’ good friend is an incredible wedding photographer and also has a mate who is one of their favourite musicians. After they had booked in Waves and us they locked in all the others as soon as possible.
Their ceremony was simple and light-hearted. Grace’s friend, Kate - the celebrant, wrote the whole ceremony to be tailored to her friends, while the couple wrote their own vows. Kate kept the laughter rolling and made the couple feel at ease as Grace says they were feeling super nervous about speaking to a crowd. “We mostly wanted to spend time with our guests which worked well for our little ceremony. I’m pretty sure one of our girls ended up grabbing the microphone to have her say, too.” - Grace.
They kept the ceremony styling simple by using the natural beauty of the bush as their backdrop and the driveway as a relaxed aisle.
James had created a playlist so they had a special song for each part of the ceremony. Grace walked down the aisle to Holocene by Bon Iver. They signed the papers to Only Love by Ben Howard and Flowers In Your Hair by The Lumineers, and rather than a walk out they had a massive group hug at the end of the ceremony to Love Me Do by The Beatles!
Being off grid means being prepared
The whole wedding was held at The Oval at Waves. This was one of the reasons the couple loved the venue - “So straight after the ceremony we could start the reception and say hello to everyone.” - Grace.
The Oval is completely off grid but this allowed flexibility to the couple to organise many of the provisions themselves. We organised the marquee, chairs, festoon lights and white bunting and supported them with other aspects of their day. Seafolk painted beautiful bespoke signs which led the guests through the campground to The Oval. Waves provided the picnic tables which James and his friends set out and dressed with simple table clothes and tea lights.
The couple made a “comfort table” with things like sunscreen, bug spray and hand sanitizer. They decorated the entry way with battery-operated tea lights, which looked beautiful at night. They had a kids table with bubbles, toys and treats since there were many little ones attending. They also made cheeseboards as the appetisers. They sourced all the supplies from Harris Farm Markets in Newcastle and Grace’s sister in law brought them up the day before. All the equipment for the cheeseboards came from Kmart, which they then gave to guests and sold the rest as a party package on Gumtree.
Catering was supplied by the onsite legends Katie & Scott from Fronds Food Co. AKA Surf Fuel Café. These guys provided dinner for the wedding.
For dinner we had:
Apple and Fennel Slaw
Beetroot, Lentil and Zucchini Salad
Smoked McLeay Valley Beef and Pork
Garlic Portobello Mushrooms
With Breads and Condiments
Late night tea and coffee
For the Recovery Day, Katie and Scott made epic Bacon and Egg Rolls (avo/aoli/hash brown/greens) and Muesli Cups. As well as – and I quote – “the best coffee outside of Melbourne”. They also created a special à la carte menu the night before the wedding for family and friends to catch up at Waves.
The couple’s brothers in law also put on a late-night sausage sizzle at the wedding!
All things bridal
“Our wedding was on a budget. The dress was probably going to get dirty from the girls and I knew I didn’t want to spend weekends at Bridal Boutiques. These things really helped me narrow my search. I have always loved The Reformation after coming across them on a trip to New York. One of my bridesmaids had one of their dresses, and which I tried on to check the quality and my sizing. After that I ordered my dress from the US - it fit, it was comfortable, and it was a good price. Done!”
“[For my shoes] I was originally going to have a simple white heel, but I just couldn’t see myself in something uncomfortable for a whole day. A girlfriend had told me about Bared Footwear a while back which are designed by podiatrists, without looking like grandmas shoes. They have beauuuuutiful colours and I found an emerald green velvet pair which matched my ring. I fell in love with them and that was that.” - Grace
Brides Dress: Verbena Dress from The Reformation.
Brides Shoes: The Lorikeet from Bared Footwear.
Brides jewellery: “I didn’t get a wedding band as my engagement ring was more than enough. My mum sneakily bought me some beautiful, local handmade earings (Venus Hoops from Made By A). They are really special. Thanks Mum.” - Grace.
Too many moments to pick one…
Did you have a first dance? “We weren’t intending to have one, but Dan [The musician mate] dedicated Elvis’ Cant Help Falling In Love and it was perfect.”
Was there one standout memorable moment? “Oh, so many! The weather? We couldn’t have asked for a better day. Ryan throwing petals as we walked down the isle, walking down with my best friends, parents and babies, seeing James (and our dog, Wilber), hugging everyone, dancing with my Grandpa, dancing all night. The music, our incredible MC Boyd, the speeches, seeing all the kids playing around, the fire pit, the lights. I could go on. Even the recovery day was brilliant.”
Photography & Videography
The ingenious Nicola Lemmon was the couple’s photographer. Grace said “We locked Nicola in the same day we booked Waves. She’s in demand and we had to have her. She helped us so much planning our day, including her wedding prep booklet and suggestion to have speeches in the afternoon for better lighting! She’s seamless, natural and can make anyone laugh. She went above and beyond with our edits and we cherish every photo she took. 10/10 do recommend.”
The couple had another talented friend Mia from Eyes Wide Imaging. She filmed the entire day with her babies in tow and while her partner was a groomsman. “Thank you Mia!” - Grace
All the other bits…
Groom’s outfit: Clothes by Industrie, Shoes by R.M. Williams. “I LOVED James’ sage green jacket. An impulse purchase that was one of my favourite parts of the wedding.” - Grace.
Bridesmaid dresses & accessories: “All different! Another one of my favourite parts of the wedding. I had originally asked them to choose their own dress in colours from ivory – pink, and this was just was too difficult to coordinate as we lived all over the world. With James’ green jacket and the bouquets, I made a snap decision to change the girls to whites and ivory about 6 weeks from the wedding. I am so glad I did. I absolutely loved how my girls looked (and Ryan the bridesman). They wore their own necklaces and rings, and I bought them all different hoops from Saint Mimi in Crescent Head. Another beautiful and local business.” - Grace.
Hair: Jacky from Choa Bella came to our house in Crescent Head the morning of the wedding and did all of the girls hair. “She was amazing, I am so grateful to her.” - Grace
Make up: Xenia Elise Grace says “ a massive effort for her. She did 9 of us girls before 1pm! I feel so lucky she agreed to paint us up.”
Cake: Grace’s lovely friend – Trish Dunn. “She made us a white mud cake and gluten free cup cakes. They were gone in about 1.3 seconds. Rave reviews!!” - Grace
Who was your Florist and why did you chose your flowers? Ellerslie Flowers. “Leanne came recommended from the Salt & Wildflowers team and did a beautiful job. I wanted native greenery for the bouquets, and she suggested a few pops of white in mine. I trusted her eye and it delivered. I loved the clean, simple and fresh look she designed. It worked so well at the venue and with the bridal party’s colours.”
Entertainment: Dan Southward played a set during dinner. “He and James chose the songs and he surprised us for our first dance with Cant Help Falling In Love by Elvis. Ill never forget it. We also had a bit of an open mike with songs by our talented friends Kylie Jane and Boatkeeper, as well as James’ little sister Bronte.”
Stationary: The brilliant Seafolk. "“Rosy illustrated designs for our invites and wedding website, which we provided online using Squarespace, and designed bespoke signage around the wedding for the big day. Forever grateful!”
Anything else?
“It really was key having Salt and Wildflowers on board. They did all the heavy lifting before and after the wedding and Mel was the calm point of organisation for us when guests arrived and to ensure everything was running on time. Their local knowledge was also vital and saved me having to drive up to Crescent and organise hire and vendors through the year.
Also a special shout out to the incredible crew at Waves. Kit and Anna run such a good gang there, they are so passionate about their environment and space and took such good care with us in planning and hosting the wedding. Without them, the day couldn’t have happened.
We just feel so lucky and so happy with how everything turned out, it was better than we could have ever imagined. Thanks again Salt & Wildflowers!”
xx
- Grace& James
