This stunning bride (who wore Lover on her big day) is the owner, designer and letterpress printer at one of our fave stationery brands, Terrace Press (you’ll find the glorious invite she created along with Better Together Paper Co. for our 2019 Real Wedding Special launch recently here). Her groom is at the helm of a catering company and together they make one hell of a cute couple, who happened to surprise all of their guests by getting married at their engagement party! Scroll down for the details – pics by Alana Taylor Photography

THE VENUE “Hotel Hotel (now Ovolo Nishi) isn’t your standard hotel or venue- everything was unique without trying too hard and I just liked the vibe of the place, staff and delicious food and wine!”

THE VIBE “Our venue was the biggest source of inspiration. Each room is different, but it all works. The invitations by Terrace Press were what came next, we picked bold colours, but simple text to suite the venue. Then for flowers (by Boutierre Girls), I wanted something bold that didn’t get lost in the quirkiness of the rooms. In terms of my dress and bridesmaid dresses I felt like white a lace was timeless, and stood out from all of the colours that were going on.”

DIY “Yes and No – I always knew I would print my own stationery and signage, but that is my day job, however I knew that I would mull over the final design for far too long, so I decided to sit down with Nicole from Better Together Paper Co. to give her my brief and vision for the overall day and she worked her magic and we barely had any changes from the initial concept to the final design – she really hit the brief!”

THE DRESS “Being our engagement party, I didn’t want something too formal and wedding like, but still something feminine, fun and preferably with pockets. Then up popped Lover. I went into their boutique in the Strand Arcade and just felt so fun and comfortable in their Libra Top and Skirt combo. It ticked all the boxes including the pockets! I have since worn the top with high waisted jeans and my wedding shoes out to dinner!”

LITTLE LOL “My garter fell off in the middle of our vows and people thought it was my underwear. My mum was laughing and snorted really loudly during our vows, I put the ring on Andreas’ right hand, one of our flowers girl’s shoes fell off walking down the aisle and one of our page boys decided to run not walk!”

A WORD OF ADVICE “Pick vendors that you love, connect with and trust and just let them do their job – that way you aren’t stressing about things being done right, or if it will look how you envisaged – just sit back, relax, enjoy your day and let them do their job.”

WE’RE GLAD WE “I am so glad that we trusted our gut and just got married at our engagement party. That we picked a venue and styled and picked everything around that, not based upon what was popular at the time. Being an engagement party it meant we didn’t get much advice or opinions from people which meant we got to pick and do exactly what we wanted and it was just perfect.”

STANDOUT VENDORSAlana Taylor Photography was just a gem of a person. She made us feel so comfortable, she worked out who our families were straight away and made sure that there were plenty of photos of these key people. We had our photos done after the reception and I wasn’t feeling well – she had nurofen on hand, water and was so flexible with her time allowing me to have a breather / sit down when I needed.”

CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Alana Taylor Photography Cinematographer Rob Birchall Media Florist Boutierre Girls Stationery Terrace Press & Better Together Paper Co. Ceremony & Reception Ovolo Nishi Cake Hooray Cakes Wedding Favours Wildbrumby Schapps Photo Booth Photo Corner Signage Terrace Press Celebrant Married by Timothy Rings Meg Maskell Fine Jewellery THE BRIDE Bridal Gown Lover Robes Cotton On Shoes Aquazzura Earrings Lovisa Hair Kate Lily Dressing Hair Makeup & Tan Jacqui Scott Bridesmaid Dresses Portmans THE GROOM Suit & Shirt MJ Bale Cufflinks Oroton Shoes Lloyd Watch Scuderia