Branka and Adam - 19th March 2016

Saturday, 19th March 2016, feels like it was a lifetime ago. The day really did fly by and all that we are left with now is a beautiful but distant memory. My advice to all future brides is to ensure that you take in the day in the best possible way you know how, so that you can re-live it over and over again, as it truly is one of the most special days of your life!

Our Wedding Day began with rain but ended with a rainbow, much like the whole wedding planning process. We had numerous ups and downs with regards to friends and family but it is during such an important time of your life that you realise who matters, who doesn’t and who never will. For myself it was a real eye opener, a very upsetting and difficult process to grasp but I will never forget one of the most important things my now husband told me “None of this matters because at the end of the day I will still get to marry you” and he was 100% right, make sure that you focus on yourself and your husband to be, everything else is just white noise.

The morning of

Even though Adam and I had lived together prior to getting married we decided that it would still be special to spend the night prior to our Wedding Day apart and to not see each other till the ceremony. I went to my mum and dads and had my bridesmaids spend the evening with me also. Adam stayed at our house and had his groomsmen over to keep him company for the evening. The morning quickly approached and everything we had been planning and discussing for over a year had finally become a reality. As any bride will tell you the morning is hectic, mine was too but it was organized chaos. I had created a timeline for the morning’s events to ensure that my maid of honor and my mum knew exactly who was coming and when. It also helped my bridesmaids to know who was having what done and at what point. It was the best thing I could have ever done and would recommend it to all future brides. In turn, the morning flew very smoothly. We started getting ready at 6:00 am and were picked up for the church at 1:00 pm. With 3 bridesmaids, my mum, my nan and my mum’s best friends who needed to be ready, it’s safe to say that we allowed enough time with some to spear for Angela Higgins (the photographer) and Duane Orriss (the videographer) to capture some of the special moments. I created a similar timeline for Adam and his groomsmen as well as a separate one for the day’s events, which was given to my mum and my husband’s mum, to ensure that they knew exactly what was meant to be happening and when, so that if anything had gone wrong they would have been able to make an educated decision on my behalf.

Adam and I wanted to ensure that our entire bridal party was looked after to the max and that they didn’t have to spend a cent on the things which we wanted them to have. The groomsmen were bought; navy custom made suits, white Calvin Klein shirts, brown leather shoes, navy bow ties from Zara, white pocket squares, brown leather belts from Country Road, colourful socks from Happy Socks and navy strap watches from Daniel Wellington. The bridesmaids were bought; soft pink dresses from Sheike, white shoes, personalised clutches from The Daily Edited, soft pink robes from Homeboddi, nude pink MAC lipsticks, and pink nail polishes. No expense was spared!

Our parents were gifted with personalised items, which were; individually chosen to match their style, had sentimental value, and showed them our utmost appreciation for their love and support.

Even though Adam and I spent the night before and morning of the wedding apart, we had prepared letters for each other to ensure that our nerves were settled and that we felt as close to each other as possible without physically being together. This moment was captured on video by Orriss Films and can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/167623478.

Coming from a European upbringing food is a very important factor of any event and therefore I had to ensure that the catering, which was organized through Aroma Café for the morning of the wedding was sufficient in quantity and quality. Both Adam and I were supplied with a large selection, which was catered for 16 people in total, including platters to be taken into the limo for during photos, at total cost of $700, including delivered. Best value for money! I also wanted to ensure that everyone was kept hydrated throughout the day and therefore had 350ml personalised water bottle created through Brewtopia (https://www.brewtopia.com.au/our-range/personalised-water/350ml-still-water-364.html) at a cost of approx. $150, for 50 bottles, including shipping.

The Dress

I wore a Pallas Couture Wedding Gown, the “Abella” design. One, which I saw in a magazine not long after we got engaged that I lusted over for months on end, as my budget was not quite as high as the asking price of the gown. However, after countless disappointing dress try on’s and never ending bridal stores (I think we literally went to EVERY bridal shop in Perth) my dad (bless him) sat me down and said “it’s not often that you get to see your only daughter get married, I want my girl to feel as beautiful as I think she is, no price tag should ever be able to take that away from her”. I will never forget the joy, excitement and appreciation I felt in that moment. The dress was a dream come true, pure perfection and one in which I felt like an absolute princess, just like every girl should.

The Ceremony

The Ceremony was held at 2:00 pm at St Marys Church in Leederville. Our first preference was St Josephs in Subiaco but unfortunately it was not available for our date and therefore after looking through numerous blogs of real weddings we decided to go for St Marys. We had our own priest as the one at St Marys was not very pleasant to deal with nor was he very accommodating. The Church also had very strict rules; they supplied you with the flower arrangements and the pew bows nothing else was allowed, no matter how hard I tried! We did however have our own church booklets, which were created by Nestle and Porter, as well as the ability to choose our own music. I walked down the aisle to Shania Twain - From This Moment (Instrumental Version). The signing of the registry music which we had was Christina Perri - A Thousand Years (Piano/Cello Cover) by The Piano Guys and the recessional song that we chose was ‪Coldplay - A Sky Full of Stars (piano/cello cover) by The Piano Guys.

The ceremony, the exchanging of vows, that really public moment, which felt like the most intimate, was my ultimate favourite. To begin with, I wasn’t very fond of the idea of getting married in a church as I am not very religious but it was the one request Adam had and I wasn’t going to deny him of that. However, looking back on the day it was such a sacred moment which was more beautiful than I could have ever imagined, to the point where I even allowed a tear to drop from my eye (this moment was captured on video by Orriss Films and can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/167868547) as I watched Adam promise me his whole heart for all the days of our lives.

Photos

After the ceremony we had family portraits at Aranmore Collage, which was directly across the road from the church. This was very convenient as we didn’t have to spend time gathering everyone and moving them onto another location. It was our priority to ensure that we had as much time as possible with Angela Higgins (the photographer) for our bride and groom portraits. The majority of the bride and groom portraits as well as the bridal party photos were taken at Government House. Our preference was UWA but unfortunately they had an event on which refrained them from approving permits for that day. Government House also needed a permit, which was relatively easy and hassle free to obtain and had no fee associated with it. The remainder of the bride and groom portraits were taken on the jetty at Acqua Viva in Nedlands (the reception venue).

The Reception

In order to match our vision of a soft, pretty and romantic reception styling we wanted a venue that would be able to capture that vision, a venue that had a soft and relaxed feel to it, and one that was known for good service and quality food. Therefore, we decided to stay away from the big hotel chains and go for a venue on the water. We looked at numerous venues but none were quite what we were after. It wasn’t until a work colleague suggested Acqua Viva (a venue we had totally forgotten about) that I took my mum with me to have a look the first time and Adam the second. From the warm greeting each and every staff member gave us to the panoramic river views we were falling more and more in love with every visit, we knew that this was our venue. We cannot thank Acqua Viva enough for their prompt service, attentiveness and quality of food. Each and every one of our guests expressed their gratitude to us with regards to the wonderful service that they were provided with and the high quality of food that they had consumed.

As most of you already know, I am the ultimate perfectionist, very minimalistic, classic but stylish so the vibe had to match! We wanted every detail of the reception styling to be soft, elegant, beautiful and romantic (lots of blooms and candles), for our guests to walk in and be mesmerised. The styling of the whole reception was done by Rebecca Grace from Natural Art and was executed to a T. It was stunning beyond words but if I have to narrow it down I would say that my favourite detail was the styling of the bridal table.

The bridal table consisted of; beaded clear glass charges plates (these were purchased from eBay for $200, including shipping), crystal glassware from Hire Society, male and female favours, round place cards which acted as menus also that were created by Nestle and Porter and lots and lots of soft and romantic blooms and candles.

Myself, my bridesmaids, and my mum created 60 Vanilla Scented Soy Candles for the female favours at a total cost of approx. $150, as opposed to the $1,000 that I was quoted from numerous suppliers. The male favours were personalised mini glass bottles, which were supplied by Nestle and Porter and filled with Chives Regal whisky by yours truly. Children under the age of 12 were provided with the cutest colouring in books, which were created by Nestle and Porter and were grouped with mini crayons to keep them occupied.

The cake was made by Amy from De La Ross Cakes & Cupcakes, it had three tiers, the top tier was white chocolate and raspberry, middle tier was white chocolate with lime and coconut and the bottom tier was white chocolate and raspberry. The cake was decorated with fresh flowers and was placed on a cake table on a white stand together with Kate Spade Mr. and Mrs. cake cutters, crystal glassware from Hire Society and the Bridal bouquet.

Dani from Love Letters supplied the Light Up B & A letters, which were situated in the middle of the dance floor, a great feature for the first dance. Adam and I danced our first dance to Thinking out Loud – Ed Sheeran (Boyce Avenue acoustic cover). I remember the first time I heard this song, I was drive to our than being built house, not being engaged at this point I wasn’t on the lookout for a first dance song but in that moment I knew that this song represented our relationship in so many ways and that for when one day we did get married that it would be our song. We took several dance lessons with Danze Pasion and had our first dance choreographed by Julie.

Last but not least

It is literally the most stressful yet rewarding time of your life. Pre-plan and get as many things done as you can, as far out from the day as possible.

The best advice I was given that I would like to pass on is that you need to ensure that you book your non-negotiable items at least a year to a year and a half in advance, for us that was the venue, the photographer and the videographer.

My advice, is to make sure that you take a moment with your now husband (how exciting and surreal calling him your husband will feel for so long is indescribable) and take it all in, the day really does fly by! For us that moment was in the limo at the end of the evening when we were on our way to The Crown Hotel, it was the best part of our day. We were exhausted beyond words but so excited to finally be alone, to be able to share each and every detail that we were not present for with each other for and to have and hold one another for the first time as husband and wife whilst no one was watching!

xoxo

B

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