ASHLEE + REUBEN

Ashlee and Reuben met in high school in 2006 when Ashlee was in year 7 and Reuben was one of the ‘cool’ year 9 boys. Reuben proposed in January of 2021 when they were away for the weekend at Reuben’s grandparents’ farm, a place which holds a very special place in Reubens heart. After a few days spent fishing and visiting wineries, Sunday morning had arrived and it was time to go home. They went for breakfast at Milawa Cheese Factory and Ashlee casually commented that he could have proposed to her that weekend. Before they left, Reuben asked if she wanted to do one last walk around the property and insisted on it despite the extremely hot weather. Ashlee was wearing an old T-shirt dress, work boots and a straw hat – a real vision, she thought. They took a quick dip in the river and after popping their clothes back on, Reuben said “Hey Ash, you were right”. As Ashlee turned around, she found Reuben on one knee with ring in hand. Ashlee was worried that the ring had been in the same shorts pocket that Reub had just thrown on the rocks five minutes earlier – care free! She remembers Reuben saying ” Are you going to say yes because my knee is burning on this freaking rock!”

Ashlee and Reuben had a two-year engagement and that was because they were specific with particular vendors they wanted to lock in early! Their absolute dream team of vendors was exactly what made the planning process so easy. The process was so easy that Ashlee found herself multiple times saying “Surely, I’m missing something? This is too easy and I’m too chill”. She relied heavily on advice from her vendors, used social media heavily for inspiration and became a little bit of a spreadsheet queen trying to stay organised.

Ashlee and Reuben had 115 of their closest friends and family at their wedding that travelled locally, interstate and overseas to make it.

The couple based their style inspiration – modern classic – from their venue, Barunah Plains, and worked around that. They did not really follow any ‘current trends’ because they wanted a wedding that they would look back on forever and would never date. For décor, Ashlee and Reuben chose a lot of black, whites and natural greens, a style which heavily complimented the green vines of the venue and their green, well-looked-after lawns. Their florist Annie from The Refined Bloom Co, who also was a guest at the wedding, was the couple’s style ‘guru’ for the entire process.

Reuben and the boys had ‘classic’ black, tailored suits with a ‘modern’ twist – on the outside the suits were classic black, however each groomsmen had individual custom lining on the inside of the jacket. The bridesmaids wore long, elegant, black crepe dresses that gave a much softer appearance than silk and complimented the boys’ black suits well.