Pat + Claire's backyard wedding
Location: Geelong, Victoria
Claire + Pat got married at Pat’s family home on the land of the Wadawurrung people. We paid our respects to Elders, past + present. We thanked them for their custodianship of the land and waterways. We acknowledged their connection to country and culture and the memories and stories ingrained within the landscape. Although the age of the memories are incomparable, the Wood’s family home also holds many special memories and this day welcomed another, the marriage of Claire and Pat.
The snaps throughout are a result of Lachlan’s mad skills of reallygoodweddings.com
In preperation, we asked Claire and Pat what marriage means. They agreed that marriage symbolizes their commitment to one another and solidifies the promise to always be there for the other. Each of their guests present had witnessed their journey and commitment, so it made sense they’d be able share the celebration of their love.
Pat + Claire’s love story started out in a bit of a mess or more accurately, a large glass of spilt orange juice. They were both volunteering for Red Frogs in Geelong.
Claire initially thought Pat seemed somewhat grumpy and not particularly fond of people. What better way to test that theory than spilling someone else’s orange juice over Pat’s freshly washed jeans? The results of the experiment were somewhat inconclusive as Pat was spellbound by Claire’s blue eyes. Claire’s interest and feelings were more of a slow burn.
There’s no doubting that the sticky mess was clearly a great segue for these two to establish a connection. Claire and Pat caught up a few times but it wasn’t until their third meeting that Pat asked if the next date could be a “real date” … Claire said yes which was quickly met with a real life fist pump. Claire had stirred something in Pat that was very tangible to the outside world. Immersed in the thrill of quick back and forth text messaging, Jacquie (Pat’s mum) observed a smile on Patrick’s face that she hadn’t seen for a long time.
Although Pat’s excitement may have initially exceeded Claire’s, these days it’s he who is the calm to Claire’s puppy like excitement, or, in Claire’s words, Pat is the calm to her chaos.
These lovebirds find delight in the simple things… They share in each other’s interests, seek comfort in a kiss hello or a good squeeze and a back crack, enjoy cute dates be it dinner and the movies, or a hike and picnic. Pat and Claire hope that their future holds much of the same… the privilege and joy of helping others for a living, plenty of laughter and adventure and undoubtedly more split orange juice at the hands of little ones.
Following the ceremony, Pat, Claire and their wedding parties headed off for photos before returning for a feast with their guests and danced in to the night. As for the next day, a larger group of humans were invited to the local Lawn bowls club to continue celebrations.
We think it’s important for everyone to think outside the traditional box of how to get married. Weekend events are worthwhile, you get to spend more quality time with the spesh humans who have made the effort to attend your day…
For us at MUS, we believe in getting married your way, we ADORE backyard weddings. Pat and Claire’s team of family members pulled off a great celebration and we were so stoked to be a part of it.
