The Gables Wedding Celebrant – The Wedding of Claire & Audrey

There’s something extra magical about The Gables in Malvern. Claire and Audrey knew this, and it was a such a wonderful occasion to officiate as their Gables Wedding Celebrant for their special day.

Audrey and Claire chose The Gables in Malvern for their romantic wedding.  This beautiful venue has a rich history, with stunning gardens and building interiors that make you feel like you have stepped back in time.  With this spring day turning on the wind and rain the couple, bridal party and their 30 guests headed inside for an intimate wedding.

Julie Byrne - The Gables Wedding Celebrant - Wedding of Claire & Audrey
Julie Byrne - The Gables Wedding Celebrant - Claire & Audrey's Wedding

Claire’s Isadora Nim suit was perfectly matched with Audrey’s Luv Bridal and Formal dress, while Adriana Rose Giuliani was on hand for hair and makeup styling.  They all got ready in separate rooms at The Gables, which made everything much easier.  The floral arrangements by Pick of the Bunch Floristry and Flos Florum tied in with their white and pink theme.

Both Audrey and Claire walked down the aisle.  First was Claire, with her father, Ian.  Audrey followed, accompanied by her brother, Axel.  Their love shone throughout the ceremony, with family and friends agreeing that they had never seen them so happy.

Audrey’s family also travelled from France to attend the wedding. My Year 8 French skills certainly got a workout!

Live music featured during the wedding – both the ceremony and reception.  Partial to live music in ceremonies myself, I must say that Brendan and Sabrina were fabulous!

After their romantic vows, which were captured by Wedding Movies Productions, Claire and Audrey were whisked away for photography by the phenomenal Icon Photography.

Once everyone was together again, the party really began.  The lunchtime wedding was a beautiful celebration of Claire and Audrey’s love for one another.  Chicreative provided elegant place cards, along with the seating board, which complemented the invites by Monfairepart Stationery.

Their cake was organised by Pick of the Bunch Floristry, ensuring that it tied in well with their floral arrangements.  Once the festivities ended, guests were able to take home posies from the floral arch (also by Pick of the Bunch) and candles by Custom Favours.

Julie Byrne Celebrant - Claire & Audrey's Wedding at The Gables
Julie Byrne - The Gables - Malvern Wedding Celebrant - Claire & Audrey
Julie Byrne - The Gables - Malvern Wedding Celebrant - Claire & Audrey's Wedding

Claire and Audrey’s wedding will always be one of my favourites and it was an honour to be chosen as their The Gables Wedding Celebrant  I wish them a love-filled and inspiring journey ahead.

Review

“Now that all of Audrey’s friends and family have left Melbourne and returned overseas, I would like to sincerely thank you once again for all of your help in creating the perfect wedding day for us! It truly was spectacular, and as previously mentioned, I received so many compliments about you from family members on the day – they were so impressed by you, they all said they thought you were excellent!”

Claire & Audrey’s Love Story

Claire and Audrey met online dating in March 2018 and met face-to-face at the Provincial Hotel in Fitzroy at 6:30pm on Easter Monday, 31st March 2018 for their first date. Claire went along not knowing what Audrey looked like, let alone what she was going to be wearing on the day. Luckily, Audrey recognised her from the profile uploaded to the website. Audrey was looking forward to meeting Claire as she was so thoughtful and caring and put so much effort into the messages that she wrote to Audrey. Her messages would always make her smile. Upon meeting, Audrey immediately noticed Claire’s gentle eyes and her sweet smile.  Claire’s first impression of Audrey was that she looked beautiful and well dressed. She noticed her lovely smile and she made regular eye contact during their conversation which is always a good sign when you are meeting someone for the first time. She was engaged, asked questions and was genuinely interested in everything Claire said – a refreshing change to many other dates she’d been on in the past!

But this first date was killing it! As the night progressed, and the bar started to prepare for the evening crowd, the background music became louder and they found it difficult to understand what each was saying so they headed off to a Thai restaurant and continued their conversation over a stir-fry dish each. The evening had gone so well that neither of them noticed the time Claire realised the clock had struck 11pm and she needed to catch the train back home. Audrey was adamant that she didn’t want her catching public transport that late at night, so, despite living in the opposite direction, Claire I agreed to the lift. From the moment they left the restaurant to the time they arrived in Carnegie, Audrey and Claire kept the conversation going until 7:30am the next day – Easter Sunday! It just seemed like they had been in each other’s lives for way longer. Early on, they enjoyed the peace of having found each other. It felt like old souls had met again. It felt natural and right. The love, respect and care that they had for each other continued to grow. Claire and Audrey knew that this was meant to be and rapidly fell in love.

Claire proposed to Audrey in October 2018. Prior to this, they had discussed that they wanted something that would be like them, discreet. No public proposal. On that night, Claire was in the kitchen and she called Audrey over. Thinking it was a call to do the dishes, Audrey pretended not to hear! Claire called again and proceeded to tell her how much she loved her and Audrey thought that this chick goes all in to get the dishes done! Claire dropped to one knee and asked Audrey to marry her. She was so nervous that she forgot to ask the question in French. She, of course, said yes. She then told her that she found how to propose in French and had been practicing for days. She then asked her again in French which was incredibly romantic and full of love.

Audrey loves that Claire is a tolerant person and loving and sensitive.  Audrey gets butterflies when Claire looks at her with her gorgeous eyes. She is the most gentle soul that she could have hoped for. She is caring and understands Audrey. Claire leaves her the space to be the independent person that she is and will gently guide her back to safety when she is concerned about Audrey pushing herself too much. Audrey love Claire unconditionally. She loves seeing her getting all excited when she surprises her and makes her discover new things or plan things for her. With Claire, she feels at home. Home is where Claire is and she loves it. She loves how they just naturally settle as soon as they are together. Claire is the soothing balm to her heart and mind. Audrey loves her resilience and how she always tries her best to make her happy.

Claire finds Audrey extremely loving, caring and has a generous spirit. She loves that she can make her laugh expectantly and keep her grounded in those stressful moments. Audrey is always there for Claire whenever she needs her to be there, and is solution-focused at times when Claire needs help dealing with issues or crises.

As a couple, they both love indulging beautiful food, playing arcade games together, going away for weekends and discovering new things. They like to be able to just chill at home and watch homely TV series that makes them feel all cocooned. And let’s not forget shopping, they love going shopping together.

In marriage they’re aware that honesty, open communication, trust and love are extremely important. Audrey looks forward to building and sharing the rest of her life with Claire as her wife and Claire looks forward to having someone she can come home to every day, rather than just an empty house with a cat inside waiting to be fed. She looks forward to having someone whom she can spend the rest of her life with, share experiences with, and create lots of happy memories together. They can’t wait to share more and more exciting adventures together as wives, to grow old together and to keep laughing and being them, simple and loving and to have their love always growing and filling their heart and lives.