Hudson Bride – Tully & Ben

July 27, 2021

Hudson Bride – Tully & Ben

Tully and Ben’s relaxed ceremony on a Lavender Farm in Chapman Valley made for a classic and memorable wedding. It rained the day before and even the morning of the wedding but they were able to hire a marquee and adorn it with dreamy strung out festoon lights.

Tully’s colour palette included burnt oranges and white, which weaved through the decor, down to hand-painted terracotta vases and candleholders which the bride acquired from op shops in the months leading up to her special day;

“I was so pleased with how they turned out and how they paired with my floral arrangements (white, peach and orange roses)!” said Tully.

An instant connection and mutual affection for travelling, family, dogs and TV shows brought Tully and Ben together.

In Darwin, Northern Territory over New Year’s, Ben planned a surprise holiday, even organising Tully’s annual leave for her! They spent days adventuring and eating good food. On New Years eve they got seats at a fun waterfront pub and Ben staged forgetting his wallet, claiming that they needed to go back to their hotel room grab it. Tully said, ‘I gave him a hard time about “always forgetting things” and then when we got back to the hotel room he asked me to marry him.’

COUPLE’S NAMES

Tully Clayton and Ben Gray

WEDDING DATE

29 May 2021

GUEST TOTAL

MARRIAGE TO US MEANS

A lifelong commitment of friendship, love and new adventures.

WEDDING DAY SCENT

My favourite perfume by Jo Malone – Peony and Blush Suede. It’s clean, floral and elegant.

WEDDING DAY ACCESSORIES

I paired my gown with pearl drop earrings from Reliquia Jewellery and gold Camellia heels from Loeffler Randall. I loved, loved, loved my accessories!

PHOTOGRAPHY

Stefanie Buma was our photographer and we absolutely adored her. She made our day so relaxed and when we went off for photos it felt like we were hanging out with one of our good friends. Stefanie did a beautiful job of capturing the special moments on the day, and all our photos are real and raw.

FINDING YOUR DREAM WEDDING GOWN

Initially, Tully felt anxious before shopping for her wedding dress with her mum and aunties. They visited some traditional stores in Perth but didn’t love anything she’d tried on. She was worried that she hadn’t made a choice yet, and six months before her wedding day, Tully was on her way to Margaret River for a holiday, and contacted NOA Bridal on the off chance that they might have an appointment available. They’d just had a cancellation moments before! She fell in love instantly and said,

“When I was selecting dresses all of them were Bo and Luca. The beading, the sequins, the embroidery! I was totally in my element.”

The bride effortlessly decided on our HUDSON gown and exclaimed,

“I loved the wrap detail, the split, sleeves and back as well as the beading… I received so many compliments about it. I felt so comfortable in it and am already thinking about making moderations to it so I can wear it again!”

BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES

I’ve been a bridesmaid a few times and have worn some interesting dresses! I wanted my best friends to wear a dress they were 100% comfortable with, that suited their body type and was something they would wear again. I felt really strongly about this, so I gave them a colour palette of burnt oranges and pinky oranges and asked them to find a dress with similar hues. Each of them sent me photos of their dresses before they purchased them and the end result was really dreamy. They bought cocktail dresses from Silk Laundry, Shona Joy, Dissh and other places!

HAIR & MAKEUP

Arches for Angels Makeup and Brow Bar did our makeup, which I loved! Everyone was bronzed and glowy looking. The makeup was pretty natural which was important to my bridesmaids and I. Hair was done by Ivy Hair – the ladies did an incredible job. I chose to have my hair up in a relaxed do so you could see my backless gown.

WEDDING RINGS

Gemma Baker Jewellers made our rings. I went with a simple rose gold band so my engagement ring is the focus and Ben went with a durable black plastic ring because of his line of work.

FAVOURS

Our wedding favours included personalised stubby holders with a caricature of Ben and I, plus a sugar cookie with gold leaf that said #OhHappyGrays.

FLOWERS & BOUQUETS

The flowers and bouquets were one of my favourite details and something I had put a lot of thought into! The brief I gave our florist, Botanical Den, was romantic and undone with texture. They mixed white, peach, orange and terracotta roses with green foliage – all of the arrangements were simply divine. My bouquet was busty and mainly white with pops of peach and orange, while my bridesmaids each had a bouquet that was a colour similar to their dresses. The table arrangements and arbor were also spectacular!

WEDDING CAKE

As we weren’t having any other dessert, we selected a three-tiered chocolate mud cake with a textured vanilla buttercream cake. It was delicious and was decorated with gold leaf, some of the wedding flowers plus our very own cake topper which said Mr and Mrs Gray. The cake was made by Cupcakes and Cakes by Anita.

FOOD & DRINKS

We chose to have a cocktail style wedding as we felt this was more relaxed and gave guests the opportunity to mingle. Dalgleish Catering produced the most epic menu which had the likes of fresh crayfish, french lamb cutlets, arancini, king prawns, onion and sour cream tartlets, crispy pork belly plus so much more. Our drinks included a selection of craft beer, wine, plus G&Ts and Negronis. Food and drinks were really important to us – we didn’t want people going to McDonald’s afterwards because they were still hungry!

SPECIAL WEDDING SONGS

Our first dance was to “Dancing in the Moonlight” by Toploader. We hired a band and the cover of this song was so magical! Our bridal party entrance song was “Music Sounds Better With You” because honestly, what a banger from the 90s!

CEREMONY & RECEPTION DÉCOR

I coordinated the ceremony and reception decor as I’m really into styling. In the months leading up to the wedding I sourced vases and candle holders and then painted them all terracotta. The florist paired them with white and peach roses which looked beautiful. Some of my friends also gave me old crystal vases, which I paired with the terracotta ornaments. My good friend is a graphic designer and she helped us enormously with our save the date, invite and wedding signage. It all came together really seamlessly and represented Ben and my style – Ben being quite classic and me being a bit more quirky!

HONEYMOON

Because COVID-19 is still rife we haven’t booked a honeymoon as yet, however, we have been talking about visiting Tasmania!

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION

Hello May and Together Journal were enormous inspirations for me.

MOST TREASURED MOMENT OF MY WEDDING DAY

Ben and I have two beautiful dogs who just had to be part of our day. With the dogs not being allowed at the venue and Ben being shy, we decided to do a first-look at our house and get some photos with the dogs while we were at it! It was the most beautiful and private moment that we both really cherished. So many brides and grooms see their partner for the first time down the aisle with others around – that’s really precious but I can imagine would also be very anxious. We took that anxiety away on the day by having a first-look in the privacy of our backyard with our furbabies. The photos with our dogs are pictures we will cherish forever.