Candy Land Carnival wedding published in Rock n Roll Bride

candy land carnival wedding

Stevie-Rae + Sammy’s Wedding – published in Rock n Roll Bride

13 / 04 / 19s
Words by Stevie-Rae Winter, Stylist +
Graphic Designer at Good Day Club

Stevie-Rae and Sammy’s Candy Land Carnival wedding was first pulished in Rock n Roll Bride issue 28 (now sold out). It was later posted on the Rock n Roll Bride blog as part of an article written by Good Day Club founder, Kate Forsyth.

All photos by Kristina Wild

This is going to be a long one, so grab some popcorn, pour yourself a cocktail/mocktail and lets get to it.

Holy f*ck, I can’t believe that it’s already been one whole year since Sammy + I said “I do” in front of all of our favourite people. If you would have asked me one year ago what I would be doing to celebrate this anniversary, I definitely wouldn’t have said ‘spending it at home in iso, going through our wedding photo’s and writing this blog post’, but hey, here we are so let’s make some lemonade.

Our photographer Kristina Wild, was the first vendor we booked. She was a non-negotiable, so we worked our date around her availability and my god I am so glad we did. She had shot a few of my friends’ weddings so we knew she was amazing, but still, we were totally blown away by what she created for us. Her energy is simply irresistible and she is beyond hilarious. Our day wouldn’t have been the same without her.

I could go on about Kristina’s work all day but I suppose I should start at the start! Like all the great love stories, Sammy and I met 8 years ago online. We were ‘friends’ for a few short months before we became full-time lovers. Since then we’ve spent most of our time together. We got engaged 3 years ago and then began the 2 year process of planning an epic love party.

Carlo from Lunar Red Films was our videographer.

Carlo did a kick ass job at capturing the day and creating a video that makes us laugh and cry at the same time. He worked effortlessly with Kristina, floating around and capturing moments that even I missed on the day.  If  I am completely honest, Sam and I weren’t sure if we needed videographer, but we are both so glad we spent those extra dollars because it’s now one of our most prized possession. We watch the video on the reg and it’s so nice to be able to relive our ceremony and speeches whenever we want.

If you and your partner are debating whether or not to spend the money on a videographer, then just watch our video, it will make the decision for you!

THE DESIGN

The second vendor we locked was Good Day Club. Of course!

Yep, that’s how I met Kate and the team. Sam and I went to their Sunshine West warehouse to check out their furniture and ended up sitting in the office, sipping on sparkling water and chatting with Kate about the billion or so styling ideas bouncing around in my head.

I fell in love with GDC on the spot! I was buzzing on the drive home from our first meeting and said to Sammy ‘that would be the BEST place to work because they have everything I love, retro furniture, rainbows and rad people!’ Flash forward 2 years and I am now the Graphic Designer and Stylist at GDC. Better love story than mine and Sammy’s right?

Kate and I sat down together a bunch of  times to discuss the growing pile of ideas I had and how we were going to pull them together. We both created our own mood boards separately then came back together to create 1 cohesive board full of all the things Sammy and I love most.

The theme we landed on was ‘Retro First Dates.’ Our biggest inspiration came from the movies and TV shows that Sammy and I watched together, where cute little couples go on cute little dates to carnivals and drive-ins and diners.  I also drew a lot of inspiration from all things mid-century and retro so we threw some 50’s and 60’s vibes into the design as well.

Lastly, Sammy and I have a huge collection of “Kitsch Krap” from our travels together, such as salt and pepper shakers, vases and weird little toys. We wanted to include these treasures in the design because they bring us joy, make our home ours and are very much a part of our style. 

Sammy and I are so glad that we chose to work with Kate and the team. Not only did our wedding turn out a million times better than I could have imagined, it was also an amazing learning experience for my early days at Good Day Club.

The perfect little venue and ceremony set-up

Our venue, The Estate Trentham, was the first venue we looked at. We loved it right away and thought why bother looking anywhere else. It turns out that having to make exactly 1 million decisions during the whole planning process turned us from indecisive people into people that can make a decision in 10 seconds flat and then swiftly move on. 

The Estate is a cosy little venue that has a backyard feel and lots of little nooks to style the shit out of. The guest limit was strictly 60 people, which was difficult at the time, but this made for a super intimate ceremony and reception where we got to spend precious time with each and every one of our guests.

We wanted guests to have a drink before and during the ceremony so we set up a little welcome bar with fairy floss, mojitos and vintage glassware and as you can see from the photo’s, Kate styled it to perfection.

We used the Totoro glitter arch as a base for an Electric Confetti neon sign and some epic flowers!

Megs of Good Grace And Humour was the wizard behind the flowers. She spent the morning harvesting greenery from Sammy’s parents farm and then using that to create the most epic floral pieces I’ve ever seen. My head piece and bouquet / hoop were made of completely dried florals so I’ve been able to keep them. The hoop takes pride of place on my lounge room wall so I get to enjoy it long beyond the day.

F*ck boring beers at weddings

After the ceremony, Sammy and I ducked out to sign our papers and make it official. While we were away guests enjoyed beers and canapes. Thanks the lovely staff from Lady Francesca and their cute vintage caravan and our mates from Mornington Peninsula Brewery, because f*ck boring beers at weddings.

Tattoo parlour and activities

Sammy and I wanted to make sure our guests had a lots of fun activities to enjoy during the day of our wedding. We both love tattoos so we created a tattoo parlour where I designed some flash sheets and turned them into temporary tattoos. We also filled a bath with plastic balls for people to play in and a kissing booth for the sneaky party pash.

Photo Booth Bath

Kissing Booth

Lounge areas + team work!

We were able to break up the venue into multiple spaces to accommodate the ceremony, the bar, the dining area, some lounge areas and a mega dance floor.

Kate and her team did the most amazing job of pulling it all together on the day. At one point my mum came in to my getting ready area and said ‘you should see Kate out there, that woman is a machine. She is running around getting shit done!’

Tables setting and dinosaurs

We hired all the vintage, mix-match tableware from Betty May Vintage, and our bright red napkins from Decor It. We hung rainbow bunting in the trees and the tables were lined with flowers by Megs at Good Grace and Humour. My dad made us some hot pink risers so that we could fit everything on the tables. We also collected dinosaur candle holders for the dining tables, which came in handy when the power went out half way through dinner! 

 Favours and flavours!

With the help of our friend Ebony at Red Hill Candle Co, we hand poured our candle favours for guests. We chose to make them champagne and pomegranate scent and were a huge hit. The best part was that we were able to take the left overs home and now, every time we burn one of them we think about the day!

Custom Graphics

Graphic design and signage is  best way to tie your wedding design together. For our wedding, I made mini zines for the invitation and created the signage on the day to go with the candy, retro, carnival vibes. I used a mix of fonts and styles and lots of bold and bright colours.

 The best damn food!

Mirjana is the artist behind Torte By Mirjana. She made us 3 stunning vegan cakes. Lemon + poppy seed, carrot cake and chocolate! They looked too good to eat, and I actually had a few people ask me if they were fake. The brief was Wes Anderson meets Marie Antoinette and Mirjana nailed it. (We’ve ordered another cake from Mirjana to celebrate our 1 year, because if we’re going to celebrate it in isolation, we’re going to do it with cake).

Food was a big one for us. We’re both huge foodie vegans. We watch way too many cooking shows and pride ourselves on our daggy dinner parties, so it was really important for us to find a caterer that could cook a mean vegan feast. We tried a few places and nothing was really a match for us. We eventually booked one of them and moved on. Then I met Naomi, boss b*tch from Fat and Skinny Catering. It was love at first bite… (roll eyes here). I met Naomi on a couple of photo shoots and I instantly felt like I had known her for years. She is one of my favourite people so when she said ‘cancel your caterer! I’m doing your wedding!’ I did as I was told.

Naomi kept all of our guests fed with vegan fried chicken, burgers, GARLIC BREAD POTATO GEMS, ‘meat’ balls and tofu bombs. I still have dreams about the food and would get a divorce and then marry again just to eat the shit out of it one more time.

THE HAPPY SNAPS!

 You’ve seen the set-up, now it’s time to see it in action.

GETTING READY

My bridesmaids, Amy and Liana did my hair and makeup. It was so nice to spend the morning getting ready together, hanging out, snacking and listening to tunes. I was so worried that my stylist brain would take over on the day and I would be out in the garden moving furniture and trying to make the neon signs hang straight… but instead I was so relaxed and care free that when people came running in to ask me how I wanted the napkins folded I said ‘do whatever you want.’ 

Our rings are the love child of a few nights of beer and Mexican food with our friend Kristin Bentley. Kristin is the brains behind Midnight Kiss Jewellery and one of Sammy’s grooms people. We told her we like hearts and starbursts and diamonds and signets and she came up with the perfect pair of finger bling for us.

FIRST LOOK

Sammy and I did a first look before the ceremony and had already spent quite some time together that morning with our wedding party so by the time the ceremony came around we were both feeling very relaxed.

CEREMONY

Sammy made a grand entrance with his grooms people and then hung around for a drink before our celebrant called him up to stand at the top of the aisle. Our flower-people were my niece and nephew, they wore matching denim jackets and threw coloured popcorn as they walked down the aisle with their mum. Our wedding party wore a mix-match of colours and styles. We wanted everyone’s individual style to shine through.

I walked myself  halfway down the aisle before my mum and dad joined me to walk me the rest of the way. It was such a special moment that I hold very close to my heart.

Dee from Marry Me Dee did the most amazing job of stringing together our tipsy ramblings from our meetings with her and turning it into a heartfelt ceremony that people still talk about to me one year later. The whole process was easy, just a few friends hanging out and then Dee turning that into a beautiful and personal ceremony. Dee did a perfect job of balancing humour and raw emotion while telling everyone our love story.

PORTRAITS

Right after the first look, Kristina + Carlo took us out to get our portraits done. This was actually one of my favourite parts of the day.

We were all laughing so hard and having so much fun pretending that we weren’t just a bunch of kids dressed up as adults, getting married!

It got Sammy and I super relaxed and excited for the rest of the day, and it meant that we didn’t have to head out during the reception to get photos done.

RECEPTION

One of my best mates, Lori of Loved by Lori was our MC/Co-ordinator/5th bridesmaid. She made the day run smoothly and got shit done for us! 

Lori helped co-ordinate the transition from ceremony > cocktail hour > dinner > cake cutting > speeches > first dance > dance time.

The party really got started when the whole wedding party, and a few extras broke into a choreographed dance routine to Bruno Mars’ Treasure.

MINI Q+A

What is the one thing you wish you’d know about planning a wedding before you began?

There’s a lot of little elements to consider and organise. Just when you think you’ve sorted everything, another thing will pop up. Just remember that you don’t HAVE to do everything / anything. Just pick and choose the pieces that are most important to you both and put your time and energy into those.

Oh and don’t pop confetti cannons outside. Our romantic “day after” turned into a day of picking up shiny love heart confetti from the garden and gravel driveway with a big bunch of friends.

What was your favourite part of the wedding?

Sammy: Marrying each other in front of all of our favourite people… and the speeches! They were ace.

Stevie-Rae: Two of my favourite moments were seeing Sammy for the first time, (he looked SO handsome in his red suit) and sitting next to my new husband at dinner and watching all of our favourite people tuck into their dinner. It was so nice to see all of our favourite people in one place.

What was the best thing about planning your wedding?

Sammy: The people! All of our vendors feel like family now. We had the most incredible team on board that made wedding planning super fun and super exciting.

Vendors

Photography: Kristina Wild
Videographer: Lunar Red Films
Officiant: Marry Me Dee
Co-ordinator / MC: Lori Swanton of Loved By Lori
Venue: The Estate Trentham
Styling and Furniture: Good Day Club
Flowers + Headpiece: Good Grace And Humour
Catering: Fat And Skinny Catering
Bar: Lady Francesca
Cake: Torte By Mirjana
Stationery: Stevie Winter Creates
Tableware: Betty May Vintage Hire
Napkins: Decor It
Favours: Red Hill Candle Co
Neon signs: Electric confetti via Good Day Club
Drinks: Mornington Peninsula Brewery

Stevie-Rae’s Outfit:
Dress: Allure Bridals from Raffaele Ciuca Bridal
Jackets: Boohoo + DIY
Shoes: Kate Spade
Headpiece: Good Grace And Humour + Calamity Tash
Jewellery: Coffee And Burritos
Brooches: Polly In Bloom
Rings: Midnight Kiss Jewellery

Make Up: Liana Milne
Hair: Amy Stopper

Sammy’s Outfit:
Suit + Shirt: ASOS Design
Tie: Noose And Monkey

Bridesmaid Dresses / Grooms people suits: ASOS Design

FEATURED FURNITURE

Here’s a few of the key pieces that I selected for the day. The furniture I chose kept up with those doll house vibes, in the same colour palette; luxury velvets, lots of baroque / vintage pieces.