Sarah and Jason’s south coast wedding was a serious vibe, courtesy of a surprise appearace from Hot Potato Band. “Surprising our guests with Hot Potato Band at the end of the ceremony was so much FUN. We’ll never forget the looks on everyones faces when they came down the aisle”, said Sarah.

Of course having a killer venue (cue: Seacliff House), cocktails, a giant-size cake and a team of very capable vendors (Ivy Lane Collective, South Coast Party Hire and Garnish Catering to name a few) also played a big part in creating what was clearly a five-star celebration.

Captured by The Evoke Company and C2 Films, you can see this day in its full glory below.

How did you and Jason meet? We met in Thailand back in 2010. Jason was there with his friends, and I was with a group of mine. We met at the pool bar of the hotel we were staying at. A few Mai Tai cocktails and 11 years later here we are haha.

The proposal: We were on holidays in the Philippines when Jason suggested we go for a walk along the private beach at our resort. I was in a complete buffet breakfast coma and had zero clue what was going on. He hid it very well for the first part of our trip!

I found out that Jason had designed the ring months prior and asked my Dad for permission on Father’s Day, a couple days before we left for the holiday which was very sweet.

The venue: We wanted somewhere which we could have both the ceremony and reception. And we also were not so keen on outdoor ceremonies, so the barn at Seacliff House was PERFECT to convert in a church style ceremony, and alleviate any stresses about the weather.

It’s a gorgeous blank canvas venue, which gives you total free reign to style any way you like. Also loved being able to stay there across the entire weekend so we could relax with our family and friends before and after the big day. It was the very first and only venue we looked at and we immediately fell in love with it.

The vibe: The styling was inspired by all the destination weddings I had stalked on Pinterest lol. My family is Italian, so I wanted a Tuscan vibe to the wedding without going overboard on a full theme. Garnish Catering did a beautiful Italian style dinner, our cake was a traditional Italian Millefoglie and Ivy Lane incorporated olive branches and terracotta colours into our flowers which also conveniently matched my favourite drink – Aperol Spritz!

Our overall styling remained fairly classic, bright and romantic I think. Seeing everything come to life the morning of was so incredible. I just kept saying “oh my god” over and over again, and was blown away how everything came together.

I’ll never forget… Surprising our guests with Hot Potato Band at the end of the ceremony was so much FUN. We’ll never forget the looks on everyones faces when they came down the aisle. They sung Love is in the Air as we walked back down the aisle, and gave out tambourines to everyone to join in. They played between the ceremony and reception and was a massive mood booster getting the party started early.

Traditions: adopted, adapted or ditched? The structure of our wedding was mostly traditional but we did twist a few slightly.

We didnt nominate a best man or maid of honour as we found that to be a bit out dated. Our mums were our witnesses. At the reception the bridal party walked in all boys and then all girls. And we ditched the bouqet toss etc.

Standout vendors: The South Coast have some truly amazing wedding suppliers. Everyone involved was a standout to us, and would recommend them a thousand million times over. They all went above and beyond making sure our day was everything we wanted.

Elyza at Ivy Lane completely blew us away with her florals though – they were breathtaking.

Soundtrack: Aisle Song: “Silhouette”, by Active Child and Ellie Goulding. Just Married “Love is in the Air”, by John Paul Young (performed by Hot Potato Band). Reception entrance: “! (The Song Formerly Known As)”, by Regurgitator. First dance: “Latch”, by House Gospel Choir. Party starter: “Music Sounds Better With You”, by Stardust.

Words of wedding wisdom: Don’t let anyone tell you that you barely enjoy your wedding day because you will be too busy. If you have a thought out run sheet, and a good team of vendors around you they will make sure you are not being pulled from pillar to post. We put sooo much time and effort into planning, so made sure that we ate the food, drank the cocktails, laughed, danced and had fun with our guests.

Also, start thinking of the seating plan ASAP. It was by far the most stressful for us!