Meg and Adrian’s South Coast elopement at Eagle View Park in Foxground was literally the most epic elopement to date. These legends knew exactly what they wanted when it came to celebrating their wedding. Being married in front of their nearest and dearest of around 20 guests and then partied hard into the night (you might even see some phone footage of the dance floor going off at 2am in their film above ;)).

Meg and Adrian’s epic elopement was another Above Below Visuals and Matt Ashton Photography combination which in my potentially biased opinion allowed for so much creativity and good vibes. It’s always a good time working with one of my favourite photographers, and in my opinion - one of the best in the industry.

You might find Meg and Adrians elopement featured in a few directories and bridal blogs - for good reason as well. IT WAS THAT GOOD! (links below)

Let’s get into it and hear from Meg and Adrian!

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship:

We’re a tinder success story, who met in 2013 not long after I moved from Brisvegas (Brisbane, QLD) to the big smoke in Sydney. We lead very different lives professionally, Adrian’s a criminal prosecutor and I’m a reality television editor, which certainly makes for some light and shade when we tell work stories over a glass of red at the end of the day!

When it comes to recreational entertainment Adrian’s a die-hard NRL fan and I’m more of the cult tv show fanatic, so it was an especially wonderful moment when watching Schitt’s Creek that we found our wedding song! Noah Reid’s cover of Simply the Best which we used for the aisle moment, then the NRL Tina Turner version after being announced as husband and wife.

Tell us about your special day? What were some of your favourite wedding details and why you chose them?

I’ve always thought it was a bit of nonsense when couples say that their wedding day was the best day of their lives, but oh boy, did I have to eat my words. Our wedding was, no contest, the greatest, most incredible day of our lives (most amazingly, Adrian even admitted it was greater than the Dragons win in the 2010 NRL grand final! – I cannot understate what a big deal that concession is)

Like many covid affected couples, it was certainly an experience planning a wedding in a pandemic. When covid-19 breached Australia’s borders, we realised pretty early on that our October 10th wedding for 200 friends at Meg’s family home in Brisbane wasn’t going to happen. We postponed for December, but with that still looking perilous, we decided to ‘pandemic-proof our nuptials’, and make a couple of teeny tiny changes to the guest list.. and cut it from 200 down to just 20. With snap border closures, flying into Brisbane was also far from a guarantee, so we hit up airbnb for and soon found the stunning EagleParkView in Gerringong on the NSW South Coast. It was the perfect location for our day, as we always wanted that intimate feeling of a private residence, and the almost 360 degree uninterrupted outlook made us feel like we were the only people in the world.

Our vibe has always been on the natural/minimalist side, our florist described it as ‘elegant boho’ which I think it spot on the money. We didn’t end up getting a stylist as originally planned, instead, our mums raided their cabinets for our late grandparent’s cutlery, crockery and glassware, and set it all up themselves which was an incredibly special touch that we only could have achieved at such an intimate event.

What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day:

The absolute best part of the entire day wasn’t a thing we planned or item we bought, but it was the overwhelming love I felt pouring out of Adrian. It was pure and unapologetically real, and that memory will stay with me forever.

There were a few pieces I was gifted which was so so special, my engagement ring was my great grandmothers, it’s over 90 years old which is beyond incredible. Adrian and his late nana gifted me the sapphire pendant which we had custom designed is a piece I will treasure and can’t wait to pass down as an heirloom. And wearing my mother in law’s veil from her own wedding was an unexpected and wonderful touch. Dad bringing his MG convertible down from Brisbane was such an incredible addition to the day, and driving up the hill to the venue and seeing everyone waving as we arrived was an amazing way to kick off the celebrations. An absolute highlight was my mum and dad surprising everyone with a performance of our wedding song ‘Simply the Best’ on the ukulele, which ended with guests standing on chairs and my brother thumping the table so hard he got a fork stuck in his palm.

Enjoying the bridal photos was something we did not see coming! We are in no way a photogenic couple and only have the obligatory couple shots at other people’s weddings, but our photographer Matt and videographer Tim were the best possible hype men you could ask for. They seamlessly stage managed us without us even realising it, it felt crazy natural to make out in the middle of the field (not a normal thing you do with two blokes watching!) and that is a credit to them.

As a couple that love a big shindig and hectic d-floor, it was never a consideration to have such a small guest list, but Holly & Will from Top Shelf Live brought the noise big time and meant the dance floor went off. We could never have anticipated how complete we felt after the most perfect day with the people that we have grown up with and will grow old with.

Who were the standout vendors?

“Our photographer Matt Ashton Photography and videographer Above Below Visuals. I don’t like to throw around the word ‘legend’ lightly but in this case, it is well deserved. Matt wore many hats during the whole process, from woo girl to wedding planner to hairstylist (he literally has a bum bag with bobby pins – he fixed my veil to my hair and it did not move once no matter how many fences he made us climb and fields we walked through). Both Tim and Matt surpassed all expectations for the passion and talent they exhibited. Our entertainment, Holly and Will from Top Shelf Live are at the top of their field and let me tell you they Bring! The! Noise! Their range is phenomenal, they command crowds at music festivals and club dance floors, but they also nail the intimate moments. They should absolutely be on your radar. Our hairstylist Chelsea Taylor Hair Stylist and Eagle View Park owners, Helen and Bernie.”

What did Meg and Adrian have to say about their film?

We were one of the many couples that had their original wedding plans completely uprooted by this pesky pandemic. We (semi grudgingly) changed plans and postponed our 200 person celebration in QLD and had a 20 person elopement in Gerringong, NSW. It was stressful having to start from scratch again, but it was accidentally the best best best decision we ever could have made.

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a nightmare of a client because of my occupation as a television editor. So I had the highest expectations from our videographer more than any other vendor on the day. I hired Tim only to shoot our wedding as I planned to edit it myself. My thought process was that no one would care more about this video than me, and arrogantly I didn’t believe anyone else could do it justice.

But then Tim sent us the 30 second teaser video and hoo boy did I eat my words. We locked him in to do the whole video immediately. Video editing is an art form and Tim is a talented, talented man. The music choice was so perfectly us and the gear changes between ‘party’ to ‘sentimental’ was seamless and an absolute joy to watch.

While filming he was an absolute ninja, most of the time we completely forgot he was there.. There was no coaching or directing, we were purely ourselves and he turned it into magic. A lot of people don’t consider a wedding videographer to be essential, but I would argue that it’s on par (if not more important) than a photographer. Photos are a snapshot of the day, but nothing captures the raw emotion of every moment like a videographer does. If you are half considering a videographer I urge you to compromise on inconsequential things like the centrepieces or the more expensive furniture hire. You will never ever regret prioritising a quality videographer like Tim.

Being in the unique position of having had two weddings, I can with full confidence I would 1000000% recommend Tim. I begrudgingly admit that there is one man that could have done a better job editing a television editor’s own wedding video.. and that man is Timothy Blacketer from Above Below Visuals. Absolutely blown away by the product we received and we are so so grateful to have the best possible memory from our day.

Featured in:

Hello May
Together Journal

Vendors:

Wedding venue: Eagle View Park, Gerringong
Photography: Matt Ashton Photography
Videography: Above Below Visuals
Florist: Jessica Lea Floral Design
Makeup: Makeup By Megan
Hair: Chelsea Taylor
Music: Top Shelf Live
Dress: Darb Bridal
Suits: MJ Bale

KIND WORDS

‘We were one of the many couples that had their original wedding plans completely uprooted by this pesky pandemic. We (semi grudgingly) changed plans and postponed our 200 person celebration in QLD and had a 20 person elopement in Gerringong, NSW. It was stressful having to start from scratch again, but it was accidentally the best best best decision we ever could have made.

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a nightmare of a client because of my occupation as a television editor. So I had the highest expectations from our videographer more than any other vendor on the day. I hired Tim only to shoot our wedding as I planned to edit it myself. My thought process was that no one would care more about this video than me, and arrogantly I didn’t believe anyone else could do it justice.

But then Tim sent us the 30 second teaser video and hoo boy did I eat my words. We locked him in to do the whole video immediately. Video editing is an art form and Tim is a talented, talented man. The music choice was so perfectly us and the gear changes between ‘party’ to ‘sentimental’ was seamless and an absolute joy to watch.

While filming he was an absolute ninja, most of the time we completely forgot he was there.. There was no coaching or directing, we were purely ourselves and he turned it into magic. A lot of people don’t consider a wedding videographer to be essential, but I would argue that it’s on par (if not more important) than a photographer. Photos are a snapshot of the day, but nothing captures the raw emotion of every moment like a videographer does. If you are half considering a videographer I urge you to compromise on inconsequential things like the centrepieces or the more expensive furniture hire. You will never ever regret prioritising a quality videographer like Tim.

Being in the unique position of having had two weddings, I can with full confidence recommend Tim. I begrudgingly admit that there is one man that could have done a better job editing a television editor’s own wedding video.. and that man is Timothy Blacketer from Above Below Visuals. Absolutely blown away by the product we received and we are so so grateful to have the best possible memory from our day.’