Party at Hanging Rock: Karly and Jared’s festival wedding

Opposites attract, but they also teach one another compromise.

Karly Thaw, 33, and Jared Brentnall, 32, met while in high school. “Being everything from best friends to enemies in our 15-year-plus relationship means we know each other very well,” smiles Karly of Melbourne.

She says their relationship works because they are on the same page when it comes to the big stuff, but they have also learned to understand one another’s differences. “I’m one-hundred miles an hour, always busy and have difficulty sitting still, Jared manages to fit just as much into his life but goes about things in a much calmer, relaxed manner,” she explains.

In a celebration they coined ‘wedstival’, the musical couple married at their festival wedding on May 7, 2015 at Hanging Rock. “One of my dad’s friends very kindly let us use their paddock which is at the foot of Hanging Rock,” says the bride. “When we were researching it we learned it was used by Indigenous people for centuries before us as a meeting place and to hold similar ceremonies.”

Music was the focal point of the weekend-long celebrations; musician Jared surprising his bride with an original composition for her aisle-walk. Explains Karly, “People camped on Saturday night and we called upon our many talented friends to entertain the crowd with music all day on the Sunday.”

Karly also put her stamp on the day, growing succulents for their 90 guests for months beforehand. “I still get pictures of them from people today, thriving in gardens and bigger pots,” she smiles.

Photos courtesy of Journey by Light Photography.

Karly wore a 1950s vintage halter-neck gown which she thinks was once a prom dress!

“The ceremony was equal parts humour and mush,” laughs Karly.

The laid-back bridesmaids wore a mix of greens and purples against a backdrop of neutral groomsmen.

“When I look back over the weekend I can’t decide which day I enjoyed more,” reflects Karly. “It was so great to have the Sunday to actually sit down and talk to people without the pressure of time.”