Rachel & James

Sydney shines by the water and this Sydney waterside wedding of Rachel and James, filled with coral peonies and tangerine gowns is nothing short of a sparkling Summer celebration. Captured in beautiful detail by Nerida McMurray on the water’s edge.

Rachel tells the story of how they came to be. “We actually met at work…and we didn’t really like each other at first. It took a few months for us to get to know each other professionally, and a lot of dutch courage at a work conference down at the snow in the winter of 2007, for us to get together.”

The day started with the invitations, designed by a friend of the bride, Rachel telling, “Sara Phillips, an amazing Australian fashion designer and friend, designed a really beautiful wreath and logo for our wedding which was used on all stationery for the wedding. The logo incorporated peonies and love birds.”

The groom and groomsmen wore attire from Ted Baker and Herringbone.

The bride kicked off her look with custom made shoes! She tells “Shoes of Prey custom-made some light pink glitter, peep-toe pumps for the Bride. Very Cindarella-esque and again, lots of fun! They went really well with the wedding dress, which was designed to match a beautiful long veil that comprised the ‘something borrowed’.

 

Rachel chose a strapless gown from Coral Johnston of Corston Couture while her bridesmaid wore a tangerine gown by Rachel Gilbert.

Claire Rabbit of Flourish created the bright floral arrangements for the day, Rachel remembering, “Coral peonies (my favourite flowers) featured at the wedding. Claire @ Flourish did up a giant pom pom of bulbous coral peonies for the bridal bouquet….which was really fun. Other flowers incorporated into the wedding included David Austins, Hydrangeas and Ranunculus in all sorts of peach, pink and ivory tones.”

Rachael and James married at Loreto Kirribilli Chapel, Rachel remarking, “It’s a gorgeous little chapel with really brightly coloured stained-glass windows that looked amazing on a bright and sunny day. The colours made the setting really warm and intimate, and perfect for getting married.”

Rachel walked down the aisle to  JS Bach – Prelude in G major – Cello Suite 1 played by Bravura Classical.

Rachel tells, “Nerida McMurray was our photographer, who was recommended by two of our trusty sources at Getty Images.”

The celebrations continued at Aqua Dining, Milsons Point, Rachel telling, “Aqua Dining  is a really beautiful modern Australian/Italian restaurant located above North Sydney pool and underneath the Harbour Bridge. It was conveniently located down the road from the chapel.”

“We had a bit of a cake incident as the cake delivery person was in a car accident on the way to the reception venue, so our cake was ruined…it was good enough to eat (delicious, actually) but unfortunately not good enough to display. The cake on display was actually a fake cake….thing is, we didn’t actually know any of this until we started to cut the cake in front of our guests! Can we just say that plastic covered polystyrene cakes are very difficult to cut! It was kinda funny at the time.”

Rachel and James incorporate Chinese traditions into their western ceremony, Rachel remembering, “We held a traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony with close family at the commencement of the reception where we had to serve Chinese tea in an antique tea set brought over from Malaysia (family heirloom) to our elders, and be served tea by our juniors.”

“The speeches were so heartfelt and the words will be remembered for the rest of our lives.”

Venus Music performed the couple’s first dance, Rachel telling, “We slow danced to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”, the Hawaiian version by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, in the sunken terrace of Aqua Dining which was like dancing underneath the Harbour Bridge. Our band on the night actually performed the song live.”

Congratulations Rachel and James! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Nerida McMurray for sharing today’s wedding with us.