Holy moly, this Bride has some serious style. When I first laid eyes on her Sergio Rossi pumps, I nearly fainted. And when I saw her Karen Willis Holmes gown, I think I actually did. Her vintage chic style carried through her entire wedding, resulting in one seriously stunning affair. It’s a wedding you simply shouldn’t miss, and it’s all sitting pretty right here.
From the Bride… When people told me that my wedding day would be the best day of my life, I didn’t believe them. But they couldn’t have been more right. It was the most amazing day, and other than wishing it hadn’t been so hot, there is nothing I would change. Except maybe my now husband’s socks which on the day somehow got past my discerning eye. The day we had envisaged so was fun, relaxed, with a rustic (and touch of vintage) edge, which we reflected our personalities. Little details are not really our thing, so this played a part in the minimalist approach we initially took. However I ended up surprising myself and others with how things came together.
My dress was from the beautiful Karen Willis Holmes collection. “Felicity” was a strapless sweetheart neckline gown with diamantes and beaded bust line, with a multi-layered tulle skirt flowing into the train. After trying on what felt like a 1000 dresses over 6 weeks, I went back to the first one I had put on. Nothing could compare. Initially I had wanted to change dresses at the reception, to add a bit of a wow factor. But I was so in love with my dress that I couldn’t bear it. Instead I decide to change headwear. I wore a veil for the church ceremony, and for the reception changed into an amazing headpiece from Stephanie Browne. I had in my mind what I wanted but they didn’t have exactly what I wanted. But I explained my vision and they made it for me within the week (I was a bit last minute with a few things). For my shoes I wanted something I would wear again. And my Sergio Rossi mermaid caged booties were perfect. If Pete hadn’t have turned up on the day I would have gladly married my shoes!
The bridesmaid’s dresses were one of the first things I purchased. I found a magazine picture of a dress I wanted, unfortunately they didn’t have 5 so we were directed to another style on sale. They were perfect and ¼ of the budget we had set aside. So I bought them on the spot, with the Seduce staff sourcing the sizes from all over Australia and arranging for them to be express posted to me. It couldn’t have been easier!
The boy’s suits I made Pete purchase 3 months out from the wedding after he had taken no steps to get them. After that he felt his job was done, until 2 weeks before the wedding when he realized that was all he had. So 2 weeks out from the wedding we went to one shop, and bought 6 of everything (for him and the groomsmen). You know you might be in trouble when the staff are laughing at how little time you have left, however they pulled it together (with a few items arriving the day before the wedding!)
Given my lack of time, and interest, in shopping for decorations, I found most of my stuff online, particularly Etsy. It was my saviour. I spent many a work day perusing Etsy for unique ideas like the chalkboard hearts, cake topper, cootie catchers, and tutus. Organising everything online and via email was a great time saver and so easy. Getting those deliveries at work the weeks leading up to the big day made everything so much more exciting (and slightly stressful when Hurricane Sandy hit and delayed a few things, like the invitations!).
We DIY’ed a few things, primarily to keep the budget down. I had initially wanted a photobooth, but we couldn’t justify the cost. Having trawled through numerous wedding magazines I came across the photo wall idea. So mixing ply and sleepers from the hardware store, wallpaper from eBay and old photo frames from St Vincent De Paul, we made our own. We added photos of our parents and grandparents to the wall around the empty frames to give it the look of a real wall, but to also include the special people in our lives (both past and present) in some way. We had made signs directing people to the ceremony and boat (that we used to transport guests from the ceremony to the reception) to add to rustic look of the day. We also made a chalkboard seating chart (which came in handy for any last minute additions!). This was just an old frame from a vintage store we painted, with a chalkboard sheet from the hardware store nailed to it.
One of the main things that made our day possible was help from family and friends. Our music was our good friend Emma, and her band The Emma Graves Trio. On the day and after, everyone commented on how amazing a live band was and the different aspect it gives to the event than a DJ. Our table flowers were put together by my best friend’s (and MC) mum, Maria Gallery. We gave her the jars and a rough idea of what I wanted, and she put together exactly what we wanted. When I turned up to the reception I was blown away by how beautiful it looked. We chose Lovers Lane Photography as the photographers for our special day, they made us both feel so comfortable as the day can get very overwhelming, and the photos were breathtaking.
At the end of the day, the day was everything I had hoped for and more. And to future brides, my advice would be not to sweat the small the stuff. As soon as you start to walk down the aisle everything else won’t matter at all.
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Photography: Lovers Lane Photography | Ceremony Venue: Cerreti Chapel, St Patrick’s Estate, Manly | Reception Venue: Orso, The Spit | Wedding Dress: Karen Willis Holmes | Menswear: Oxford + Rembrandt | Hair: Ashleigh Sanders | MakeUp: Lisa Rachael | Cake: Cakes by Carla | Table Flowers: Maria Gallery | Bouquet + Church Flowers: Hills Flower Market | Band: Emma Graves Trio | Shoes: Sergio Rossi
