Real Weddings

Article by

Brielle Sykes-Couling

Posted on

15/02/2023

Posted in

Real Weddings

These two clever cookies (Izzy is a doctor, and Steph a project manager, FYI) were engaged for a total of six years by the time they ended up tying the knot, simply because Izzy thought that Steph was joking on all three occasions that she proposed. “When she finally dragged me into a jewellery store to pick out an engagement ring was when it finally clicked,” Izzy tells us. “Back then, we weren’t in a rush to get married, and it also wasn’t the right time for us – same-sex marriage hadn’t been legalised yet – but it was important for us to make that commitment to each other since we knew it was only a matter of time.” When their dream “modern organic minimalist” day finally came, it was definitely worth the wait, and the sensational Ona Janzen was there to capture it all. Scroll on for all the deets…

THE INSPO “Our main goal for the day was to have a celebration that felt true to us as a couple. We always hoped that our guests would walk in and say ‘this feels like Izzy and Steph.’ Even though we have quite different tastes at times, we knew we wanted a modern setting with lots of greenery but we wanted to keep it simple and relaxed.”

THE DRESSES “We went through the whole process of finding our dresses together, which made it a fun and relaxed experience. I [Izzy] ended up choosing the very first dress I tried on! Steph ended up finding a dress that was a very similar silhouette but a different material. When we tried them on next to each other, they complemented each other perfectly, and we knew instantly that we had made the right decision.”

FAVE DEETS “Veasna Chea did such a wonderful job with all our signage and stationery. We especially loved the personalised reception menus that served as place cards as well. It just fit perfectly with the rest of the tablescape and looked so beautiful!”

A TOUCH OF TRADITION “We included a Chinese tea ceremony in our wedding ceremony as a way to honour and incorporate our culture on the day. It was a really special moment for us, as it was also a way to pay our respects to and show our appreciation for our parents, and everything they’ve done for us. During the tea ceremony, our parents also gifted us with traditional gold bangles, which symbolise luck and the welcoming of the bride into the family. We then wore the bangles as our jewellery for the rest of the day.”

DIY “We assembled all of our wedding favours ourselves, which ended up being a really fun experience. We bought lots of cute mini glass jars and spent a date night together filling them all with a variety of tea leaves.”

WE’RE GLAD WE… “We are so happy with our decision to have a sweetheart table in the reception. It was nice to have a space where we could enjoy being together with just the two of us, and a space for us to take a break amidst all the chaos of the day. It also took out the stress of having to seat the bridal party, so our family and bridesmaids could sit with their partners.”

REFERENCES “We used different resources to help find our vendors – [including] Hello May for their Directory of vendors.”

STANDOUT VENDORS “Our stylist [Honey Lane Events] has been with us on this journey from the very beginning of the planning process; we trusted her with our vision and she created the most beautiful day. Maddy from Ellebore, for all her beautiful arrangements and for coming back at the end of the night to pack up takeaway bouquets for our guests. Veasna, for her amazing work designing everything from our invitations to signage and stationery. Our photographer Ona Janzen is responsible for all the beautiful photos that managed to capture all the intimate and special moments from our day. Both Ona and our videographer Rachel [Light Noise Films] made us feel so comfortable and at ease in front of the cameras.”

Ona Janzen‘s snaps caught your eye? You can check out more of her incredible work here in our aforementioned Directory. While you’re at it, take a look at more delicious stationery goodness from Vesna Chea here, too. But first, you know what to do…