Hannah + Mark’s Stunning Fins at Plantation House Wedding

Hannah and Mark celebrated their wedding at the breathtaking Fins at Plantation House, on the Tweed Coast. After their initial plan to marry in 2020 was postponed due to COVID they decided to elope, however the couple had always planned to bring their family and friends together for a grander celebration. And that they did! With a Romantic Garden party theme, the venue was transformed into a wonderland of love and happiness. The talented photographers at Cloud Catcher Studio were on hand to capture every special moment of the day. The wedding was truly a personal reflection of the couple’s love and their journey together, with guests from near and far travelling to witness their love. The magical memories of the day will surely be cherished by Hannah and Mark, and all their guests, for a lifetime to come.

ABOUT THE DAY //
A classic post covid big wedding celebration, Mark and I really wanted to focus on the absolute vibe of the day. Our original day was set for October 2020 and after postponing the wedding for two years, we chose to have a tiny elopement in 2020, but always planned to have our big celebration in 2022 with our nearest and dearest. Mark and I met in London, where he is from, so we had lots of family and friends flying in from the UK, US and all over Australia. Knowing that so many people were travelling some distance we wanted to make it truly Aussie and have the venue at a beach town. Fins at Plantation House was the perfect venue being so close to the beautiful Kingscliff where we all stayed. Having the opportunity and time to focus on what truly mattered to us on the day, which changed over the course of two years, made it very personal to us. We had the ceremony on the front lawn in the afternoon with the stunning views to Mt Warning, whilst James Alexander played some acoustic guitar. The magnificent Ali Rollinson (wed by Ali) was our celebrant, she married Mark and I in 2020 for our elopement and then she blew us away again with her special words when she married us on our big day. We had only met Ali a handful of times but she managed to completely capture our essence as a couple and the ceremony was the perfect balance of romance and light hearted jovial banter, which is Mark and I to a tee.

After the ceremony the guests then enjoyed “his + hers” cocktails of Mint Juleps and Aperol Spritz’s on the front lawn as the sun set whilst the bridal party had photos in the amazing cactus garden. Our photographers Lizzie and Emma from Cloud Catcher Studio were the best fun! They made everyone of every age laugh and they really felt like old friends, especially later on when they were busting out moves on the D-floor. We kept the bridal party photos to an hour so we could get back to our guests and enjoy the reception. The food by Fins was first class, with so many people commenting for weeks afterwards on how good it was. The service was seamless and the team at Fins really make it very relaxing for the bride and groom. The d-floor was a vibe! It began just after the entrees had been cleared and it didn’t stop until the bus arrived! James Alexander and his co-signer Vanessa nailed it and we were so stoked that our main wish of an epic dance floor came true.

ABOUT THE STYLE //
“Romantic Garden party with EPIC dance floor” was our brief. Fins at Plantation House was an instant ‘yes!’ when Mark and I visited the venue, and the location really inspired the style of the day. The mass of lush greenery that surrounds the internal courtyard really resonated with us, especially the Monsteras, which they had in abundance! Looking to enhance the beautiful Australian backdrop we looked to create an English garden party, tying together the place where we met, with the place we now call home. To ensure our day would always be a timeless memory, all our selections for the day had to have purpose and meaning to Mark and I. The colour palette was made up of Mark and my favourite colours, Burgundy and green for Mark and shades of pink and apricot for me. When we collaborated with our amazing florist Sarah-Mae Amey from Florals and Co. we selected flowers that all had special meaning, English Roses for our daughter Willow Rose, Orchids for my Grandad, and Antheriums from the very first bunch of flowers Mark gave me. She took our brief and absolutely wowed us on the day.

CEREMONY SONG //
Elton John – Your Song, a beautiful classic that we both loved in our early days of courtship.

FIRST DANCE SONG //
All of me – John Legend. An old favourite of Mark and mine from our days back in London. Special memories are with friends playing this song on a pub piano.

DIY CREATIONS //
Our favours were miniature succulents that we put together, as mentioned before Mark and I love plants, spending many weekends in Sydney at the garden centre and choosing a venue like Fins with its beautiful Cactus garden, it only felt right that our guests could take home a little slice of the day. Sourcing the miniature pots and plants online, my mum and I got to work potting 100 of the little succers and keeping them perfect until the big day. I also designed and made our signage to suite in with our colour scheme.

FAVOURITE MOMENT //
Favourite moment of the day, so hard to pick one! Completing our ceremony and picking up our daughter to walk down the aisle together and looking back towards our beautiful family and friends.

NUMBER ONE TIP //
We can all get so easily caught up in the trend of weddings of the moment, but try and take the time to think about what is truly your personalities and be confident to go with it because to you it will never date!