Rachel & Matt's Old Broadwater Farm Wedding



We're back once again with another stunning wedding from our gorgeous bride Rachel and hubby Matt to showcase to you all. Rachel and Matt held their wedding at one of our favourite venues, Old Broadwater Farm, which is stunning, so be sure to check it out if you're planning a South West wedding. (We've also done a photoshoot at this beautiful venue ourselves, so be sure to click here if you'd like to check that out.) Scroll down for Rachel and Matt's very funny proposal and great advice for all you future brides!

THE DRESS I found it really difficult to select a particular style of dress. I knew that I wanted something fairly fitted, but beyond that I wasn’t sure. I tried on a lot of tight fitting dresses that looked good on the rack but found that the material clung and gathered in all of the wrong places. In the end, I was looking for something that fitted my figure, didn’t cling or ride up and didn’t make my butt look flat! I’m not sure of the exact number I tried. We went to about 5 or 6 different bridal stores around Perth. I also tried on a couple of second hand dresses from the website ‘Still White’. But I liked so many things about my Samantha Wynne gown! First of all, I loved the crepe fabric, it was so different to all of the other materials that I had tried. The crepe was much thicker than most dresses of this style. I also loved how nicely the dress synched my in at the waist and clung to my hips and butt in the most flattering way possible.

CAN YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU KNEW IT WAS THE DRESS? I’m not sure if there was a particular moment, but I knew that I wanted a dress from Sam. The minute I walked into the store, she made me feel so comfortable and took a genuine interest in getting to know my mum and I. When I did try on ‘The Dress’ she was completely open to making the alterations that I had requested. I knew straight away that I was in good hands!

HOW DID YOU FIRST MEET? Matt and I met through a mutual friend in 2012 (I think). I was 21 and Matt was 24. We were friends at first as I was in a relationship with somebody else. When that relationship ended, it wasn’t long before we got together. Matt swears that he can’t remember this but we were introduced to each other at Capitol night club one boozy Saturday night.

THE PROPOSAL Matt ended up proposing on the floor between the kitchen and the lounge room at our house. It was a Sunday and I had woken up a little worse for ware. Throughout the day he had tried to drag me out of the house for coffee, breakfast and a walk but I had declined all offers, opting to stay on the couch. Eventually, he managed to get me out for a nice lunch on the foreshore in South Perth (I had agreed to this because I was starving). He had planned to pop the question by the river after we had eaten. Unfortunately, as we headed out of the restaurant, it began to rain. In order to avoid messing up my hair, I sprinted back to the car and quickly jumped inside. After a full day of trying to be romantic, Matt couldn’t wait any longer and dropped down on one knee at home. The poor guy – I’m surprised he didn’t change his mind after my performance that day!

FAVOURITE MOMENT We had so many funny and memorable moments throughout the day. My absolute favourite moment was walking down the aisle and not only seeing Matt down the other end, but also seeing all of our favourite people in the world smiling back at me. During the reception, all of the speeches were amazing. We went from laughing to crying and back to laughing so many times throughout the night. My beautiful parents collaborated and put together the most incredible speech despite having been divorced for almost 20 years. Seeing every guest up and dancing was also pretty special. One moment that we can laugh about now was when my poor Auntie Donna was in her words, ‘dancing too crazy’ and managed to fall over, fling herself across the dance floor and fracture her wrist during a particularly energetic rendition of Wheatus’ Teenage Dirtbag. She powered through the rest of the evening and was shipped off the hospital once the reception had ended. What a trooper! 

THE VENUE Matt and I knew that we wanted to have the wedding in WA’s South West. There are so many options in that area so it was a little overwhelming to narrow it down at first. As soon as I walked into Old Broadwater Farm in Busselton though, I was sold. Every bride probably says this about their wedding venue, but it really was the best place to get married! The grounds are absolutely stunning and their pavilion and permanent marquee were exactly what we were looking for to house our ceremony and reception. The staff were so accommodating, and are genuinely some of the most lovely people that you will ever meet. I felt completely at ease during the planning process, and on the day because they really did have everything under control. 

FAVOURITE DETAILS My beautiful friend Lucy (@blooms_by_lucy) was my florist. The poor girl received fairly vague instructions from me which sounded something like, ‘I like white orchids and roses, but I trust you to do whatever you want’. Of course, the suppliers had no white orchids available so Lucy, being the determined woman that she is, scowered all of Perth until she found exactly what I’d asked for. Her and her husband Ryan worked tirelessly all day to set up the most perfect floral arrangements I have ever seen. Everybody commented on what an amazing job she had done.

Of course, my dress was another of my favourite details. I felt that it complimented the vibe or our wedding so well. Its clean, simple lines matched the décor and styling in the marquee and ceremony area. Most importantly, it was comfortable and very easy to dance in.

ADVICE FOR FUTURE BRIDES So many people give you ‘free advice’ during the lead up to your wedding. This isn’t nececeraily a bad thing, but it can become overwhelming when you are having so many differing opinions being flung at you. People want you to invite this person, or provide this service or structure your ceremony and reception in a certain way. The best thing that Matt and I did was ‘stick to our guns’. We compromised on little things but when it came to the guest list and overall vibe of the day, we did exactly what we wanted to do. Dress shopping was tricky. So many designers (not Sam) are pushy, opinionated and treat you as a potential sale rather than a nervous bride. As I wasn’t sure of exactly what I wanted, I tried on so many dresses that I really didn’t like. I found it really hard to say that I didn’t like a dress because I didn’t want to offend the designer! My advice to other brides would be to just be honest and go in with a bit more of a plan than I did. Ask lots of questions and don’t be afraid to ask for alterations. 

BEST WEDDING SPEND The food was definitely worth the money. It was absolutely delicious and there was plenty of it. Supper Road have a stellar reputation in the South West and they did not disappoint. We don’t regret spending money on anything really. We chose carefully and only spent on things that we felt were really important.

VENDORS Most of our vendors were people that we knew. We are so lucky to have such talented friends! As mentioned, my friend Lucy was our florist (@blooms_by_lucy), Matt’s mate Chad was our photographer (@chadwoo_images), my friend and colleague Liane Taylor was our celebrant (@perthmarriagecelebrant), my sister designed our invitations and Olivia, a family friend made the cake (@livs_cakesandbakes). I had the best MUA and hairdresser (@samanthabarridgebridal and @karli_streaksahead). Supper Road (@supper_road_weddings) were our caterers and Cape Cellars (@capecellars) supplied our booze. I would highly recommend each and every one of them. I wish that I could write an essay about how amazing each of them were, but I would definitely exceed my word limit! My advice would be to select people that you feel comfortable around. It is so important to be able to feel relaxed and have a laugh with the people that you are with on your wedding day. Also, ask for recommendations. Brides are full of advice!