NMJ Lovers | Louisa and Graham

From their homegrown florals, to Louisa's handmade wedding dress, the symbolic touches added into their NMJ pieces and a wedding cake made with love. Louisa and Graham's special day was imbued with not only their love for one another but paid tribute to the generations before them. Join us as Louisa and Graham share their favourite moments from their special day, how their love story unfolded and what sentiment means to them. 

Wedding Date: 13^th of March 2021 

Location: Munden, Longford, Tasmania (Graham’s Family Farm).  

Venue: We created our venue in a paddock. It was previously known as the Top Rises, however it has since been renamed the Wedding Paddock. Graham’s best man declined to plough the paddock after our wedding, refusing to plough in the good times that were had that day.   

Dress: My Mum made my dress for me. She made her wedding dress so it was very special to have her make mine too. The final stitches were placed on the morning of our wedding, the stress was definitely worth it.  

Photographer: Nina Hamilton Photography 

Celebrant: Young Celebrations 

 Can you tell us a little bit about your love story? Where did it all begin?   

I remember meeting Lou for the first time when we were about 15 at a sporting event, although she doesn’t remember this, funnily we now regularly take our dog, Annie, to this sporting oval to run around, where we first officially met. A few years later when Lou started working with a mutual friend at an ice-creamery, I started to consume a lot more than the recommended intake of ice-cream and things started from there.

Graham, tell us about the moment you realised Louisa was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with...  

It is difficult to pin point a singular moment in time. I was quick to fall in love with Lou and to acknowledge my love for her.  Early in our relationship I realised that our love for each other was something really special and something to be cherished and nurtured. I guess being together from a young age and for such a long period of time, and being apart while we did long distance, going through good times and bad that love intensified to a point that resulted in me not wanting to be without that her and knowing that the rest of my days would be far better with Lou by my side.   Where and when did you get married - tell us a little about your day?  

We were married on the 13^th of March 2021 at Munden, Graham’s family farm in Tasmania. We created our ceremony and reception venue in a paddock. Everything was brought in so there were a lot of moving parts and it would not have been possible without the team of friends and family who helped construct and pull it all together. Our family and friends are incredibly important to us and we were able to have so many of them involved in the making of the day. Graham’s parents hosted us all, my mum made my dress and our wedding cake, and my dad made the signage to direct our guests to the property, my sister in law hand wrote our menus, place settings and seating chart, as well as helped with styling, our friend Isaac designed our wedding invitations, our friends Laura and Jenna helped with the set up and styling the marquee. I had my brother and sister as my bridal party and Graham had his brother and best mate as his groomsmen. My friend Fergus, who is like a younger brother to me, played as I walked down the aisle and then played a set during the reception and got everyone dancing. The day was truly a celebration of us with our closest family and friends.  

We decided early on that we wanted to grow our own flowers for the day. We created a flower patch at the farm and tended to this for months before the wedding. Experiencing some huge successes and some failure along the way. We put together the flowers for the tables, and I made the boutonnieres, and Graham made my bouquet. He did an amazing job, it was exactly what I wanted, it had dahlias we had grown, roses from my Mum’s garden, and a rose that we had propagated from my late great aunt’s garden, as well as foliage from the farm including some from Graham’s wattle tree.  Graham, could you please share some more details around why you chose Wattle to be engraved onto your wedding band? 

Graham: When I was 6 or 7 I planted a wattle tree from seed on the farm in the paddock adjacent to our wedding site. When Lou and I got together, the first time I invited her to the farm we had a picnic under the wattle tree. It is a spot that we frequently revisit and we enjoy marking each spring it flowers as this closely coincides with our anniversary of us getting together.  I chose this to be on my wedding band to signify the connection to all those memories and a very special spot to us.  

Tell us about the argyle pink diamond hidden in Louisa’s wedding band. What does this special stone symbolise? 

Graham: When I was working with Natalie to design Lou’s engagement ring I also asked Natalie design a pair of earrings and a necklace using argyle pink diamonds through the bespoke service. I gifted these to her for our 10 year anniversary shortly after our engagement. I wanted to give Lou something that was classic that she could wear every day, which she does.  

Lou: Adding the argyle pink diamond was a way to tie all the pieces together. The stone from my engagement ring occludes the view of the pink diamond from above, I often have a view of it that others don’t, it is a special secret just between Graham and me.  If designing a truly one-of-a-kind keepsake is what your heart desires, let us take that journey with you. Contact our team here.