N I C O L E & K A R L
F R O M T H E B R I D E ...
The Meeting...
Karl and I met by complete chance, back in 2006. We were at the same bar, and after a couple of drinks once we sat down to chat he asked for my number. He called the next afternoon to arrange a real date, which was very sweet. The friend he was out with on that first night was a groomsman at our wedding which was pretty special.
Love...
I knew it was love when Karl had his going away party upon accepting an interstate job. It hit me all at once when I realised it may be a very long time before we were to see each other again. For Karl, it was shortly after he was away on a work trip to Paris. He was lonely, realising he really missed me and that it was love.
The Proposal...
We were in London embarking on a month long European vacation. We’d had a wonderful first week together and were dining at Restaurant Gordon Ramsey for a special degustation dinner. About 7 courses in, as the dessert champagne was arriving, Karl got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I was so overwhelmed and apparently cried with happiness for ‘10 minutes’ so he asked again - and of course I accepted. He’d asked my Dad for his permission months earlier, had secretly looked at hundreds of rings and picked something more perfect than I could have ever imagined.
Wedding Style...
An intimate & elegant gathering of our closest friends and family in a beautifully romantic setting. We wanted to create more of an atmosphere rather than have a theme. The colours we played with were rich moody magentas, deep navy, antique gold and milky blush which paired beautifully with the natural sandstone and classic styling of the Barracks.
Wedding Ceremony...
We held our ceremony in the romantic sandstone courtyard of the Gunners Barracks, which was the perfect, intimate and elegant setting for our late afternoon nuptials. It not only offered privacy, but also a seamless transition for our guests who were soon after enjoying picturesque harbour view canapés and champagne on the terrace. Both the courtyard and dining room of the Gunners Barracks bloomed with rich, deep, romantic hues in arrangements of decadent fleurs and vines thanks to the floral styling of Jardine Botanic - a true floral artist. The additional botanical styling of vines overhead in the courtyard and the lush backdrop of foliage and florals was amazing. She weaved pure magic and perfectly interpreted my design brief, and was just as excited for my wedding blooms as I was. Her inspired creations paired with the elegance of the venue made it a beyond breathtaking romantic setting.
Wedding Reception...
Our reception was a sit down affair in the Gunners Barracks dining room and harbour view terrace. After sunset the sails of the terrace roof were hoisted back to reveal the sparkling starry night sky, Sydney weather was spectacular!
Bridal Party...
We had 3 bridesmaids and 3 groomsmen. Of the bridesmaids, Emma I’ve known since primary school through to high school and is one of the most kind and thoughtful women I’ve ever met, it was a true pleasure to have her by my side. Melissa is my gorgeous sister, who absolutely went above and beyond in sisterly bridesmaid planning, and Sarah is a prior work colleague who quickly became a best friend/fellow homewares lover for life. Of the groomsmen, Xen is a long time colleague and good friend of Karl who also resides in Perth, Curt is my very talented bestie whom I met in high school, he surprised us on the night by beautifully singing Sinatra for us – so we technically got to have 2 ‘first’ dances! And Matt is the good friend Karl went to Uni with and was out with on the night we met for the very first time!
The Dress...
My gown was a couture Loui Col design. I tried on a lot of dresses off the rack to get ideas on what suited me and what I liked most, then collected pictures of different elements I wanted to incorporate in a complementary way. Meeting with Katie was a dream – she’d just returned from France with an exquisite piece of French lace which was the only piece of it’s kind – the lace was the starting point for me as it was truly divine! We played with sketches and hand placed lace details from there. I wanted something feminine and elegant with a little fun at the bottom, so we paired the delicate lace and subtle pearl beading with gorgeous organza detail. She expertly combined all the thoughts in my head into something more beautiful than I could have ever imagined! The dress was comfortable and quite light so I could move around and dance in it too. I would wear it everyday if I could!
Bridesmaids...
The bridesmaids dresses were custom made by Sheryl O, she did an amazing job of bringing my little mood board to life! I wanted something that all my girls felt comfortable and beautiful in, and had found a very sweet milky blush fabric that looked gorgeous on all of them and was very complimentary to the palette of all the other wedding elements. They had a sweetheart bust and sheer organza pleated overlay, the overall look was very romantic. I paired them with soft gold flats for comfort and sparkle, and pretty Mimco & Swarovski jewels.
Groomsmen...
The groomsmen wore dapper navy suits with bowties in soft blush to coordinate with the bridesmaids. They looked very handsome.
The Flowers...
We had full lush wild and natural looking bouquets in rich berry tones. All of our flowers were in the same deep romantic colour notes featuring garden roses, dahlias, hydrangeas, cosmos, small clusters of dark berries and trailing foliage. As a thoughtful little surprise and kind gesture, my incredibly talented florist included a golden pomegranate in my bouquet for good luck - beyond adorable! It was perfect with my colour palette too.
Jardine of Jardine Botanic Floral Styling created pure magic with my flowers, she’s such a darling woman and a complete delight to work with. The moment she arrived with our bouquets I knew the day was going to be insanely gorgeous.
Decorations...
I designed personalised menus in place of name cards, which were printed in soft gold on a lovely linen stock. To continue with the theme of soft gold accents, I made my own tables numbers using small ornate oval frames from Bed Bath N' Table, hand painting them in antique gold and printing numbers to coordinate with my typography suite. Jardine had beautiful low-footed antique gold bowls, which were perfect for romantic garden inspired arrangements in rich magentas, plums, raspberry, touches of nude and foliages with deep berries.
The fireplace mantle had a stunning full sprawling arrangement along the length, which was lush with flowers and trailing foliage. This made an impressive backdrop for the bridal table and featured some of the biggest dahlias I’ve ever seen!
The Cake...
Patricia of Yummy Cupcakes & Cakes made our truly delicious and beautiful cake - decadent white chocolate mudcake with moorish salted caramel filling & almond berry mudcake with white chocolate filling - too delish! We all enjoyed every bit!
On the Menu...
Guests enjoyed cocktail hour on the terrace and were treated to champagne and a delicious selection of canapés. These included:
- Smoked salmon blini, horseradish cream, dill
- Prawn cannelloni, corn salsa
- Spiced chicken and chickpea samosa
- Rare grilled beef, parmesan polenta
- Quail saltimbocca
The main event was a sit-down reception, an alternate drop of:
Entrées
- Caramelised onion, beetroot and goat's cheese tart, eschallot vinaigrette
- Seared kingfish, prawn and pearl barley risotto, coconut cream
Mains
- Parmesan and herb crust chicken breast, cavalo-nero and sautéed mushrooms, potato puree
- Roast lamb rack, slow cooked lamb shoulder, crushed carrot and swede, mint sauce
Desserts
- Belgium chocolate fondant, peanut butter ice cream, raspberry sauce
- Passionfruit brulée, sablé biscuit
As I enjoy High Tea afternoons so much, our wedding cake and an additional course of imported cheeses, dried fruits and lavosh were served on Royal Albert tiered cake stands as a roving extra sweetener guests could enjoy while dancing and mingling.
Memorable Moments...
We were so blessed to have had friends and family from all over the world travel to Sydney to be part of our special day. We've been living in Perth for 4 years now and so many of our Perth friends came over to celebrate with us too, it was so wonderful to have our nearest and dearest all in one place! Our guests were all in great form, were wonderful company throughout and it wouldn't have been the same without each and every one of them!
A very special mention to my best friend, groomsman and exceedingly talented singer Curtis Mason for his surprise Sinatra number on the night - something that we'll remember fondly for the rest of our lives. The Baker Boys Band were super accommodating of his secret performance request and played back up beautifully - what a moment!
Wedding Photography...
A few years ago, Karl and I had some couple photos taken by Dayna Patterson from Catchlight Pictures and it was so much fun! She did a beautiful job and it was a no brainer to pick her when we were looking for a wedding photographer. Dayna’s bright and bubbly disposition ensured she was wonderful company on our wedding day - she's an amazing photographer, totally relaxed and super professional. Our second shooter Chris was great with the guys too! We had so many guests comment on how friendly and efficient our photographers were, I know a few guests even said their goodbyes at the end of the evening along the lines of "I'll see you again at my own wedding!". We definitely made the right choice!
I love that they’re so natural and authentic, and they really captured the fun we had together. Karl and I have so many lovely snaps to choose from, and have certainly enjoyed looking over our slideshow more times than we’d admit to relive our perfect day! I particularly love that we got so many great snaps of our guests having a wonderful time, and some lovely couple shots of them too! We were so excited to share our day with our friends and family so it’s nice for them to be captured looking gorgeous! Beautifully preserved memories, Catchlight Pictures were amazing!
Wedding Songs...
To set the scene, the very lovely Melanie of Diamond Strings was kind & talented enough to arrange a condensed version of Starálfur by Sigur Ros for the processional. It was a very unique and enchanting piece, played beautifully by her violin duo. Classical violins were the perfect choice and Diamond Strings were of the greatest assistance from start to finish.
We kept cocktail hour classical with strings then we all enjoyed smooth jazz and more contemporary numbers played by The Baker Boys 5 piece band over dinner. Our first dance was to ‘Let’s Stay Together’ by Al Green, which was performed live as we danced under the stars and twinkling fairy lights of the sandstone courtyard. They then amped up the atmosphere with modern dance floor hits and everyone joined in!
Honeymoon...
We honeymooned in the Maldives. It was simply blissful and more beautiful everyday. A truly picturesque place, definitely a once in a lifetime lustworthy destination!
The Future...
Lots of love, laughter and happily ever after sounds good!
Photography Dayna Patterson of Catchlight Pictures Ceremony + Reception Venue The Tea Room at Gunners Barracks Bride's Dress Loui Col Designs Bridesmaids' Dresses Sheryl O Makeup Christina Cleary Hair Uber Hair Studio Flowers Jardine of Jardine Botanic Floral Styling Wedding Cake Yummy Cupcakes & Cakes Stationery Design Societé Celebrant Jessie Cacchillo Entertainment Diamond Strings (ceremony & canapés) Baker Boys Band (reception)
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