COURTENAY + MITCH

Courtenay and Mitch met through a mutual friend when they were 16. She went to an all-girls school and Mitch went to Courtenay’s brother’s school. At one point Courtenay was good friends with all of Mitch’s friends and knew everybody really well except for him. Eventually they bumped into each other at a party and this time Courtenay saw in Mitch something she had not seen the first time. They became best friends and have been inseparable since.

Mitch proposed in December 2021 at Mount Wellington in Hobart where Courtenay had all her extended family. She and Mitch used to go to Courtenay’s parents’ shack on the north-east coast of Tasmania every Christmas but in 2021 they were not able to join her family which was isolated due to Covid-19. Instead, they drove up and down the state in the van they had converted.

On the day of the proposal they drove up to Mount Wellington – one of the must do things in Hobart. Mitch took Courtenay down a path to the side of the mountain and said the loveliest speech before getting down on one knee. They spent the rest of the day eating and dancing at the Taste of Tasmania Festival with friends – one of the best days ever.

The wedding planning process was relatively smooth with the venue being the first thing they booked. They chose a destination wedding on the Bellarine Peninsula at Terindah Estate, a venue with an amazing view and a great vibe.

Courtenay and Mitch wanted a wedding that was romantic, fun and happy and were guided by Alexandra from One Mimosa Please, who is Mitch’s sister’s best friend. They booked in most vendors early, such as the amazing acoustic duo Tobi Tobi, that played Video Games by Lana Del Rey as Courtenay’s aisle song. This was the song that Mitch and her listened to in the car when they first became friends more than nine years earlier.

The wedding felt like one big family dinner turned into a party according to one of the 132 guests. Courtenay chose a fairly neutral colour palette of light pinks, whites, yellows and rusty orange to remind them of the outdoors and the beach. Their florist had a big collection of beautiful white shell vases and created stunning floaty floral displays. They combined this with silver-painted oyster pinch pots for salt and pepper, which Courtenay had painted from oysters from Tasmania. Alexandra from One Mimosa Please did all the stationery and signage. She understood Courtenay’s vision immediately and created the most beautiful menus shaped like scallop shells.