Ash & Sash

Ash and I were in New Zealand celebrating our third anniversary. We decided to hire a van and drive and sleep in it. Ash has told me that she had bought me a present even though we had said no gifts that year because of the holiday.

I kept bugging her about giving it to me. Who tells someone about a gift & then refuses to hand over the goods?

On our last night on the North Island of New Zealand, we were parked up in a caravan park, and I went off to have a shower. Ash was acting weird. She was carrying my things back from the bathrooms and made me go into the van first.

On the table in the van was a note. The note said, ‘happy three years, baby, here’s to the next chapter together.’ I opened up the message, and it then said, ‘Will you Marry Me?’

I turned around, and Ash was there on one knee with an engagement ring. Of course, I didn’t even think and took the ring and put it on my finger. I left Ash kneeling on the van floor, and she said, “I take that as a yes?’

Of course, it was a yes!

Ash had initially planned to propose a couple of times before she actually did. One opportunity was a helicopter ride over the ‘Haka Falls.’ But the pilot asked that one person sat in the front, and the other person sat in the back. Scratch that plan.

The next plan Ash had was on the side of the road, where we pulled up to see our first views of some snow-capped mountains. Ash chickened out.
I am so glad Ash proposed the way she did. That holiday and that van was something we were experiencing together. It made it even more special just being the two of us before we joined a tour group in the South Island.

I had absolutely no idea she was going to propose. We were in the process of building our home and still living with parents. Ash had also said she would wait until we were living in our home together first.

We were engaged for three years. It was important to us [with Australia not yet having legalized same-sex marriage when we first got engaged] to wait until we legally could share our love with our family and friends.

As soon as we found out on the 9th December 2017 that Australia passed the YES vote, we could finally start planning our wedding.

Mike Hemus Photography Adelaide South Australia lesbian marriage wedding Dancing With Her (2)

We both actually loved the wedding planning process. We were lucky enough to find outstanding suppliers that made the process easy and stress-free. I think being that we are in the industry with our cake business, we know what it’s like to be on both sides of the fence with planning and being a supplier. It made us a little more understanding, and we didn’t have any bridezilla moments!

We decided on Ten22 as the venue before we started properly planning for our wedding. We had come across the venue on Instagram. Ash and I fell in love with the industrial/rustic vibe it had.

The venue hosted viewing nights. So Ash, and I tagged along to one. As soon as we walked into the space, we knew that it was the one.

The owners are husband and wife, Nat and Dave, are AMAZING! They have so much love and passion for every event they hold and made us feel like we were like their own family. Ten22 was the only venue we ever looked at when we started planning.

The inspiration behind our vibe of the wedding was more of a rustic industrial feel. The venue is an industrial warehouse. It basically gave you the freedom to style it the way you wanted. To make use of their hanging greenery and pallets, their classic furniture and palette, and wood walls. It gave the space enough character that you didn’t have to do much to make it fit into the vibe.

With a rustic and industrial vibe in mind, we loved the idea of lots of green with pops of white. All of our florals for the tables and plinths at the altar were in this same style. Lots of green with little pops of white.

Our photographer also played a part in our vibe because he definitely shoots with a more rustic and industrial vibe than many other photographers we came across.

We didn’t really take on a lot of DIY as we didn’t want to worry about transporting things to the venue in the days leading up to the wedding or worrying about collecting items the next day.

We hired all of our signage and plinth set up at the altar from ‘Hey Sweet Peach.’ She did a fantastic job, and with hiring everything, we didn’t need to worry about set up or pack down.

Being a cake maker, I was always asked if I was going to make our wedding cake. It was a big no from me, being my only excuse not to have to make a cake.

We did make our own sugar cookie bonbonnieres for our guests, though.
I absolutely fell in love with Made With Love Bridal and knew I wanted to wear one of their dresses. I booked an appointment with their little boutique store in Adelaide and had an idea of the dress I wanted to try. The lady was amazing and asked me questions about what dress and why.

She pulled out a few dresses different from what I thought I wanted. So I walked out picking a dress that was a completely different dress and style to what I went in there initially wanting to try on.

A little bit of fate happened that day. I tried on one dress which was gorgeous but not me. I then tried on a second dress, saw myself in it, and knew it was the one. Little did I know until after I took it off that the dress was actually named ‘Sasha’ also! I was meant to wear that dress.

Ashlee found it a little harder to find something to wear. She wanted to wear a suit but didn’t feel comfortable being a female and going to a menswear suit shop.

She ended up coming across a female-run company called ‘Shane Ave’ that make suits to fit for women. We booked in a consult with Deb at her Adelaide visit and went through materials, style, measurements, etc.
The price tag wasn’t important as Deb allowed Ash to be herself and feel comfortable on our wedding day.

I didn’t believe people when they said that my wedding day would be one of the best days of your life until it was the best day of my life.

I started off with champagne breakfast and grazing boxes with my best friend Harlee, my little sister Kirstin and my Mum, Lisa. Ashlee did something similar. But it was whiskey and grazing boxes with her Mum, Dad, Mel, Steve, her best friend Tara, and her little sister, Cait.

I wasn’t nervous because I was marrying the love of my life, which wasn’t anything to be worried about.

The ceremony was short and sweet so that we could run off with the photographer to a nearby forest to get the photos that Ash and I really wanted. Mike did a fantastic job of giving us the style we were after.

After our entrance as wife and wife and cake cutting, it was down to the fun part of our first dance. Then dancing and laughing the rest of the night away with our friends and family. Ash and I had secretly been getting dance lessons. It was honestly one of the best and most fun things we have ever done together. We surprised everyone with a dance routine, and we didn’t mess it up!

The day definitely did go by so fast. I do not wish it went any differently because it was filled with so much love and support.

Marriage to us was more than just a special day and an exchange of rings. To us, it’s the good and the bad. The dreams and failures, and not wanting to experience that with anyone else but each other. It’s not being able to live without that other person. That person being the one you want to tell and share everything with.