Katrina and Con, our next lovely couple, managed to combine their love for travel with culture, history and tradition into one unique, elegant and exquisitely polished affair. From the South of France to the greek isles all the way down under, this wedding by Lucy Leonardi will steal the heart of any romantic with wanderlust. J’adore all the sweet Parisian details and I want to get my hands on one of those bridesmaid dresses! I would wear it every day! So chic! There are oh-so-many more details in the full gallery!
Check out the full gallery for more French inspiration from down under!
From the bride, Katrina –
“The inspiration for our wedding was a French Affair – we both love travel and have a particular fondness for the South of France – so we added a splash of French styling to the day, particularly in the flowers, stationery, cars and wine. It was also important to us to enjoy wonderful seasonal food, great French and Australian wines, music and dancing with our friends and family. I also gave a free rein to my creativity, designing and making all of the stationery and other details such as the boys feather button holes. I kept the French theme alive using beautiful European papers – right down to vintage maps of Paris that I used to make cones for the rice!
We shared a traditional Greek Orthodox Ceremony. The symbolism of the ceremony was very poignant – love, mutual respect, equality and sacrifice. As I am not of a Greek background, I felt the ceremony gave me a very strong connection to Con’s family and culture.
We also chose a venue, the Officer’s Mess at Watsons Bay (which has beautiful views right down Sydney Harbour), that held special significance. As an Officer with the Australian Army during World War 2, on returning from the Middle East and before being posted to PNG, my grandfather had been based at Watsons Bay. It was during this short posting that he proposed to my grandmother – they were married for 50 years, so Con and I thought the venue would be a the perfect location to start our married life.
It was a real thrill to see all of our guests chatting and mixing while they passed the plates around their tables to share and mingled around the cheese station. Following the amazing food, the French champagne flowed and we danced the night away to the smooth smoky jazz of Edwina Blush. She performed lots of Ella, Bille and Louis – plus her own compositions. Con’s brother, Chris, also provided us with a wonderful wedding gift – when he got up to join the band and played a beautiful jazz piece.”
Photography: Lucy Leonardi Photography / Flowers: Flowers by Teresa / Ceremony Venue: Cathedral of the Anunciation of Our Lady Theotokos / Reception Venue: Officer’s Mess, Sydney Harbour National Park / Stationery: by the bride / Dress: Mother-of-the-Bride / Bridesmaids’ dresses: Veronika Maine / Reception music: Edwina Blush and Band / Catering: Finolas Restaurant Balmain / Cake: Croquembouche Patisserie / Rings: Victoria Buckley and Frank Gehry by Tiffany & Co.