LOVE STORY: MICHELLE + ROB | RUSTIC SANDALFORD WINES WEDDING PERTH WA

images by sandie bertrand photography
wedding date 26 october 2019
123 guests

Michelle + Robert were met eight years ago a friend's party and hit it off straight away. Within the week Rob had asked Michelle out on their first date. "We had a whirlwind romance for two months until boxing day when Robert was in a motorbike accident and was very seriously injured - breaking his leg in three places. It was holding his hand waiting for the royal flying doctor that I realised I did not want to be without this special man and told him I loved him for the first time." Michelle tells. Robert was flown to Perth and had successful emergency surgery to save his leg. The two were together for six years before Robert proposed.

the proposal: Amazingly it was a complete surprise. Robert took me home to my family farm just before our annual Easter camping trip with his best mate and wife. We went out to take some night photos as it is rare we are way from the city lights and on my family farm. He snuck around the side of the ute knelt one knee (oops in sheep poo too), called me over (claimed a flat tyre!) and pulled out the ring and asked me to marry him, and I burst out into happy laughter and couldn’t even stop long enough to say yes.

I couldn’t believe he had thought to take me home, to a place that is so special to me that I don’t get to visit very often and didn’t do it in front of a lot of people - it was a special moment just between us. We told my family who live on the farm and called my sister who raced straight there for morning tea with us the next day. Robert had told his parents over the phone (they knew already) and we then disappeared for a week camping with no mobile reception and just got to enjoy being in the newly engaged bubble. It was only a week or so later that we announced to extended family and friends.

what led you to decide on your Wedding venue? We choose to get married and have our reception at Sandalford Wines. Victoria, their wedding coordinator, had worked with Robert before when he used to be a wedding DJ and as such he had absolute faith in her and the teams ability to host and run a smooth wedding. We also love the ambience the vineyard the venue has - as it is not overly done up and covered in white.

Robert wanted to have the reception in a room somewhere he had never worked before. It seemed like fate that not long after we started to look for the venue Sandalford announced their new Estate Room to be built and to be completed the autumn before our wedding.

what was the inspiration behind your Wedding theme?  I knew we wanted purple's and some more moody colours and not your traditional wedding with everything covered in white. This is all we told each of our vendors and let them use their imagination and expertise to design and have creative freedom. I think this was such a good approach as our vendors did amazingly and it was such a relaxing process for us!

favourite moment: Walking down the aisle seeing all my family and friends in the side of my vision and Robert waiting for me. I had never seen him look so happy or tear up so much!!! Looking at the photos of that moment He could take his eyes off me and my Dad who walked me down the aisle is constantly looking at me and smiling. I smiled so much thought out the whole ceremony.

favourite detail: My flowers and the chapel! My flowers on my day were truly amazing. We had been recommended to get in touch with Annaliese from Signature Floral Design through a friend and she was a god send! I had given her the vaguest of details colours, an over the top bouquet and some florals around the ceremony and tables to finish the room. It was her vision that pulled together our fabulous day. I could never have imagined what she pulled off and was blown away at every turn. I don't think there was a single person who did not comment on how amazing they all looked. She also stayed back to move our ceremony flowers to our reception so they would be used more and designed all our centre pieces to be able to be picked up and taken by guests to enjoy in their homes the following days.

My Chapel – pulled together 10 days before the day! I had always wanted a church ceremony but had come to the conclusion that this couldn't happen to due to our guest list size and the options in the Swan Valley. But then we were shown Toast Events and their open-air chapel, this seemed to mix the best of both worlds - we could bring the church to Sandalford!! Arriving at the venue + seeing it was amazing, it really set off the ceremony space and looked amazing in all our photos.

how was your dress/suit shopping experience overall? My dress shopping took me a few weekends spread over two months. I’m not a girly girl and don’t really wear dresses so had no idea where to start. I took some work colleagues out to try on styles and narrowed down my likes/dislikes/styles. From there I went with my bridesmaids on a true shopping experience and picked my top 4 dresses. Next, I invited my sister and mother out (again I know but they had to travel up from the country so wanted this to be the trip!) and took them straight to my favourites and walked away with my dress that day!

Groomsmen shopping was very easy for us, we went straight to Politix as we knew Rob wanted something a little different from your plain black suit. Over the course of 3 hours the boys tried on a variety and fun and different options with the sales lady's help and walked away with their suits that day.

what does marriage mean to you? Marriage is always having someone to be in our corner and a lifelong commitment to love and support them. It also means truly accepting someone for who they truly are – even if that means putting your cold feet on them in bed and having to cook them their favourite foods. And all of their the traits which makes them who they are – exaggerating about events or hugging them incessantly until they pay attention to you.

advice: Trust in your vendors and let them have fun with it - you hired them for a reason! Also go with the flow of the day, stressing will not change anything that has gone wrong, just embarace it as a funny memory from the day.

wedding songs:
Aisle: Matt Wertz - Easier Tonight
Signing: Oh Honey - I Love You Will Still Sound The Same Matthew Mole - The Wedding Song
Recessional: Ben Rector - White Dress
Entrance: Rihanna - We Found Love
Cake cutting: Maroon 5 - Sugar
First dance: The Script - Never Seen Anything 'Quite Like You'

stand out vendors for the day: Our Photographer Sandie Bertrand and our florist Annaliese of Signature Floral Design. As I have already said, Annaliese blew us away with her florals and what she delivered on the day. Sandie captured beautiful candid moments but was never in your face. I never felt scripted to perform or stand a certain way. She has a way about her that puts you at ease and helps you relax and knows lots of fun games to get the bridal party laughing the entire time. She helped us get all our group shots done quickly so we could have some alone before the reception. She really made the day for me, as I was very worried at having a camera and a person with me all day, but I didn't even notice them snapping away most of the time. Our photos have turned out beautifully and could not fault a thing. She was a must have for us and we chose our date around her availability, I could not imagine the day without her.

bridal gown Bridal by Aubrey Rose @bridalbyaubreyrose 

bridesmaid dresses For Her and For Him 

groom + groomsmen attire Politix @politixmenswear 

wedding flowers Signature Floral Design @signaturefloraldesign 

ceremony & reception venue Sandalford Wines @sandalford_wines 

ceremony officiant Kirk Samuel Goodsell @kirkgoodsellcelebrant 

bridal makeup artist & hairstylist TXC Collective @txccollective 

wedding cake Cake Love Couture Cakes @cakeloveperth 

cinematographer Afrotastic Productions @jasonafrotastic 

lighting & photobooth Complete DJ @complete_dj 

dance lessons Wedding n Bridal Dance Lessons Perth

linens The Tailored Table @thetailoredtable 

transport Belle Classic Limousines @belleclassiclimos 

invitations Starfish Lane @starfish_lane 

stationery Felicitations @invitationsfelicitations 

chapel Toast Events @toastevents_ 

photography Sandie Bertrand Photography @sandiebertrandphotography