Annie and Paul met when the bride first visited the UK. She was in Sheffield with a friend and they met at the pub that he was working in. When they came to get married, they wanted to have two celebrations in their respective countries. This first one took place on a beach in Sydney in March (their UK wedding will be in a future issue of Rock n Roll Bride magazine so watch this space!)
“Our Australian wedding theme was a total mash up as our own tastes, cultures and lifestyles”, said Annie. “We wanted our guests to be colourful and comfortable, period. So naturally the styling was equally colourful with a rolling theme of yellow, white and lavender. Paul described it as beach DIY madness… I would say boho beach vibes meets Rock n Roll!”
The couple had to move their wedding forward six months so they didn’t have a lot of time to do DIY, but they added the personal touches that were important to them. “Our venue was a blank canvas, which was great. I am eternally in awe of brides and grooms that spend months doing DIY, but working full time and with only four days prep time once we arrived in Sydney from the UK, we simply didn’t have the time nor energy! So we paid people to get crafty for us and as a result we got loads of bespoke items that became sentimental and personalised.”
“It was all about the finer details and the hidden meanings in our decorations though”, she continued. “We wanted to give a little salute to our love story and bring us as a couple to life. We wanted consistency and a theme that could evolve from this wedding into our blessing in Sheffield in August.”
“Having sunflowers was a no-brainer. Paul always buys them so they mean a lot to us as a couple. We gave sunflower seeds to our guests to take away too, we hoped they’d plant them so they’ll grow as we do in our marriage. The message on the front was ‘from little things big things grow’ is a famous song about reconciliation and indigenous land rights in Australia. We always joke about how we’re each other’s lobsters because they only have one partner for life. So we found a lady in Argentina from Etsy who made our bride and groom lobster cake topper which had our initials on the palm tree and a matching bouquet.”
The pair did include some traditional elements that they liked the idea of. “We kept the romantic old traditions (like staying apart on the wedding day and keeping the dress a secret until the aisle) and got rid of the boring ones”, the bride said. “Instead of separating our bridal party from their loved ones, we gave each bridesmaid their own table of eight so our guests always had someone in their friendship group at their table to catch up with, relax, eat and be merry.”
“When I was 16 I made a pact to my best friend Nick that he would be my man of honour and we stuck to this promise all these years later, and I’m glad I did because there’s no way I could ever pick between my beautiful bridesmaids! Nick was the MC at our reception and his banter was one of the most memorable parts of the evening, getting the party started with no prep time and practically all ad lib! Music was also really important to us and we had an eclectic mix of reggae, chilled surfer tunes, ska and old school Soul & Motown.”
The bride’s father sadly passed away just four months before the wedding so it was crucial to her that he was included in the day. “My siblings came from near and wide to support us and band together as a family with my brothers wearing pink (Dad’s fave colour) when they walked me down the aisle. I had an old photo of us attached to my bouquet and on a bracelet Paul gave to me on the morning of our wedding. I got the design of a vintage cufflink of Dad’s tattooed just before our wedding day which Paul also kept on him for good luck. Before our ceremony, we played Irish Heartbeat by Van Morrison and the Chieftains, a song that we used to play when he was cooking. Lavender was always planted in the garden when I was little so we planted our table seating plan in a big tin pot of lavender plants as well featuring it in our flowers and our hair. Finally, I placed old photos of him in the reception with his own bunch of his fave flowers, hot pink oriental lilies, at the entrance so the smell greeted you as you arrived.”
“My favourite part of the wedding was walking down the aisle amongst guests through the bubbles to be greeted by Paul’s smiling face! For Paul, it was the comedy of huddling together with guests under umbrellas and trees while the rains came down just before the ceremony. We were determined to let the outdoor ceremony go on as planned… I’m convinced the Brits brought the weather with them! Haha!”
The Gallery
Suppliers
- Photography: Towards the Moon
- Officiant: A Ceremony for You
- Venue: Nielsen Park Kiosk, Sydney Australia
- Bride's Dress: White Leaf Boutique, Brighton
- Reception Dress & Anklet: Grace Loves Lace
- Shoes: Elegant Steps
- Hair: Suzanne Henderson Hair
- Make Up: Kat Margarita
- Cake: Sparkle Cupcakery
- Cake Topper: LaSymphonie
- Stationery: Ashley Spencer
- Signs: Co Creative Design
- Transport: Kombi by Cupid Wedding Cars
- Flowers: Seasonal Concepts