Alex & Malcolm

Alex & Malcolm

5th December 2009 – Fountaindale Grand Manor, ROBERTSTON. NSW

How you met

We met on RSVP.com. Didn’t think we would actually find THE ONE.  I know it’s not the most romantic way to meet but who would have known I would meet the love of my life online! I almost didn’t go to meet Mal that day. We were meant to be meeting up for Breakfast but I sent him a text the night before to ask if we could do lunch knowing he had to leave by 2.00pm. After so many bad dates online I was kind of getting over the disappointment. We met up of course and then didn’t want to part. We saw each other everyday and moved in together within the month! Having been in relationships before we both knew what we were looking for and knew we found our sole mate in each other.

The proposal

I knew we were soon to be engaged, we had organised for my ring to be made so it was just a matter of time. I knew if Mal wanted to take me out somewhere special, it would be “the night” so he decided to be sneaky instead! Mal and I often buy each other little surprises for no reason, this one day I was in the kitchen making dinner when he comes home from work. He told me he had a surprise and handed me a kinder surprise. First thing I did was ask him to take the chocolate out of the house for he knew I was trying to lose weight and any temptations were to stay outside the front door! He told me I needed to treat myself and so after some convincing I opened it. Inside was a note asking me to marry him with my ring in the little container. Turns out it took him over 12 eggs before he could get it in without breaking the egg completely. It was a little crushed, he said it had fallen off the seat of the car and that’s how it broke!

On the day

We wanted to create a cocktail reception that gave the feeling of being in a bar / club in the great outdoors under the stars amongst the beautiful surrounds of Fountaindale Grand Manor. We hadn’t seen anything like it in any magazines so we found it really hard to find suppliers that understood what we wanted. And then we found Sheree from She Designs. We had tried to explain to Jonathon & Naomi from Vibrant Photography (our photographer) and they recommended getting in contact with Sheree. They had exactly what we were after.

Our wedding has been described to us by our guests as the most incredible magical wedding they have ever been to. The stunning detail was thought out with a vision in mind that would blow everyone away.

Reception

We choose our venue so our guests could make our wedding a weekend away. Our venue was Fountaindale Grand Manor, The Manor is set in Robertson located in the Southern Highlands in NSW. The best thing about Founatindale apart from its amazing surrounds is that we are the only people at the venue. I liked the idea of not sharing the venue and no matter who was around they were there for our day. It made the whole experience much more personal and intimate. Kylie from Fountaindale was amazing. She made sure everything ran smoothly and was the wedding coordinator. She treated us like we were the only people she ever had to deal with. Pretty amazing considering she deals with couples getting married every weekend!

Theme

The day was just amazing, I woke up first thing in the morning expecting Sheree from She designs to rock up any minute, Sheree and her crew turn up right on time to start the set up of the reception and ceremony.  That was the beginning of watching the whole day unfold. We could see the reception being set up from our room so the girls and I watched it being put together for most of the day. The photos speak a million words. The elegant furniture and lighting in the garden made our day exactly what we had dreamed of. Our idea was to have a wedding reception that could be described as an outdoor vintage club/bar feel. Amazing lighting including loads candles set the scene for our spectacular day. The photos show what would take me a thousand words to explain. It was just amazing! A few things we had were crystals, candle lights, fabric and chandeliers draped through the trees, vintage furniture on a black and white floor, gorgeous big urns with feathers and loads of crystal lights all over!

We decided on Black to be our main theme colour. My whole life I have always thought black was a terrible colour for a wedding but in the end with all the bridesmaids being all so different. Black was the most flattering for all. They all chose their own dresses and where possible we threw in Burnt orange. She designs even had loads of Burnt Orange candles to keep the theme flowing.

Rings

Mal’s cousin Hamish (Gryphon Jewellery) made our rings. I had only briefly seen my ring for the first time the day before the wedding; I was shocked at the size but very impressed! I guess that’s what you get for having a jeweller in the family! He also made all of the girl’s jewellery, Pearl earrings and white and yellow gold pearl pendants. I had helped Hamish with the design and made them all different to suit the girl’s individual personalities and taste.

Transport

Mals’s father has a 1929 Oakland Roadster; we used this as part of the backdrop of reception to work in with the theme of Modern Vintage. We also used Mal’s cousins Vauxhall Convertible. We didn’t need to drive anywhere on the day so they were mainly for photos and to pose as a backdrop. They looked fantastic and to have Mal’s Dad’s car there was particularly special. Mal’s Grandfather purchased it new in 1929 and it has been in the family ever since.

Cake

Mal’s mum made our cake. It was amazing and she made it to fit in with the theme of the day and every layer was a different flavour. I saw it for the first time when we cut the cake. It was a wonderful surprise. We had loads of cakes leading up to the day to test what we liked best.

Photography

Jonathon from Vibrant Photography and his offsider Michelle took our magnificent photos. I could never imagine our photos could turn out so incredible. These guys captured everything for the whole entire day. Even after our wedding, Jonathon’s wife Naomi (who does all the behind the scenes stuff) has been fantastic! So efficient and just as excited as I am about prints and albums which makes the whole experience so much for fun.

We booked our videographer No limit pictures only a few weeks before the wedding. After seeing their work I am surprised they were even available! Our footage is fantastic; these guys are geniuses at what they do. On the day it didn’t seem like they were around at all.  We feel like we are in our own Hollywood movie every time we watch it. By putting the DVD in the player and being able to see the whole day unfold when ever we like over and over is just the best thing ever. I love watching it!

The Wedding Dress

My dress was made by a family member Narelle. I was so fortunate to have her make my dress. She went out of her way to make sure it was exactly what I wanted. She also altered the boy’s suits and girls dresses right up until the last ten minutes before we walked down the aisle!

I wore a black and white feathered pair of Manolo Blahnik’s! I just adore these shoes. I felt so great in them and everyone asked all night show me the shoes!!  I had always wanted a pair and when I found this style I had to have them. I purchased them online which was a massive risk lucky for me they fitted like a glove and now I can wear them anytime I like!

Music

Our band was Annie and the Armadillos. They were fantastic and people are still talking about them. They personalized some songs to us which made it lots of fun! The live music in the garden was just fab, it topped off the atmosphere we had hoped for.

Bridal Party

Our bridal party consisted of 5 Bridesmaids, two groomsmen, 1 Bridesman and 2 mini maids. Half stood on Mal’s side and half stood on my side. We wanted the wedding party to be our wedding party, not your boys and my girls. They are all our friends and family after all. My two nieces were mini maids. Everyone looked amazing.

Ceremony

A friend of our family, Carmel Kelly-King married us. It was so special to have Carmel marry us. She travelled all the way from the Hunter Valley. It makes it all that much more personal when it’s someone you have known most of your life.

Invitations

Our friend Travis designed our invites, I made the whole invite a poem and Trav designed the invites to be a little booklet. Mal’s sister even made her speech in rhyme to go with the rhyming theme!

Also…

• I had my mum walk me down the aisle. My father passed away 7 years ago. It was really sad he wasn’t there to be able to share this day with us. Mal never met Dad so having all my dad’s family there was really special. My Aunt and Uncle (Dad’s Brother) are both battling with terminal cancer and our wedding was the something to really look forward to, leading up to it I wasn’t sure if they would be able to travel to come along but they did. Was just amazing to have them there.
• Mal’s aunt gave me magnificent pearls as a wedding gift. My pearls were stunning I just love them. When the reception started I put my good pearls away and hit the dance floor with my party pearls!
• We had a funbooth at the reception for guests to start using before the bridal party arrived. The guests had a BALL and didn’t want the guy to leave! Paul from Funbooth was so much fun. I think at one point he barred my mum for having too many goes! The best thing about the fun booth was we had a snap shot of our day immediately. The moment you look in the guest book with everyone’s photos and comments, you can see the smiles and the fun they had. Each person that had a go at the fun booth got to take there copy of the photo home with them.
• We had a big bowl of kinder surprises for our guests. This fitted in with how I found my engagement ring; everyone had a ball with them! Had I had know they were going to be so popular I would have purchased more! They were gone before we even got a look in!