Taylah and Adam
Location: Byron View Farm, Byron Bay
Date: 07/12/23
Aesthetic: Tuscan Garden Party
Vibe: Intimate and classy - fun and relaxed
Guests: 45
We love sharing the story of two worlds colliding, tell us about what happened when yours did:
Taylah: We were set up by a mutual friend at our gym. We were both told about each other but I wasn’t interested in a relationship or a gym boy at the time. Soon after, we both ended up at the same engagement party. I saw the back of Adam’s head from across the room, so I took a photo and sent it to our mutual friend, captioned “is this your mate”.
Adam: Within seconds, our mutual friend had messaged me and said “Hey, that girl I wanna set you up with is at the same party as you”. So I immediately went to grab a drink and go on a bit of a scouting mission. But once I turned back from the bar, I realised she was nowhere to be found and had left the party.
Taylah: So I had left the party and didn’t think twice about it. A week later I was meant to attend a birthday but I ended up skipping the event and went out with some girlfriends instead.
Adam: I was also invited to this birthday and knew Tay was meant to be there. I gave it a few hours until I came to the conclusion that she was gonna be a no show. So I took it upon myself to find her on instagram and message her - “Are you ever going to come to one of these parties you’re invited to, or will we just never meet?”
Taylah: After that moment, we were messaging constantly, which led us to our first date at the Prince in Merewether. I had arrived to Adam saving a spot on the balcony with my favourite drink (a margarita of course) ready and waiting for me.
Adam: I remember that night being full of laughs and fun as we shared embarrassing stories and shared a bit about each other. The good times just haven’t stopped since!
What's life like now, how do you spend your spare time?
Taylah: Our spare time together is our favourite time together - being shift workers, it doesn’t happen often. From cuddling our two pugs and cat on the lounge, sweat sessions at the gym, bagel Sunday, days at the beach, road trips in the van, finding the best restaurants in town and eating half the menu. It also involves Adam dragging me to all manner of sporting fixtures, mainly his beloved Newcastle Knights, as well as him sharing useless trivia tidbits and factoids like how long it takes famous athletes to drive to training.
You had an intimate wedding in Byron Bay, tell us a little more about the overall experience:
Taylah: Our wedding was more than we could have hoped for. We kept numbers down so that we could make full use of the beautiful space at Byron View Farm, and show our nearest and dearest one of our favourite places in the world (Byron Bay) from the most incredible view point.
Adam: One of the unintended perks of having a destination wedding like this was that many of our friends treated the wedding like more of a wedding ‘week’ then just a single event of a few hours on the wedding day. This was very special for us as it meant we had time to spend with our friends and family either side of the wedding while in holiday mode, something many of us haven’t had the chance to do together in years. We really felt that seeing everyone in the days leading up, and also in the days after the wedding, really added to the relaxed party vibe of our big day.
Byron View Farm is one of our favourite venues to work at. What were you looking for in a venue? How did you choose this one over other locations?
Adam: We wanted something iconic, something beautiful, but also something unique, a venue where neither of us had attended a wedding before. Being from Newcastle, we know tonnes of people that have gotten married at the same venues nearby in The Hunter Valley, but we wanted something new and exciting to share with our friends.
Taylah: Our decision was practically made for us on arriving at Byron View Farm, when, by coincidence, our chosen song for walking down the aisle came on in the car as we drove through the front gate. Once we made it up into the venue itself and saw the sweeping 360° views up through the hinterlands into Bangalow, all the way back to the Lighthouse at Cape Byron, a place we love so much, we knew we’d found our spot.
Adam: One of the most amazing things about Byron View Farm is that different photos make it look like an entirely different venue from shot to shot. Photos from some angles make it look like you’re in the woods, some appear to be in a botanical garden, others appear to be on a quaint farm in the middle of nowhere, while other photos, like ones with the water in the distance or the ‘lone palm’ make it look like you’re getting hitched somewhere in Southern California. Incredibly, all of these different photos ops are only 50m walk from each other. The venue is just so versatile and that’s another reason why we loved it so much.
What was the main influence behind the style and aesthetic of your wedding day?
Taylah: The styling and aesthetic of our wedding was very important to me. It’s one of the reasons we chose Byron View Farm, as well as our wedding planner, Emily from Elope. I have always loved Tuscan inspired wedding receptions, dining outdoors, under beautiful lights with candles and florals. I knew that’s what I had to have for my big day. I wanted everything to look elegant and timeless, so I kept to a white colour pallet. Byron View Farm had the perfect space to bring my dreams to reality.
Describe the vibe and how you achieved it:
Adam: We wanted our wedding to be intimate and classy, but also fun and relaxed. Keeping numbers small was a huge challenge. We had to make some gut churning decisions to whittle our way down to 45 attendees, that was our first battle.
Taylah: Making the event fun and carefree was achieved by making the venue a secret, meaning no wedding guests were able to snoop through their social feeds to get a sneak peek at the stunning location in advance. This proved to be a master stroke, as many friends made fun of us for being so secretive in the lead up, but when they jumped off the bus on Wedding Day, they understood immediately why we did it the way we did! I think having a destination wedding also helped, as most people turned the trip into a mini holiday, and as such were all in a mood to let their hair down more than they perhaps would at a single day event back home in the Hunter Valley.
What were a few unique things you did to make the experience personal to you and why did you choose them?
Taylah: We made the venue a secret! We wanted our guests to arrive smiling ear to ear like we did when we saw the property for the first time. The guests were transported in a double decker, red love bus to make the arrival even more fun. All reports were that bus vibes were high on the way out (as they had no idea where they were going), but even higher on the way home after an amazing day at Byron View.
Adam: We had cocktail hour (which ended up lasting most of the night). Guests got to enjoy two of our favourite cocktails, a classic margarita and a chilli margarita. We had the best food in the game (FigTree Restaurant) and we got to serve our favourite foods, including oysters and gnocchi.
Taylah: We handmade our seating chart together. All our guests had to locate their seat by finding their name on the chart, which held their very own friendship bracelet with their name on it. We wanted to create something special our guests could wear on the night and keep forever.
Adam: Our outdoor reception under the stars, we sat under festoon lighting, chandeliers, and the beautiful night sky to enjoy our dinner and dance the night away.
Taylah: We had the lovely Loz from Wedding Chats join us for cocktail hour, interviewing our nearest and dearest, recording some of the good, bad and ugly.
Adam: We had beer boys walk down the aisle before Taylah, greeting our guests with a fun song and handing out beers.
Taylah: During the night we walked away for a moment to ourselves. We sat and we watched all our family and friends smiling and dancing the night away having the time of their lives. It’s a moment we are both glad we took, we got to take in our surroundings and how beautiful our night was.
Was there anything that happened on your wedding day that took you by surprise?
Taylah: Not particularly, the bus arrived 20 minutes later than expected (about 10 mins before ceremony started) and we added in a last minute second entrance with a dress change and a double champagne bottle pop (Rhys got the most amazing photo of this) but it all ran pretty smoothly.
Was there any advice you got prior to your wedding day that changed the game for you?
Taylah: A friend recommended we take a few minutes together, just the two of us, to recap and take everything in. We did that, definitely was a moment i’ll never forget.
It's hard to pick a favourite moment, but try anyway:
Taylah - We were dancing, it was one of the last songs, and everyone was on the dance floor. Adam and I were in the middle and everyone was dancing around us. I remember spinning around slowly and saying to him, “look around, take it all in”. I remember looking around at all our of favourite people, all there for us: smiles beaming, everyone was happy and having the time of their lives and in that moment I felt so happy, lucky and blessed.
Adam - I think the double champagne bottle pop was very fun. Our wedding vows aligning so well was hilarious. Hearing kind words from both sides of our family was special. And getting everyone on the dance floor for our final song, My People by The Presets, to really send everyone off on a good note was awesome. Being able to look around and see people smiling, dancing, laughing and sharing memories even with people they had never met was really special for me, as it just showed how great our different circles of friends really are.
What drew you to Hungry Hearts Co?
Taylah: We’ve both been to a lot of weddings over the last few years and thankfully we have both seen the incredible Celebrant Loz in action on multiple occasions. Loz brings such a fun, upbeat vibe to the ceremony that keeps people interested and makes them laugh. With humour and intelligence she is able to tell your love story in way like no other. Loz was the Celebrant at a wedding we attended together 18months ago, and we both agreed that when we got married, Loz would be the one to do it. From there, we followed Hungry Hearts Co on Instagram and that’s when we saw the work of the incredibly talented Rhys. We loved his photography style! We were not yet engaged, but we knew this A team would be the only ones looking after us on our wedding day. So, of course when the question was popped, we started looking at venues, but no date was set until a date with Hungry Hearts Co was locked in.
Something Rhys really values is letting things happen naturally and keeping couples relaxed. How did you find being photographed by him?
Taylah: Rhys is brilliant! He made photo time fun. Having photos that don’t seem staged or choreographed makes them seem so much more real to me. To have someone come in with that exact same mindset put both of us at ease and made us feel as though we had picked the right man for the job. We couldn’t have been more right, the final product was absolutely beautiful and we are so happy with how the photos came back.
Lozzy told your story, can you describe how you felt during your ceremony?
Adam: Definitely nervous at the beginning, but once we were both standing there and Loz started speaking we both felt calm and at ease. She told our story in the most perfect way and it made the experience fun and light hearted. There were lots of laughs and tears, but Loz tailoring the ceremony to suit the relaxed and carefree attitude we were hoping for helped everyone feel like it was going to be a fun day.
Taylah: We’d spent so much time organising and putting the important things into the hands of people who knew what they were doing (like Hungry Hearts Co, for example), which meant we didn’t have anything to be stressed about on the day other than turning up and making the formalities as engaging, fun, and memorable for everyone else as they were for us.
If you used it, how did our ‘How To Vow’ Guide help with your vow writing process?
Taylah: We both put it to good use as we both had no idea where to start! (How often does someone write wedding vows?) It helped us a lot. We selected what style of vows we wanted to write and then it helped give us some ideas for 1 liners and funny stories, but also gave us the space to express our true feelings for each other and make the vows lovey dovey, as well as fun for everyone.
Adam: The fact that our vows complimented each other so well was an added bonus, some parts were almost exactly word for word, even though we both prepared our vows in secret from each other.
What’s a piece of advice you would give to couples planning their wedding now?
Taylah: Plan the day how you want to plan it. Don’t think about what everyone else wants, it’s your day and you only get it once! So choose the prawns for dinner if you want them!
Also, hire Loz and Rhys from Hungry Hearts Co - they are life savers, and the best of the best! And when you do, our advice is - when Loz sends you out the ceremony questionnaire, fill it in well before the big day. Do this separately to your spouse and save all of your questions in your notes! Once the wedding is done and the honeymoon has begun, go find a nice spot with a bottle of wine and read out the questions and each others answers together.
A special section from the ceremony…
Ash was a regular at Pinpoint. Whilst, to most people, she was just an active lady who loved visiting the gym – Taylah and Adam knew better. What some of you may not know: is that ASH would moonlight as a modern day Cupid.
It all started when she went to Taylah. Talking, talking, talking, always telling her about this very handsome and vertically huge guy friend she had and how perfect he would be for her!
But, at the time - Taylah wasn’t interested in gym boys – and couldn’t have cared less for the thought of a relationship. She shrugged it off and went about her business, as usual.
But between you and me – curiosity got the best of our girl. She was at an engagement party one Saturday when she spotted a hunk that matched Ash’s description of her so called Prince Charming. Unbeknown to him, Taylah clicked a zoomed in photo of his head and sent it to her friend captioned, “IS THIS YOUR MATE?”
Adam was minding his own business when his phone chimed with glee. It was none other than Ash.
“Okay – my hot friend Taylah is in the building. I told her you’re there and I think you should go and say hello.”
Adam craned his neck to get a view of the blonde babe and within seconds…agreed – she was gorgeous.
Meanwhile – Taylah got a frantic message in response – “YES! GO TALK TO HIM! NOW!”
Taylah read the message and immediately… went home.
Poor Adam, was lined up at the bar, asking for nothing other than some liquid courage to approach this stranger he’d heard so many good things about! But by the time he’d been served – the princess was gone. Not even a single slipper left behind!
A week went by and Taylah was invited to another party – which she... skipped to go out with girlfriends instead. Little did she know: tall, blonde and handsome had been there... waiting for her, once again.
By this point, Adam had had... enough. So he did what any sane and self respecting man would do and searched high and low through every form of social media available! Looking through friends of friends of friends - until finally he found her. Adam slid into Taylah’s DM’s at lighting speed with one question and one question only –
“Are you gonna turn up to one of these parties – or will we never meet?”
A man who cut straight to the point? Adam had guts and Taylah liked it.
They chatted online, for a couple weeks. Before finally their schedules synced and they found a weekend that they could go on a date.
Taylah was nervous about rocking up to the Prince alone – so she suggested Adam meet her outside and they go in together.
Ever the gentleman - he responded – “Sorry, can’t. I already have other plans.”
HUH? LIKE WHAT?
The truth is – Adam really is a gentleman. He’d arrived early, just to make sure they could have the best spot on the balcony and ordered Taylah’s favourite cocktail, so it would be ready and waiting for her, just like him.
When Tay climbed up the stairs and saw Adam sitting there, smile spread across his face, the green flags were waving.
When Adam saw Taylah properly for the first time, she was absolutely glowing and he… we’ll he figured he might be in a bit of trouble. By the end of the date, both bellies were aching from such big laughs, Tay and Adam knew it was a done deal.
Now, if we can learn anything from this story, it’s that what’s meant to be, will certainly be. Or at least that, despite someone’s own terrible choices in romantic interests, they can still pick a good one for their friends.
Vendors
Couple - Taylah and Adam Venue - byron view farmPhotographer - Rhys from hungry hearts coPlanner & Stylist - elope byron bayFlorist - AnamundiCelebrant - Loz from Hungry hearts co Cocktail Hour Entertainment - Loz from Wedding Chats Acoustic musician & DJ - NIALL LOCHHEAD MUSICDJ - NIALL LOCHHEAD MUSICCaterer - FIg tree restaurant Content Creator - I CAPTURE MOREcake - vintage cakes newcastleceremony and reception dresses - chosen by khyaSuit - Peter Jacksonjewellery - Kate and Kole MUA - ALEX OUSTON BEAUTY