Feb 21, 20238 min read

Alana & Jamie - REAL WEDDING - Tumbleweed

Alana & Jamie have the sweetest meet-cute ever - they met through a prank call, and connected with their sense of humour and mutual love of Anchorman. 11 and half years later, these two gorgeous people tied the knot in a beautiful rustic styled elopement with their nearest and dearest and Alana looked sensational in her Tumbleweed gown. Read on to hear more about how they styled and planned their elopement at Goosewing Cottage in the Hunter Valley on Jul 26, 2022

Photography Credit: Adam from Cavanagh Photography

When did you know Jamie was the ONE?

Seeing him interact with my mum was the moment I realised I had found my forever person. My mum had a difficult life and struggled with addiction. When I would see him listening to her always so attentively and building a special bond with her it showed the kind of man he was and that he not only prioritised our relationship, but also his relationships with those I love. He also makes me laugh like no one else, Not just a giggle kind of laugh, it’s a snorting, hyena kind of laugh.

Tell us how Jamie proposed - We love a good ring story!

To explain the proposal we need to start at the beginning. We met through a prank phone call, I called a random number in my friend’s phone. We instantly clicked through our humour and our love of the movie Anchorman. When we finally decided to meet up after speaking all day every day for weeks we met up at a random beach half way between our houses. We both forgot which exact beach it was and before he proposed he spent his spare time searching for that beach. He found it and took our eldest son and I to that beach for a surprise date. He proposed soon after arriving right at sunset and it was even more special because our son was there with us jumping around all excited.

When you first started wedding planning, what where 3 of the most important things to you both about your wedding day?

We were engaged for nine years and when we thought about what was stopping us from wedding planning it was always money. Having that be a reason for delaying getting married seemed like such a small hurdle. We decided that planning a wedding that fit into a budget we could afford was the most important thing to us (especially having three kids) so we decided to elope with only 21 guests. The second most important thing was having a ceremony where we could both write our own vows and not have a time limit on them. The third thing was to have our elopement on a Tuesday but then our reception on the weekend to celebrate with those that couldn’t be at the ceremony due to numbers. We also enjoyed having the ceremony part out of the way so we could just relax on our wedding night and then be all rested and ready to party on the Saturday.

Where did you choose to get married?

We booked an elopement package with Goosewing Cottage in Mount View, NSW.

What vendors did you use for your wedding?

We were given options of vendors we could choose for our wedding as a part of our elopement package.

Our florals were provided by Melanie at Mayflowers Vintage Florist

HMUA: Tina at Gloss Girl Bridal Story

Photographer: Adam from Cavanagh Photography

Videographer: Hunter Valley Video

Venue: Goosewing Cottage

Celebrant: Monty King Cake: Christine at Chrissy’s Creations.

For our reception we hired Catherine Hill Bay Life Saving Club and had KFC cater our event.

How did you pick your venue?

We were looking at elopements on Google and Goosewing Cottage came up. As soon as I saw all that they provided in a package deal that fit our budget perfectly and then saw the breath taking photo’s of the venue I couldn’t see myself being married anywhere else.

What vendors did you spend the most time researching and trying to decide on?

No extra time searching we looked through the vendors available in the package and their work. The vendors we chose were the ones we resonated with their work/vibe the most.

Did you find it difficult to bring your wedding under budget?

Not at all as it was all provided in the package we agreed on, no hidden surprises.

Do you have any advice for other couples planning a wedding on a lower budget?

My advice would be to not make the day about pleasing other people. We can often get so wrapped up in ensuring everyone else is happy we stress ourselves out in the process. Sometimes inviting one person leads to a domino effect of then feeling like you need to invite more and more people to please everyone which then can lead to a much bigger price tag than your original budget. Your special day is about you and celebrating your love story, no one else.

When you look back on your day, what is your most favourite memory?

My most favourite memory from the ceremony was definitely hearing my partner’s vows. His words were beautiful but he also made me laugh. Our reception on the weekend my favourite memory was doing our first dance to “Untouched” by the Veronica’s. It wasn’t planned but it was so much fun!

Party all night or did you sneak off with your loved one early in the night?

We went out for dinner with some of our elopement guests and then headed back to our venue to unwind with our three kids.

If you eloped, how many witnesses did you choose to have?

We eloped with 18 Adult Guests and our 3 beautiful children.

What is something unique you did in your ceremony?

I had my eldest son walk me down the aisle alongside my dad. It meant a lot to me to have the man who gave me life on one side and on the other side the boy who first gave meaning to my life.

How did you pick your bridal party?

I only had the one bridesmaid, my sister. We didn’t plan on having bridesmaids but she told me she was making herself a bridesmaid whether I like it or not because she had been waiting for this day for a long time! It was very sweet that she wanted to be a part of it all with me.

How did you choose the colour and styling of your bridesmaid dresses?

We had pops of green with bow ties for my husband, three children & my dad so my sister wore a beautiful dark green dress to match. I also chose a green dress for my reception dress so green was definitely the theme.

Did you get any inspo from Pintrest, insta and Tik Tok?

I got a lot of inspo from Pinterest in terms of choosing outfits for my husband and my three kids. We didn’t do any DIY projects.

How did you include your partner in the planning? Did they contribute to the nitty gritty stuff or leave the details up to you?

Everything was done for us just from choosing options in our package. All we had to do really was get our rings and organise my dress and my husband and three boys’ outfits. He helped choose things and was a part of the whole process with me, except for the dress, that was a solo mission.

In three words describe your special day to us!

Beautiful, emotional and relaxing.

Did any vendors go above and beyond to make your day perfect? Give them a shout out here!

All of our vendors went above and beyond for our special day, but a major shout out for Goosewing Cottage. I didn’t feel stressed at all on the day and it is because of their support.

Only if you feel comfortable sharing, please let our readers know what was your total budget for your special day and did you go over or under this amount?

Total budget was $10,000 and I would say we were only a fraction over after everything.

Looking back, how would you describe the atmosphere of your wedding day?

It was a day full of big emotions as our vows went deep at times, our eldest son was captured beautifully during the ceremony with tears running down his cheeks as he listened to me read my vows to his dad. But it was also a day full of laughs and so much love. It was very overcast and windy during our ceremony but right after I finished my vows and before we were pronounced as man and wife the sun peaked through on us. My mum passed away in 2015 and we all felt that was a sign from her letting us know she was there with us.

How did you find Desert Moon?

A video came up on my for you page on TikTok then I straight away followed the instagram page too.

What brought you to our website first? Price? Style? Sizing range?

What first caught my attention was the style of the dress on my for you page on Tiktok. Then i couldn’t get enough of looking at Desert Moon Bridal dresses. The fact that beautiful dresses like that are available at such an incredible price without compromising quality blows my mind. I also love that I was supporting an Australian brand that was also a brand that focuses on inclusivity with their amazing size range. All women deserve to feel excited about choosing their dream dress and to not feel anxious about whether a store will have their size or be limited in options.

Did you love your gown?

How did it make you feel wearing Tumbleweed?

I love, love, LOVE my Tumbleweed gown! I have never felt more beautiful in a dress (I was also shocked because I always thought I didn’t have a booty but it showed off my booty!). It fit me like a glove without any adjustments needed. I was messaged by so many people asking where I got my gown from.

Did you have THE moment trying on your gown for the first time?

When I first tried on my gown I was at home with just my kids. My middle child came up to me and said “mum! you look like a princess!” it is such a beautiful memory that will stay with me forever having my three children there for that moment telling me how beautiful I looked at that they thought their dad was going to love it. I also then video called a few of my loved ones to share that moment with them too.

Is there anything else you'd like to share about your dress?

Just that you guys are magicians to be able to create such magical, beautiful dresses. The quality was impeccable. Thank you so much.

What is something unique you did for your reception?

We had our ceremony on the Tuesday and our reception on the Saturday. We had KFC cater our wedding reception. That was an iconic moment seeing that much chicken for our 50-70 guests. I’ve never seen people more excited to take leftover’s from a wedding reception home!

Finally - Honeymoon plans? Are you waiting to travel or did you jet off straight after the big day?

We are definitely waiting to travel a little as we are hoping to complete our family with one more baby. We are just enjoying our love bubble and we’re in no rush to travel. Simply being married to each other was all we ever wanted. When we do travel though we want to go explore New Zealand.