melbourne, australia, wedding photographer corey sleap

Words by Hello May blog. http://hellomay.com.au/article/a-hand-me-down-wedding-ryan-jo/

It’s a pretty damn special thing to be able to wear the dress your mum wore to her own wedding, and luck out with a beautiful frock. But to wear one that your grandma wore, then your mum – as Jo did when she married Ryan – is a truly special thing indeed!

Much of Jo and Ryan’s wedding went down in a very similar fashion – Ryan’s wedding band was Jo’s dad’s old wedding ring, and her own was a ring that her dad gave her mum when they were 16. Jo wore her mum’s pearl earrings and made her own veil. She also put her crafty hands to making her bridesmaids’ dresses, their stationery, and the floral bouquets. All while undertaking a huge renovation on a new house (which meant Jo turned up to her wedding with paint in her hair!).

Jo said, “I enjoyed putting everything together, that I was able to ‘get crafty’ and make the bridesmaid dresses and bouquets. I think it meant that I felt like the wedding was our creation. Everything was personal, from my dress to my engagement ring that was made by a family business near my hometown.”

The clever pair though made the most of their wedding day by spending on some essential vendors with catering by Peter Rowland, and these fun pics by Corey Sleap. Jo says, “Favourite part of the day was running around the gardens with our photographer, rowing on the lake, playing tennis and having a bit of time with each other in beautiful surrounds while Corey snapped every moment.”

Its not often I post just one part of a wedding, but when I ran through this sequence of pictures I was overcome.

Often we want out wedding days to run perfectly at any cost, here in pictures is a little story to put that all into perspective.

If your plan is to celebrate and to connect with your family and friends I think your on the right track.

corey