T R I S H & J O S H U A
F R O M T H E B R I D E…
The Meeting…
When we were 16 a few boys from Josh’s school and girls from my school got together for a picnic in the park at the end of term. We had some food and played some soccer at Valley Reserve in Mt.Waverley. We then started uni together and were spending lots of time with each other. A couple of years into uni Josh had our friends over at his house and asked me out. We’ve been together ever since!
Love…
There wasn’t a significant moment that stands out, but love came early in our relationship. We were very fond of each other before we started dating and once we got together we found it hard to be apart. We helped each other through difficult times and built up a trust in one another. Josh said he knew instantly!
The Proposal…
It was Christmas Eve and Josh was driving me past Valley Reserve and the brakes of the car started to make a strange noise (something Josh had planned to make up as an excuse anyway). So Josh pulled into Valley Reserve and got out to have a look at the tires, he then asked me if I could help him for a second. I begrudgingly got out of the car and came to help Josh where I found him on one knee asking me to marry him.
Wedding Style…
Initially there wasn’t a particular colour scheme that we wanted for the wedding so we were basing our decisions on styles we liked from different photos and wedding blogs. We both knew we wanted to have the wedding ceremony in a garden or outdoors and agreed that it would be wonderful to have the reception close to the ceremony so that the guests were already in one spot.
We always wanted our wedding to have a romantic, playful and classic vibe that was followed by a big party with all of our friends. Knowing the ceremony was in a garden and at Abbotsford convent helped us make decisions on the theme and style. A romantic, vintage style started to emerge as we were making decisions on the décor, outfits, stationery, decorations etc.
In the end, there were lots of subtle references in our decorations that tied in with the venue and location. We used soft pinks that were the colours of the bridesmaids’ dresses, florals and wood because of the location and twine to link with the rustic/ vintage theme we were trying to achieve.
Ceremony Location…
The ceremony was in the heritage gardens at Abbotsford Convent.
Reception Venue…
Our reception was held in the Rosina room and courtyard at Abbotsford Convent.
The Dress…
My gown was a white lace full length dress. It was a fitted straight dress. It had mini capped lace sleeves and had a lower back with pearl buttons.
A dressmaker whose details had been passed on by a friend made my dress. She works from home and has many years experience with bridal gowns.
My inspiration came from a combination of similar dresses I had liked, one being from Amaline Vitale. Utimately I had wanted something classic, simple and elegant. I fell in love with the lace and being so delicate wanted to make sure that it was possible to use it. My dressmaker did an amazing job at showing off the beautiful material.
Bridesmaids…
The bridesmaids wore a very pale pink full length dress. It was a strapless dress that had a sweetheart neckline and a split at the front. The girls wore rose gold earrings from Witchery and their hair was swept up to the side in a low bun. Josh’s sister was standing with the groomsmen, but she also wore the same dress as the bridesmaids. Instead of holding a bouquet she had a floral wrist corsage. The dresses were from an online showroom called White Runway.
Groom + Groomsmen…
Groomsmen wore tan/camel coloured chinos (which were more of a suit style cut than a jean cut), Brown shoes, white shirt with black trim and black buttons, a navy vest and belt and a black bow tie. The bow tie was from That Dapper Chap, the pants from Connor and the rest was from YD. Groom wore the same except no vest and a navy suit jacket instead. We also had white rose lapels
The Flowers…
Our bouquets were designed to fit in with the colours and theme of the wedding. Our bouquets were not so structured and rounded like usual bouquets. There were lots of elements to it that included roses, posies with white shades and then greenery to border the white flowers. The bouquets were wrapped in twine to match our theme.
Decorations…
The reception was styled by Karina Harvey from Together by KH. We were both very excited to style the room at Abbotsford because they have such a gorgeous space and vintage décor for receptions. The main idea was to be classic and pretty, but also simple and minimal at the same time so that it didn’t feel cluttered. One thing we agreed on was we didn’t want the guests places to be filled up with bits and pieces because otherwise it can become too busy. This then allowed the guests to roam around and discover little things around the room.
We used jars for vases and had white, green and pink floral arrangements. The stationery for table seating matched our invites and guests names were pegged onto the wine glasses on the table. We used little wooden blackboards and boxes as signage for different stations around the room. In the courtyard there were mini lanterns hanging above the space. There were also mini candles on all the tables.
We had an area for gifts and bomboneire, an area for flower wrapping and a photo and guest book signing space.
On the Menu…
Entrée:
Handmade four cheese tortellini, white wine cream sauce, asparagus, peas, pancetta, parmesan and basil crumb
Alternate main course:
Roasted eye fillet beef, creamed spinach, baby beets, horse radish cream, red wine jus, water cress
Char grilled chicken breast, lemon, feta and thyme quinoa, truss tomatoes, salsa verde, crispy skin
Sides:
Seasonal roast vegetables – baby beets, squash, capsicum, zucchini, red onions, sweet corn and pumpkin
Harissa eggplant, zucchini, chickpeas, tahini sauce, pomegranate seeds
Dessert:
Brown sugar meringue, seasonal berries, blackberry sorbet, marscarpone
Wedding Cake…
A honeycomb mud with ganache made by Oakleigh Quality Cakes.
Wedding Bomboniere…
We gave our guests mini jars that consisted of our favourite lollies. The jars had little twine covers and were tied up with a ‘Thank you’ gift tag that matched our stationery. We had ‘Bride’s favourites’ and ‘Groom’s favourites’. We enjoyed the process of selecting the lollies!
Special Memories…
Firstly, guests had prepared a surprise dance/ flashmob that they performed for Josh and I. They had filmed a video for the guests to copy, held a secret rehearsal and had formed a facebook page to plan the whole surprise!
Josh has a Cypriot background so some of his family and mine participated in pinning money on us during a couple of songs on the dance floor.
We also had a Greek dance to ‘Zorba’s dance’ where most of our guests (160ish) were up on the dance floor! Lots of fun! And was led by Josh’s grandma YiaYia.
Wedding Photography…
Pixie Rouge Photography was the photographer at a friend’s wedding and we loved her style and character so we decided to go with her.
The surroundings at the Abbotsford convent were great for photos and we love the natural feel of the photos.
Wedding Songs…
Our ceremony songs were sung by our family friend which included a song from the 50s called You and Me, an original song written by our singer and Stand by Me.
The first dance was We Belong Together by Richie Valens and Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen.
The songs played by the DJ at the reception were all our favourite party songs.
Honeymoon…
We had a ‘mini moon’ in the week straight after the wedding and stayed along the coast in Torquay.
We are travelling to USA and Mexico at the end of March for two weeks, which coincides with my holidays because I am a teacher.
Photography Pixie Rouge Photography Ceremony + Reception Venue Bursaria at The Abbotsford Convent Flowers Flowers by Van Gogh Wedding Cake Oakleigh Quality Cakes Decorations Together by KH
MW x