J o s e p h & C h l o é
{all images Phao Photography}
Plus check out their amazing cinematic film shot by Louie Monaco of Alan Khan Wedding Video Sydney.
F r o m t h e B r i d e …
The Meeting…
We first met at the Joe Concert in Luna Park on the 22nd September 2007. He was with his mates who were friends with all my girlfriends. It still surprises me why we had never met before…
Love…
It was the little things that made a difference… The way he was with my friends and family, he always just fit! And when I travelled overseas for a few months on my own during our first year of being together, every day I wanted him there with me, experiencing everything I was seeing and doing. There wasn’t a day that went by that I couldn’t stop thinking about him, even with all the fun I was having! I just knew he was the one and I was head over heels in love…
The Proposal…
We got engaged on the 22nd January 2012 (I think that has to be my lucky number!)… A few weeks before he proposed, he had told me that we weren’t going to be engaged anytime soon, as he needed to go overseas for work. He said he wanted to take me somewhere fun to spend as much time as we could together, which landed us at Luna Park (where we met). We went on a few rides, and then he asked me if I wanted to play one of the balloon games. I had never won anything before so when Joseph threw the dart and he won, I was screaming and kissing him as if I’d won a million dollars! I got handed the toy and there was a letter saying, “Chloé, I Love you… Today, Tomorrow and Forever” then across all the speakers at Luna Park, he had organised with Management for our song to be playing – “If I was your Man” by Joe (which was our first ever dance together on the night we met). Then I turned around and he was on one knee, proposing! I was then surprised with drinks & lunch on the water with all our closest family and friends and a surprise video & framed photo of the proposal from my brother Shayben.
Wedding Theme…
Since I was a little girl I have always known what style and theme of wedding I wanted. My Wedding was mirrored against a Chanel style – working in a splash of white on black. I worked closely with my wedding planner, Diane Khoury over the past few years and she absolutely turned my vision into reality. The theme was to be classic, timeless and of course with pure inspiration from my favourite designer Chanel. The colour and style used were simply a black canvas, with touches of white.
Ceremony Venue…
Our wedding ceremony was held at St Joseph’s Maronite Catholic Church in Croydon.
Reception Venue…
Our Reception was held at the most amazing place, Curzon Hall (Navarra Venues). It was our dream place! The grounds and ambiance is truly magical, I would not think twice to plan my next event there!
Pre-wedding Celebrations…
We held a pre-wedding party on the Friday night – the week of our Wedding. Joseph held his party side at another venue and I held mine at the Imar Hall in Croydon, as it is separate at first. At 11pm Joseph’s entire side came to my hall, for a “traditional” visit and we danced all together (to symbolise that the Groom’s family ‘want’ the Bride and that two families will become one), they left on 12am and I didn’t see Joseph until our Wedding Day! I also was lucky to have both Phao Photography and Alan Khan Wedding Video Sydney capture the night.
The Dress…
My Wedding Gown was like nothing I could have dreamed of. It was designed and made by Yulia McAuley. She is the most talented designer I have ever come across personally and I have been with her since I was 16 years old. My inspiration came from Rebecca Judd’s Wedding Dress and also Melbourne Fashion Blogger, Rozalia Russian. We added the drop shoulder sleeves, as we thought the dress was so soft and delicate that by adding the sleeves it would complement the style we were going for. It was also very common to have a ‘strapless’ look and I wanted to add a unique and classic style to such a detailed dress. My dress overall was nearly 300m worth of material which was majority hand sewn by Yulia. We decided to go for skin colour base to allow for the French Lace, crystal and beading work to really show through. The skirt was again hand sewn silk organza by Yulia and each layer was individually placed in a certain way and/or direction to how we wanted it to fall. Additionally, within the chest area of my dress Yulia sewed a love heart cut out from my grandfather’s blue shirt, who sadly passed away before my wedding day, adding such a perfect and sentimental finish to it. Lastly, the veil we kept simple, due to the detail throughout the dress and she hand sewed a “J and C” to add a visual personal touch to the overall dress.
In addition to my dress, my shoes were purchased from Christian Louboutin in Sydney’s Westfield Pitt Street. They were completely covered in white crystals and I fell in love with them as soon as they came onto the market.
Bridesmaids…
My Bridesmaids dresses were made by a talented seamstress named Angela and the base of the dresses were latte in colour with a black sheer overlay. French lace was at the top of the bodice, she also created cap sleeves made out of lace and added a thin satin band in between the top and skirt of the dress. At the base of the dress, she hand sewed 3D lace that was cut out into flowers to match the bodice. They all looked so beautiful and sensational!
Groom & Groomsmen…
Joseph had his suit, shirt and bow tie designed and made by Roger from Zimma Tailors – located underneath the ivy in Sydney CBD. His shoes were shiny black patent lace ups from Giorgio Armani in Martin Place.
The Groomsmen wore slim-lined tailored straight black suits from Oxford, their shirts were from Herringbone in Sydney’s QVB Store and their shoes were from Aquila.
The Flowers…
Vesna Grasso Floral Designer was my choice for the flowers. The inspiration for the type of bouquets I wanted came from the love of my favourite flower – white Columbian Roses. I wanted the girls to have slightly opened white roses with their black lace wrapped around the stems. My bouquet was long stemmed white Columbian Roses wrapped together with my French lace (used on my wedding dress). The idea came from seeing Jodie Gordon’s Bouquet; it was so simple yet effective.
Wedding Styling…
We went for a black and white theme throughout the venue. The table cloths were all black, including the bridal table. We had a white dance floor set up over the entire floor at Curzon with a J and C monogram light shining in the middle of the dance floor. The cake table was brought in from another supplier and was a white glass cube. We had two alternate table settings. One being a large bunch of white roses sitting on top of a tall black vase and the other being black branches with individual white roses weaved into the stems, as well as glass tea light holder with candles hanging inside of them. We also had on either side of the bridal table two lit up white LED black trees. All stationery i.e. our wedding invitations, table numbers, table menus, guest book, monogram napkin ribbons, mirrored name frame and mirrored framed guest seating chart was all designed and created by Diane Khoury.
Wedding Favours…
Pictures printed and taken from the Photo Booth. One copy went into the guest book they provided and one they kept with them.
Memorable Moments…
My father and brother walked me to the church from my house. We had my entire side behind us and all the guests came out of the church to see it from the balcony before I walked down the aisle. Joseph and the priest were actually the only ones left in the church…
Haka: My brother led a group of my family to do the New Zealand Traditional Haka (from my Mother’s side). It was absolutely outstanding and very entertaining.
Wedding Soundtrack…
Our main ones would have to be Joe – If I was your Man, Klangkarussell – Sonnentanz (Sun Don’t Shine) ft. Will Heard and Christina Perri – Arms.
Photography…
We chose Phao Photography after a referral from my brother Shayben. He is a self-employed photographer himself and spoke very highly of their service and quality of their photos, as at the time we booked he had worked with them. As soon as we sat down with David and discussed what we wanted, we felt comfortable from the first meeting. Their photography spoke for itself! Simply magical photos! Everything!! Mainly, what I loved about my photos is that every feeling I had on the day was captured. There are a few photos of me that I believe you can really see the joy, peace and love I had in my heart on the day – everything I was feeling inside of me. Also, they really shot all our moments and special seconds, as we did have a lot going on across the entire day itself.
First Night…
Four Seasons Hotel in the Executive Full Harbour View Suite – Highly Recommend this. Service was great!
Honeymoon…
We booked through iTravel and had an amazing Travel Agent Suzie Tohme who booked our entire trip. I would highly recommend anyone going through Suzie when they go to book a trip (especially how long & detailed ours was), she was so easy to deal with and very knowledgeable! We went to Paris, Lourdes, Monte Carlo, Rome, Venice, Maldives and Dubai. Hotels we highly recommend were the Shangri-La in Paris, the Fairmont in Monte Carlo, Anantara Dhugi in Maldives and Atlantis in Dubai.
The Future…
We are currently living with my Husband’s beautiful parents until our house finishes its final stages of building. Our plans for the future… Hmmm! Good Question! For right now, we are focusing on our separate careers. Joseph is moving his way through the Corporate Finance World and through my Events Management and Marketing work; I am currently running a blog under my own name (chloemoussafarhat) on Instagram and working with a web developer to turn my vision online. In the near future, we would want to look at settling down with a family of our own! Joseph wants a soccer team, but I really don’t know who will win that debate – haha!
Photography Phao Photography Ceremony Venue St Joseph’s Maronite Catholic Church, Croydon Reception Venue Curzon Hall Bride’s Dress Yulia McAuley Hair Lizzie Liros Hair Makeup Makeup by Jessica (Jessica Arraj) Wedding Planning & Stationery Diane Khoury Flowers Vesna Grasso Floral Design Cake Cake Studio Photo Booth Polite in Public Videography Alan Khan MC John Alten Entertainment DJ Eddy Barakat Cars Luxury Wedding Cars Sydney
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