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The Offbeat Bride: Hannah
Her offbeat partner: Mick, Transactional Service
Date and location of wedding: Semara Uluwatu, Uluwatu, Bali — March 8, 2014
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
We are a city boy and country girl who have ridden in tandem across the world. I fell in love with Mick's passionate pursuit of the childhood nostalgia that comes with traveling by bicycle. He found a vintage ladies touring bike in England when riding in Europe for a summer which he brought home to Melbourne. Together, Mick and I shared our weekends together cycling along the banks of the Yarra. We wanted to include that passion into the theme of the wedding.
We chose to have a country party at my family home in East Gippsland before the wedding as an engagement celebration. To incorporate some of the bicycle theme, we had a bike with a basket full of drinks and lovely homemade cupcakes made by our good friend Jennifer Staite.
We fell in love with Semara Uluwatu while staying at Mick's parents house in Bali last year. I have always loved the beach, so it was the perfect location and a great way to meet Mick's extended family who live in Indonesia.
Mick and his dad also sang a beautiful version of “What a Wonderful World” at the reception.
Tell us about the ceremony:
Our friend adapted Edward Monkton's “A Lovely Love Story” to reflect our relationship. Mick is the shy dinosaur and Hannah the colourful other dinosaur:
“A Colourful Love Story”
Once there lived a shy Dinosaur who lived in his cage of ice.
Although it was cold, he was happy there, it was after all his home.
Then one day, a colourful other dinosaur melted the dinosaur's cage with laughter and loving warmth.
‘I like this dinosaur,' thought the colourful other dinosaur. ‘Although he is shy, he is also tender and he loves food like me.'
‘He is also quite clever, although I will not tell him that for now.'
‘I like this colourful other dinosaur,' thought the dinosaur. ‘She is beautiful, she is different, and she is passionate. She is also a free spirit, which is a quality I much admire in a dinosaur.'
‘But he can be peculiar at times, and so overly fond of bicycles,' thought the colourful other dinosaur. Are all dinosaurs so overly fond of things on two wheels?
‘But her mind skips here to there so quickly,' thought the dinosaur. ‘She is also uncommonly friendly and keen on talking to strangers. Are all colourful other dinosaurs so uncommonly keen on talking to strangers?'
‘I will forgive his peculiarity and fondness of bicycles,' thought the colourful other dinosaur. ‘For they are part of what makes him a richly charactered individual.'
‘I will forgive her skipping mind and fondness for talking to strangers,' thought the dinosaur.
‘For she fills our life with beautiful handmade things and wonderful surprises.'
Now the dinosaur and the colourful other dinosaur are old and together they cycle along, feeling the warmth of the sun on their backs.
And that my friends, is how it will be. Let us all be dinosaurs and colourful other dinosaurs together. For the sun is warm and the world is a beautiful place.
A reggae band played a beautiful version of “Amazing” during the ceremony and all of our family and friends sang along.
Our friend Bob became a celebrant, and he was perfect for the job. It was important to us to have someone who has known us for a long time as our celebrant.
Having both lived in Europe, we had friends travel from all parts of the world to attend the wedding. During the ceremony, our bridesmaids did an international introduction in Indonesian (“Selamat Datang”), French (“Enchante”), and Aussie (“G'Day”).
Care to share a few vendor/shopping links?
- Photography: Gusde Photography
- Cupcakes: Jennifer Staite, friend of the couple
- Hair and makeup: Han's good friend Viviana
- Dress: Lisa Ho
- Reception dress: sass & bide
- Cufflinks, pocket squares, and slap bracelets: Hannmaid
- Venue: Semara Uluwatu
Enough talk — show me the wedding inspo!
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Good. Gravy. I cannot get over how stunning every bit of this wedding is. Let me offer hearty congratulations to you both while I pick my jaw up off the floor.
That bride’s hair is absolutely perfect!!! Killer photos- i love the one in the reception where you can see the illuminated tent. Stunning wedding.
WOW, I am speechless, simply stunning! I luv that he used a female as one of his “groomsmen” and the shorts instead of tuxes and suits really show the couples character. LUV it! Congrats!
Yeah, those Bermuda shorts are totally boss. (Do people still say “boss”? Eh, whatevs, I’m bringing it back.)
Lovely wedding!
They really did have an amazing, beautiful wedding day.