This wedding? It has it all. Every little thing that makes me weak in the knees for weddings and beyond thankful I get to spend my days poring over pretty. Not only is it as gorgeous as they come thanks to the talents at Oscar & Ruby, but it also has that emotion you can almost feel through each gorgeous image from Pobke Photography. It’s just perfect, and you can see it all right here.
From the Bride… James proposed on a perfect Summer’s day overlooking Lake Como in Italy. After the initial excitement, the planning process began. Being Australian, but living in London at the time, we were spoiled for choice on venue, with so many amazing destinations between our homeland and our adopted city. In the end, we decided there was no place like home to start married life, and we settled on my home town of Sydney.
Planning an Australian wedding from London had its challenges. However, deciding early on what was important to us – an elegant but relaxed day surrounded by our closest family and friends, topped off by amazing food – kept things in perspective. We wanted the day to be filled with personal touches without being cheesy. My father owned an XP Falcon, a quintessentially Australian car from the 1960′s. Although we sold the car after Dad passed away, we were able to borrow it from the new owner for the wedding. Being able to arrive at the church in Dad’s car was such a lovely start to the day and a little reminder that Dad was watching over my family. We also made a donation to charity in lieu of favours in honour of our late fathers.
Our priest, Father Peter, helped us plan a service that was meaningful and reflected our relationship. We included the hymn “Jerusalem,” a song derived from a William Blake poem, during the ceremony to recognise the time we had spent in the United Kingdom.
One of the easiest decisions was our reception venue, Quay. With more than half of our 75 guests coming from interstate and overseas, we wanted somewhere that showed Sydney in its best light. Quay is consistently voted the best restaurant in the country and has amazing views of the Opera House and the Bridge. The food and the service were impeccable, with the function manager Ali even driving my mother-in-law to her hotel when we couldn’t find a taxi. The staff at Quay also didn’t complain when the reception descended into some quite bad karaoke for a period during the evening.
We were blessed to have some fabulous vendors helping us with the wedding. We found our photographer, Christine, after seeing two of her weddings on Style Me Pretty (here and here). Christine was such a fun, warm presence on the day and she immediately felt like a friend rather than our photographer. And we loved working with our florists, Aleksandra and Jess, from Oscar & Ruby, who helped make the day look so beautiful. We were also lucky that our stationer, Sophie from Daisy & Jack, shared the same sense of humour as us. Sophie didn’t flinch when we insisted putting the quote, “I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life” on our Order of Service.
I decided early on that I wanted my bridesmaids to be able to choose their own dresses. Having my ladies feel happy and comfortable in what they were wearing was a relief for them and for me. And James surprised me on the day by having the boys wear tuxes, rather than the lounge suits I was expecting. The other surprise on the day was the first dance. We had agreed that James would choose this and that I would only discover his choice as the music began on the night. Fortunately James chose “Stand By Me” rather than some of the other options he’d threatened during our engagement.
While we were always expecting to have a wonderful wedding day, we were overwhelmed and surprised by the fact that it was genuinely the best day of our lives. We were so lucky to be surrounded by wonderful family and friends who had supported us during the wedding planning and our relocation back to Australia the month before the wedding. We are so grateful to have had such a fun and relaxed start to married life.
Photography: Pobke Photography / Floral Design: Aleksandra / Event Design: Oscar & Ruby / Ceremony Location: St Patrick’s Catholic Church in Sydney, Australia / Reception Location: Quay Restaurant, Overseas Passenger Terminal in Sydney, Australia / Wedding Cake: Faye Cahill / Wedding Invitations: Daisy & Jack / Photographs of Invitations: Photography by Nadean / Bride’s Shoes: Christian Louboutin + Kate Spade / Wedding Dress: Johanna Johnson / Bride’s Veil: Jenny Packham / Bride’s Necklace: Percy Marks / Bride’s Bangle: Kate Spade / Bride’s Earrings: Victoria Spring / Bride’s Clutch: Anya Hindmarch / Bride’s Hair Comb: Glamadonna / Make Up: Natalie Urban / Mother of the Bride Dress: Little Joe NY / Mother of the Bride Jacket: Review / Bridesmaids’ Dresses: Diane von Furstenberg + Olivia Deur / Bridemaids’ Earrings: Oroton / Bridesmaids’ Brooches: Vintage via Etsy / Groom & Groomsmen’s Suits: Peppers Formal Hire / Flower Girl Dress: Monsoon / Flower Girl Shrug: Tutu du Monde / Page Boy Suit: Next / Rubber Stamp: Brown Pigeon / Wooden Table Numbers: Scrol Lynne Wood Art
