Both strucutral engineers, Sophie and Luca met at work seven years ago before getting engaged (with a Grew & Co custom ring, no less) and planning their dream day at Bendooley Estate in NSW’s picturesque Southern Highlands. “The team at Bendooley are phenomenal – they’ve got weddings down to a tee. I know they do millions, but they still know how to make yours feel magical and special,” the pair told us. But it wasn’t only the venue that impressed on the day…
To say these two hired a rockstar team is a huge undrestatement. Just look at this here hitlist… the incredible Matt Ashton in charge of pics, Above Below Visuals on video, Sophie’s gorg gown from Luv Bridal, stunning Dove Grey Bridal earrings from Hope X Page, and the legends at Airlie & Co on hair and makeup duties. Woah, no wonder this wedding day was a winner! Scroll down to see…
THE PROPOSAL “We knew we wanted to get married and had decided to pick a ring together. We sourced a beautiful green sapphire with my mum’s help, who is an amateur jeweller, then fell in love with the Grew & Co ring designs so we had them create the engagement ring. The rest of the proposal was up to Luca. He ended up surprising me months later one Saturday night during a lockdown while we were having an incredible meal by Cho Cho San from Providoor.”
THE THEME “Luca and I wanted a beautiful outdoor setting, with great food and lots of time with our family and friends. In terms of aesthetics, one of the wonderful things about Bendooley Estate is that the venue is already so incredible, I didn’t need to go over the top with much else. I knew I wanted flowers that made a bold colour statement, but at the same time did not want to go overboard with the quantity of them. Mel (The Flower Wonderer) did an amazing job with this vision – the flowers are such a vivid part of my memories of the day.”
THE DRESS “I ended up choosing a Milla Nova dress, which I found at Luv Bridal. I liked that it was a bit different. Overall, the experience was fun.”
LITTLE LOL “My nephew Cooper was to be our ring bearer for the ceremony. He had only started confidently walking a month prior to the wedding, but had been racing around pushing his big Tonka truck for a few months before that. We all decided our best chance to get Cooper down the aisle was by pushing his truck. We tried to dress it up by adding a fluffy white throw in the tray of the truck to present the ring box, but every time we tried to get him to practise walking with a full truck he was too fascinated by the new items. We had to leave the bright yellow truck unadorned and hide the ring box by taping it to the underside of the tray where Coop couldn’t be distracted by it. He miraculously ended up making it down the aisle with the truck (with only one pause haha).”
MEMORABLE MOMENT “The hour before walking down the aisle was intense. I don’t know why I was so nervous but I was. I also couldn’t for the life of me remember what song we had chosen for walking down the aisle. Then it started playing [Breathe by Faith Hill] and I almost started balling because of all the emotions heightened even more by the song. Walking down the aisle with Mum and Dad was a lot. But then arriving at the end, finally standing with Luca, I finally could breathe and we both relaxed.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Matt Ashton and Tim from Above Below Visuals (photographer and videographer) were so fun and relaxed to work with on the day. They didn’t make any of it a chore and we breezed through all the photos/filming. Our hair and makeup artists Sonia and Danny from Airlie & Co were also so lovely – we really enjoyed their company as well as their respective makeup and hairstylying talent on the morning of.”
Sophie and Luca assembled a dream team – if you want to check out their incredible vendors, you can find Matt Ashton Photography on our Directory here, Above Below Visuals here, Hope X Page Bridal Boutique here, Grew & Co here, Dove Grey Bridal here, Luv Bridal here, and Airlie & Co here. But first…
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Matt Ashton Photography Cinematographer Above Below Visuals Florist The Flower Wonderer Stationery Signed by Yiana Printer Snap Printing Ceremony & reception venue Bendooley Estate Cake Applemire Cakery Wedding favours Personalised Favours Lighting Hire Events Pro Shop Bowral Entertainment Oberon Lane Celebrant Lynda Leith Rings Grew & Co Accomodation The Carriage House MC Ben Kennedy (friend) THE BRIDE Bridal gown designer Milla Nova Bridal Boutique Luv Bridal Veil Luv Bridal Getting ready Piyama Shoes Sophia Webster Accessories Dove Grey Bridal via Hope X Page Hair & Makeup Airlie & Co Bridesmaid dresses Bec + Bridge THE GROOM Suit, shirt, tie & groomsmen suits Bentex Suits Shoes Aquila Watch Apple with Hermes band