Real Weddings

Article by

Athina Greenhalgh

Posted on

14/05/2024

Posted in

Real Weddings

What do you get when a visual designer and an artist are struck by Cupid’s bow? An out-of-this-world betrothal bash, bursting with bespoke handmade elements. Coupled-up creatives Alicia and Helen deemed the theme of their day “sexy queer love party”, taking cues from the duo’s shared Amsterdam abode and the 1940s sailing club charm of their venue, B.Y.R.A.

From officiating the ceremony to taking on the role of roaming oyster boy, Alicia and Helen’s fellow artistically-inclined friends offered their talents, making the day feel extra “special and intimate”; some even helping to bump out the next morning (now THAT is friendship). The oh-so-fabulous Alex Carlyle recorded all the romantic revelry. So get your binders out and Pinterest boards open… there’s inspo by the boatload as the brides reminisce below.

THE PROPOSAL (Alicia) “We were living overseas in The Netherlands at the time. Originally, I had planned to propose on a trip to Portugal, but it got cancelled due to COVID. Later that year, we planned a trip to Greece. One morning, we made a plan to walk to the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise, that’s when Helen whipped out a ring and completely took me by surprise. It was a perfect location, and the rest of the day was bliss. We drove around the island, discovering swim spots and stopping at the sweetest taverna for a seafood feast while we called our family and friends back home. We had our engagement party in Amsterdam with all our friends just before we left back to Australia.”

FAVE DETAILS “What made it most special was our beautiful and talented friends who contributed and made the day such a special moment for us. Our friend and superstar florist Luemma Pilcher (Lulo Floral) came over from New York to be at the wedding and make the arrangements. We gave her our full trust and it was amazing to see the magic happen. We asked our beautiful friend Amelia Trinick to be our celebrant and she absolutely nailed it. We were really excited about having one of our favourite treats at the wedding, OYSTERS! Our friend Tim Richards, who is a man of the sea, brought up oysters from Narooma, where we sometimes visit his boatshed that’s next to an amazing oyster farm. He shucked 200 oysters during cocktail hour and really brought a fun energy. Our extremely talented friend, Jen Bradley, learnt and played our favourite Angel Olsen song (For You) as our aisle/ceremony entrance song. We asked our buddy and incredible musician, Rowan, if he would be up for playing at our wedding. He brought the best vibes to the dance floor and put so much effort into making the perfect set – it was so us, very gay, and very fun!”

THE OUTFITS (Alicia) “I found a designer through the website APOC, her name is Sylvi Sundkler. It was made-to-order , and I didn’t get a chance to try it on before it arrived 10 days before the wedding. It was pretty daunting, choosing a dress from pictures online and from overseas, but I was really happy. It was like nothing I had seen before, which I loved.” Helen “For me, it was quite hard to find an androgynous outfit that wasn’t just a tailored woman’s suit. I did a lot of research to get an idea of what silhouette I might want. This came from Instagram, music videos and movies. I still wanted it to be fun and quite flashy, so I opted for Reigner Clothing because I knew I could customise something special. They do embroidery and pearl studs on a lot of their suits and I really liked the white-on-white embroidery or textured fabric. After a bit of back and forth, I still wasn’t getting the visuals I wanted, so I asked an artist friend, Georgia Hill, if I could use some of her artwork on my outfit. I was so happy with the end result.”

REFERENCES “The Hello May blog was helpful in getting a sense of what we wanted. We also did a fair bit of research into other queer weddings to help us get a gauge on less traditional types of weddings, but a lot through searching online, Instagram, blogs, Facebook, word of mouth.”

WE’RE GLAD WE…“To buffet or not to buffet, this was a huge discussion. We are so glad we opted for a more low-key approach. Although our wedding was never going to be about formal dining we did want to give the experience of a fun dinner party. And what’s the best thing about a dinner party? When no-one has to clean up! We went self-serve on fancy paper plates, and the food was so good that no one seemed to mind chucking their plate in the bin afterwards. At the end of the day, your guests are there for you and the good times.”

Dreaming of saying ‘I do’ with water-front views? Discover more coastal wedding venues we love here. Or dive into over 200 pages of inspo in our latest Real Wedding Special, available now.