B R O O K E & R O B E R T
F R O M T H E B R I D E
The Meeting…
We met at school – in English class! We started dating at the beginning of year 12.
The Proposal…
Robert proposed to me in the Camellia Gardens at Caringbah. It was simple and beautiful and filled with flowers, which I love! There was a bit of a treasure hunt to find him there. It was very ‘us’.
Wedding Theme…
We knew we wanted a winter wedding, and for it to be day time to take advantage of the amazing light and views at Watsons Bay. The idea was for a beautiful, classic, elegant day with luxe finishes and special touches. I wanted a black and white wedding – I’m not huge on colour – and it fitted the classic wintery idea I had in mind.
The Ceremony…
The ceremony was held at Robertson Park, in front of Dunbar House at Watsons Bay.
The Reception…
From the ceremony, we and our guests moved upstairs into Dunbar House for our reception.
The Dress…
I work in the fashion industry and had a lot of ideas for what I wanted in a gown. Mostly, I wanted it to be very ‘me’. I didn’t want Robert to see a stranger walking down the aisle. I saw a beautiful gown that I thought would really suit me, but I wanted it to be a bit more ‘bridal’. Sherry Tamin at Sherry Bridal Couture was the one who made it happen. Everyone who has seen it says “It’s very ‘you!'”, which is the best possible thing to hear. It’s what I wear on a daily basis, just in wedding gown form. The corded lace and little sleeves were really important to me. The low back underneath the lace was a beautiful idea of Sherry’s. I definitely needed to have a bow, because Robert loves everything I wear that has a bow. The neckline was built around my Tiffany&Co pearl necklace which Robert had bought for me in New York in 2012, and I always knew I wanted to wear on the day.
My veil was a Sara Gabriel design from Bella Bleu Bridal online. Sara Gabriel veils are made to order, and it took about 8 weeks but was well worth it. The lace matched my dress perfectly, and hopefully it will be used by future generations.
The Bridesmaids…
I’m lucky enough to work at Zimmermann head office, and my bridesmaids wore my favourite dress from the Winter ’13 collection. The lace back echoed mine, and the black silk is simple and re-wearable.
Groomsmen…
Our groomsmen wore black suits, and polka dot socks from Happy Socks.
Wedding Flowers…
I didn’t have my heart set on any particular flower – I told the florist to make it white, and beautiful – whatever was best on the day. I had my heart set on a teardrop bouquet. It was beautifully outlined with sweetpeas, and contained double tulips, white daphne, freesia, hyacinth and peonies. The bridesmaid’s bouquets were smaller versions of mine. They all smelled amazing and looked beautiful.
Wedding Styling…
The décor of Dunbar House really suited our thematic standpoint. The reception room is beautifully styled and the colours are very low-key, lots of cream and charcoal grey. The white and silver table settings were perfect, and were decorated with huge white quince blossom branches. I wanted a tall, woody centrepiece that would add a bit of drama to the lunchtime reception, and the quince blossom fit the bill perfectly, and was in season! My mum, mother-in-law, aunts, cousins and family friends took home big bunches of them and they lasted about 2 months. They just kept flowering, and it was lovely to see photos of them coming through on social media weeks after our wedding.
On the Menu…
Our reception was a sit-down lunch, and everyone commented how beautiful the food was. Our entrees were a beetroot and walnut tart, and prawn tortellini. Our mains were a mustard-crusted lamb and a parmesan-crusted chicken. For dessert, we served wedding cake and chocolate/nut truffles. The wedding cake was 2 tiers of hazelnut flavour, with a middle tier of almond/berry. The amazing cake toppers were wooden peg dolls from etsy seller Knottingwood. You send photos of yourselves and details of your dress and suit, and they are hand-painted to look like you and what you’re wearing. They’re now living on a shelf in our kitchen.
Wedding Favours…
In the weeks leading up to the wedding, my sister and mum were very helpful in my solo DIY project – our favours. They were jars of hot chocolate mix, complete with peppermint lollies and marshmallows.
Memories…
We were so happy to be able to say thank you to our mothers during the ceremony, presenting them each with a bunch of flowers for all their support over the past few years, but particularly the months leading up to the wedding.
My grandfather is wheelchair-bound and lives alone on the central coast, and I’d assumed he wouldn’t be able to make it. Thank goodness, one of his helpers stepped in and drove him to the ceremony. We hadn’t met her before, and I was so thankful that because of her, I could have a grandparent at my wedding.
In the car on the way to the ceremony, I realised I’d forgotten to put my necklace on. I’d had the neckline of the dress literally made around the necklace, so everything was held up while a friend of mine rummaged through my mum’s car to find the necklace. Luckily, it had made it out of the hotel and into the car!
Wedding Photography…
I had worked with Xiaohan in the past, and I knew she and her fiancé had a wedding photography business. When we got engaged, Robert and I had a look at their work and it really clicked. They’re a young engaged couple like us, and we loved their informal reception photography combined with amazing portraits.
Having 2 photographers meant Xiaohan spent the morning with the girls, and Vitek captured the boys getting ready. It was amazing, when we received the images, for both of us to get to see a completely different aspect of the day. The informal, journalistic style really captured a lot of feeling. We loved not having to pose for photos all day, and our photographers were very low-key and invisible. At the same time, they captured everything and more – so many moments we never knew happened. The two of them roaming the reception room meant we got a lot of great candid shots of ourselves and our guests.
Wedding Soundtrack…
Being a day wedding, there wasn’t a huge amount of dancing, so we just picked a lot of songs we loved for the canapé hour and lunch. There was a lot of Coldplay, some of the Great Gatsby soundtrack, just easy-going songs we loved.
The Honeymoon…
As we’ve just bought an apartment, we didn’t have the time to plan a huge honeymoon, and had enough on our plate with the wedding and moving house. We spent a few days in Melbourne, and we’re currently planning a trip to Asia and a trip to Europe next year.
The future…
At the moment, we’re focussed on planning our overseas travel in the next few years.
Everyone who helped create this beautiful day…
Photography Polachinka Photography Ceremony Venue Robertson Park ReceptionVenue Dunbar House Bride’s Dress Sherry Bridal Couture Bridesmaids’ Dresses Zimmerman Flowers Susan Avery Wedding Cake Yummy Cupcakes and Cakes Cake Topper Knottingwood Place cards + menus As a Paper Doll