I was literally blown away when I saw this next little wedding set to the perfect backdrop of Perth, Australia. And I think that this might be the most beautiful bride on the planet. It’s certainly one of the most beautiful wedding gowns on the planet, but I’m pretty sure that it’s the girl behind the gown that really makes it. To see all of the gorgeous images, click right here.
{click here to see the full wedding}
We spent 8 months leading up to our wedding living in India, where John was working. It gave me plenty of time to plan our wedding, and I obsessively scoured all the wedding blogs for inspiration and ideas. Our main idea behind the wedding was that it would be small and simple, a celebration with our nearest and dearest without getting too carried away and over the top with a big budget wedding. We kept the budget down by getting lots of quotes and working with our chosen vendors to get what we were after for the best possible price, keeping details in perspective, and DIY’ing as much as we could.
We really wanted to keep it small and intimate, and had a guest list of exactly 100 people, just our family and very close friends. We had many visitors fly in from overseas and interstate, and to be surrounded by all our people from all over the world was the most special part of the wedding. We planned a whole weekend full of festivities, with a Thursday night welcome dinner, a massive Friday night dinner for 60 guests, a picnic at Kings Park for about 80 guests (fully catered with salads, sandwiches and sweets!) and then the culmination of it all, our wedding on the Sunday.
We booked the venue at Indiana without any hesitation because it is just SO beautiful, and decided to have the ceremony there too – what a perfect backdrop! It is also such an iconic Perth location, and one we have always loved because of its amazing beauty. My dress was bought off the rack in a Lisa Ho store a whole year before the big day. I was always sure I wouldn’t wear a typical Bridal gown – and I loved that this dress was easy, no fuss and still so beautiful and elegant. I was undecided on the veil, but about 2 months before the day decided I might as well wear one, we had to get it dyed to complement the silvery grey colour of the dress and I was SO happy I wore it, I felt it just added a touch of “bride” to the ensemble.
While in India we decided to utilise our location and shopped up a storm for the wedding. I had a very clear vision for what I wanted the day to look and feel like, relaxed and casual with pops of bright colour for a sense of fun. We bought different coloured chiffon fabrics for the outdoor area and the hand painted cushion covers from a market in India. We wanted our guests to leave with a little something to remember the day, so we bought all the women gorgeous Pashmina’s from a market too, in an array of bright and vibrant colours. The head coverings for the men were for the traditional part of our Jewish ceremony, and we had them made while in India too.
We did lots of DIY projects to help keep the budget down, and to infuse our own handiwork into the day – it made it all the more special! We hand-painted table numbers and “girls” and “guys” signs, we made the wooden structure for the escort cards and designed and printed them ourselves in keeping with the theme from our invitation (which we also designed ourselves and had printed in India). We bought the cover for our Chuppah in India (its a beautiful table cloth that we will now use in our home) and then spray painted poles to attach it to. We found amazing fabric for our photobooth and also made fun fake moustaches as props to use.
Our florist Kiera did such a wonderful job, she interpreted my vision exactly how I wanted it to be. I was sure that to keep the location and setting intimate, I did not want big centre pieces, just something pretty to compliment the gorgeous surrounds.
Just one of the highlights of the evening was during the Horahs, which is the traditional Jewish dances of celebration. We decided to add a little something extra by mixing in a song we found – an Indian version of Hava Nagila. We thought it was appropriate because of our time spent in India, and the only people expecting it was us and my brothers. When the music scratched, they threw a bright yellow turban across the dance floor to Johnny, and everyone erupted taking the usually wild Horahs to another level!
Photographers: Steve and Alan from AMAC + WISE and a few from the bride’s brother / Flowers: Eufloria / Celebrant: Ron Samuel / Brides Dress: Lisa Ho / Make-up: Thianna Sperry / Bridesmaids Dresses: Shieke / Grooms Suit: Saba / Groomsmen’s shirts: Politix / Band: Bootyjooce