lana and des

wallalong house wedding

This was one of my favourite (and one of the last) weddings of 2019 for a whole host of reasons. The venue, the styling, the two people in the middle of it all, they were all beautiful, but that was completely secondary.

Lana and Des have known each other since they were 7 - their parents are good friends. Of the two of them there was a beautiful, almost tangible sense of inevitability.

Lana spoke of, as a much younger version of herself, internally rebelling against her feelings for Des because she knew that once they got together they would never not be. Des spoke of the depth of certainty that he loved her, long before they ever spoke of their feelings or moved beyond being friends. They shared a first kiss at a bus stop on the way to a party, and immediately shared” I love you”s, and have never looked back. Stories like these are supposed to be the stuff of fiction.

They are both such strong, vibrant personalities and have gone through their formative years together. People change and mature and grow a lot between their teenage years and mid to late twenties but they’ve done it all side by side, supporting and guiding and influencing one another along the way.

I’ve said it before, but one of my favourite things about weddings are that they’re also an excuse and reason to celebrate ALL the love in your life. To critically think about and thank all the people that have gotten you to where you are, shaped the way you view the world, or have just been there for the highs and the lows. On this day, at this wedding this was particularly brought to life. From Lana organising for all her closest friends over to the house in the morning while she got ready, to Des’ tisch, to both of their families literally surrounding them during the ceremony, the sense of community was palpable.

When I started this I had an idea that I wanted to write about how I was struck by the beautiful reverence of tradition and culture and how it can foster this overwhelming sense of community, to tell stories about the relationship between Lana and her fierce grandma, between Des and his folks, to explain both how similar and how different Lana and Des are and how well they complement one another and the dozens of little stories and narratives that I was privy to throughout the day. But I’ve already said enough. I think I’ll let the images tell the rest of the story, as it was.

Some stories are particularly worth telling. I hope I did this one justice.

Enjoy

Dane

If you like what you see - contact me here.

Venue - Wallalong House

Styling - The Wild Side

Planning - Solstice Events

Catering - Fennel and Co

Videography - More life films

Wallalong house wedding. Wallalong house wedding photographer. Wallalong house wedding photography. Candid wedding photography. Surry Hills wedding photographer.

 

INSTAGRAM @THESALTYSHUTTER

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