Anthony & Stephanie were married in November in Sydney and had the wonderful and exceptionally talented Jonas Peterson to shoot their wedding. When Jonas emailed me to let me know he had a new wedding to share with me he didn’t have to ask me twice if I wanted to blog it or not! Regular readers will know I am a big (massive, enormousness) fan of Jonas and his work so it’s an absolute pleasure to feature this gorgeous wedding on these here pages.
The ceremony took place at St Peter Chanel (“oh yes I had a designer’s name in the title of MY church HA” laughed the bride) in Woolwich, Australia. After the ceremony the guests were treated to a boat ride across the Sydney harbour to Aqua Dining – a restaurant with the quintessential Sydney view – for the reception.
Stephanie excitedly told me all about their perfect day, “Just that it really was THE most magical day. Especially the weather. Sydney’s weather had been really crapola the week leading up to the Sunday. After stressing about it for weeks prior, I resolved that the weather would be what it would be. And it was what it was….TRULY AMAZING.”
“On the day the girls and I arrived early to the church….(um who does that? The one time you CAN be late and I was 15 mins early) the sky was blue and there was not a cloud in the sky. The ceremony was just the right length, not too long and stuffy as church weddings can, be but also not so short you left the guests wondering when exactly during the mass you said ‘I Do’. As we are both musical theatre performers, we had our pick of singers. Friends we had worked with, admired close up and from afar. All the music was arranged by superstar musical director extraordinaire Max. Our good friend Amy sang “Love Is a Big Deal” as I walked down the aisle and a beautiful rendition of “My Romance”. The whitest black man I know, Cameron sang a John Legend song “Stay With You” as we signed the registry and then the icing on the nuptial cake were his lead vocals during the recessional. A Stevie Wonder classic close to our hearts, “As”. The biggest surprise set up by my husband was the support choir singing back up for Cameron. All of our dear friends who were singers stood up and sang joyously as we exited our designer church in full voice. It was the most glorious, reverent, romantic sound I have been privileged to hear.”
“It was then treat time for our guests. You know that lengthy, awkward time between a wedding ceremony and the beginning of a reception? Sometimes people go to the pub in their finery, others head back to the hotel room to kick off their shoes for a sneaky nanna nap before the drinking starts. Not at our wedding you don’t. I liked the idea of everyone travelling to the reception together. I think it keeps the whole day bubbling along and you can get to know some of the other small, select and privileged few that were invited (HA). So what did we do? Not cab charges I hear you gasp? Not a red, open-air bus for our friends and family did you say? Oh heavens no. We hired a lah-di-dah boat to transport our wedding guests to the reception, combined that with shut-up amazeballs weather AND free-flowing alcohol all on the most famous harbour in (I think) the world. Now tell me you don’t want to be a guest to THAT wedding!”
“My bridesmaids were the absolute bomb. Nicola (MOH) was a craft queen machine, she & Jay spent countless hours glueing and cutting out paper for the place settings whilst pluggin me with wine, theyhelped me shop for all the bridesmaids accessories, all 3 gals Nicola, Jay & Nikki audibly ‘oohed’ and ‘aahhhed’ at my dress fittings. Nic made a speech at my wedding that made me laugh and cry and her greatest feat was organising the most fabulous girly Hen’s weekend away in wine country Hunter Valley NSW. For myself and 10 other girls that we SWEAR we are going to uphold as tradition every year. Legend.”
“Ant and I are actors, so immediately people think that we are going to be “out there” and have crazy wild nudie runs during the reception. As appealing as that sounds, we are simple folk that like to put our own stamp on things. Many people get caught up in the details of their wedding day. Everything has to be ‘perfect’. Don’t get me wrong I’m as much a perfectionist as the next asian bride but I believe that your wedding day is about you and your soulmate, sharing a pretty important lifelong commitment to each other in front of the people you care about the most.”
“Our photos weren’t particularly “traditional” as weddings go, we just had fun and the brilliant Jonas cleverly documented it all. He really captured the essence of the day and the personalities of each and every person he snapped. It was pretty Rock n Roll for us. I feel like we manifested the things we wanted on the day, great weather, precious company, mouth-watering food and drink and copious amounts of love. We put it out there and got it all, right down to the last detail.”
Ready to swoon at the rest of the photos? Check them out after the ‘jump’…
Big love and thanks to Anthony & Stephanie and the epic Jonas Peterson for sharing his images today
Photography Credit: Jonas Peterson Ceremony Venue: St Peter Chanel, Woolwich, Australia
Reception Venue: Aqua Dining Bride’s Dress: Couture Gown by Karen Willis Holmes
Bride’s Shoes: Jimmy Choo
Bride’s veil: KWS
Bride’s Jewellery: Vintage Brooch on dress from KWH
Personalised hanger (for wedding dress): Anna Hartshorn aka lilafrances on Etsy
Groom’s outfit: Peppers Formal Wear
Cupcakes: The Cupcake Room
Flowers: DIY (Friend)
Jazz Trio: George WashingMachine
Bridesmaids Dresses: Forever New
