Lauren & Henry

You know the wedding photos where you want to jump into the picture and pull up a chair? Perhaps sit down and grab a bite to eat, fill your glass and toast the couple and watch on as they perform their first dance? This is one of them. A beautiful, relaxed wedding with such a sense of fun and elegance. I’m almost not sure what I like more – the bride’s fun and flirty dress, the stunning chandeliers hung from the rafters of the woolshed or Henry’s laughing face. Lauren and Henry married on Henry’s family’s property just outside of Canberra near Lake George and turned their celebration into a family affair.

Lauren tells the story of their relationship. “We met through mutual friends at a birthday party 7 and a half years ago where it was love it first sight for both of us. After only 5 months together Lauren moved to Japan with her work for almost a year. It was difficult for them to be apart but Henry called her every day and it was this separation that really cemented their relationship.”

Photos today are by David Robertson Photography. I love David’s fun, whimsical captures. They make the most of the fun of the wedding day without missing any of the crucial details, moments or atmosphere.

Lauren wore a tea length fifties style gown by Justin Alexander from Annabelle’s Bridal Studio. She paired it with shoes from Panache Bridal. She added earrings from De Vine Goddess, a Swarovski bracelet and a hairpiece from Tina Jeffrey Australia.

Lauren’s bridesmaids wore gowns from Lisa Ho. Lauren remarks “My sister was my maid of honour and I couldn’t have been more happy for her to share in all of the joy with Henry and I. She put in so much time and effort for months to help us with all of the planning. She was amazing.”

The ceremony was in the garden of the property’s homestead. Lauren explains “Henry’s mother worked tirelessly for months preparing the garden by weeding, planting, watering and mowing 5 acres of garden. We borrowed church pews from a small local church to use as seating for the ceremony to and complement our church service.”

Lauren walked down the aisle to David Grey’s “You’re The One I Love” sung by Mary Quinlan accompanied by an acoustic guitar. Lauren says “We wanted music to play an integral part of our day. Right before the ceremony it started to rain. But right as I turned up the weather cleared and stayed beautiful for the rest of the day. We were blessed that we could have our ceremony outside in the garden as we had planned”. Lyn’s Floral Studio created Lauren and the bridal party’s floral arrangements.

Lauren added sentimental touches to her wedding day look. She explains “I wanted to allow family who were sick or had passed away to still be remembered on the day. I wore my Nan’s brooch on my bouquet, Henry’s grandmother’s brooch on my dress and my grandparent’s chandelier hung in the woolshed.”

Lauren remarks “Walking down the aisle and seeing Henry’s face is something I will never forget. We were both quite emotional. We held hands tightly throughout the entire ceremony.”

Lauren notes “Having the wedding at the place where Henry grew up and where we both live makes it all so much more personal and meaningful. It is also nice to know that your wedding is completely one of a kind. We chose places for our photos that have meaning for us, and now when we look at them forevermore, we will be reminded of the best day of our lives.”

Of their photographer, Lauren says “Our photographer David was very relaxed and professional. He completely suited the style we wanted to achieve. He had a clear creative vision that matched our own ideas seamlessly, and then surpassed all expectations.”

The couple held their reception in the property’s 100 year old woolshed. To add to their rustic chic vibe, they introduced plenty of chandeliers. Lauren explains “We came up with the theme of the chandeliers early on. This was inspired by a chandelier I was given from my grandparents’ home when they both had passed away that was now hanging in our house.

We used the chandelier theme in our invitations, and used chandeliers inside the shed. We had six in total- my grand parent’s chandelier, two that we bought (the outdoor chandelier was purchased from Village Antiques Bungendore) and three others that we hired which hung above our dance floor. The lighting created a great ambiance. We also bought a wrought iron chandelier to hang outside the reception.”

Parts of the woolshed were even used to serve guests, just another few handmade touches prepared by the couple and their family! “We cut, routed and sanded left over hardwood floor boards to use as antipasto platters on all of our reception tables. We collected and cleaned vintage silver cutlery that we bought in antique and recycling stores.We made all of our own invitations, place cards and order of service from scratch (using supplies from Pulp Creative Paper).”

Preparing the woolshed for a wedding wasn’t an easy task admits Lauren. “The preparations started at least 6 months ago on the woolshed with the help of family and friends and numerous working bees. We did everything from replacing countless rotten floorboards, rotten posts, some of the outside walls and parts of the roof. We always tried to replace everything with recycled materials to keep the integrity and rustic nature of the shed. We even pulled down an internal wall in the shed and laid a floating floor over the sheep grating to make a dance floor.”

The couple even handmade favours. “For our favours we had jam jars as we wanted to carry through the country theme. Henry made the jar labels and his mother made homemade marmalade. We searched through old buildings on the farm and found old glass jars which we cleaned out and used as candle holders.”

The cake was made by Cakes By Casey, a white chocolate masterpiece. Lauren explains “Flowers for the table were bought from a wholesale supplier (Capital Flowers Plus). All of the flower arrangements around the reception were made by Henry’s mother and a friend from flowers and foliage from her garden. We used old stock water troughs from the farm as flower boxes and planted flowers months in advance to add lots of soft colour.” The couple hired their chair covers, sashes and indoor chandeliers from Reardon’s Hire Temora and plates & glasses from Goulburn Party Hire.

The couple made sure to leave a lasting mark on the restored woolshed. Lauren recalls “Instead of a signing book, Henry’s dad made a huge message board which hung in the reception. All of our guests left messages for us which will hang in the wool shed for ever.”

Lauren and Henry made sure to look after their guests “We also organised accommodation on our property and a neighbouring farm for over 70 people. This meant paying lots of attention to unused shearing huts which had to be cleaned out, broken windows replaced, doors painted, stairs made, and enough beds found. This process started almost a year ago.”

One of Lauren’s favourite parts of the day occurred during the reception. She explains “The speeches were entertaining, humorous, emotional and deeply personal. Good speeches can really enhance a wedding reception and give such an insight about the connection with friends and family. We had so much feedback about how much everyone loved the speeches.”

Lauren and Henry chose a song for their first dance that allowed them to drink in the moment. Lauren explains “Our first dance was to Coldplay’s “Fix You”. It has been “our song” for years. We decided on a slow waltz for our dance so we could really take in the emotion and enormity of the moment.”

Lauren says “We also hired a band to play at our reception to help with the party mood and to get everyone up and dancing.”  Something Like This kept guests on the dance floor to the early hours.

Congratulations Lauren and Henry! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to David Robertson Photography for sharing today’s beautiful images!

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Lauren and Joshua’s Australian Country Wedding
2. Lauren and David’s Country Garden Wedding
3. Lauren and Nathan – The Celebration

Zoe and Chris

Weddings by the seaside are almost always infused with a special kind of ease. A casual romance that is coloured with the scent of the salt water and the warmth of the sand. Zoe and Chris married in a relaxed ceremony on the New South Wales Central Coast and the beauty of their wedding compliments their relaxed personalities.

Zoe tells the story of meeting Chris. “Chris and I met in 2002 while studying at CIT in Canberra. We were friends for over a year before officially getting together. We have been together since 2003 and have travelled together and built our house earlier in 2011.”

Photographs today are by Casandra of Capsix who captured the moments and elegance of the day beautifully.

Zoe and Chris married at Seafarm. Zoe remarks “We wanted a very relaxed, party kind of wedding that really reflected us. We chose Sea Farm as its a stunning location, and meant we could have the ceremony and reception at the same place. We stayed at Sea Farm for 3 days before the wedding, and 4 days after, making it quite an event! We had our bridal party and their partners stay with us the whole time which was amazing. They helped us set up, decorate, clean and organise the last minute details of the wedding and we would have been lost without them! We are very lucky to have such amazing friends!”

Zoe says “My bridesmaids and I got ready in the small cottage on the property (which was a last minute change) and I’m so glad we did. It was great spying on the boys getting everything ready throughout the morning, and watching the guests arrive. The cottage is beautifully decorated, and was the perfect place for us to have a few champagnes before everything started.” Zoe’s bridesmaids wore lilac gowns from Forever New.

Zoe chose a glittering gown from Maggie Sottero and paired it with Wittner Shoes. Angel Blooms created beautiful colourful bouquets.

Chris and his groomsmen wore suits from Roger David.

One of Zoe’a favourite memories was “Watching Max (first Bridesmaid to walk down from the cottage) be redirected by the guests to the actual aisle is something I will never forget. My dad and I had a bit of a laugh watching her go the wrong way!”

Zoe walked down the aisle to a very special song. She explains “One of Chris’s groomsmen (Gethin) played the guitar while we walked down the aisle. He played a song that Chris made up years ago, that I had always loved. It was comforting to hear it as we walked down, especially as Chris also played this song for my sister when she walked down the aisle last year.”

Zoe recommends choosing the right vendors for you. She remarks “All our vendors were absolutely amazing. Everything ran so smoothly and I had so many comments on the delicious food and wonderful service staff- as well as the gorgeous flowers that Tanya provided.”

Of their photographer, Zoe says “Casandra was wonderful, she gave us directions when we needed them, but also left us to our own devices. I think she captured the day wonderfully.”

The reception at Seafarm was filled with decorations made by Zoe and Chris ans styled by their family and friends. Zoe explains “I made all our decorations with help from my wonderful bridesmaids and friends. We all collected jars for months in advance and spent a lot of time scraping off the labels! We also had a couple of nights making poms poms and putting wire on the hanging jars. Sea Farm on its own is just beautiful and didn’t need much to dress it up!”

The reception needed to have a relaxed feel, just as the couple wanted. Zoe says “We wanted the wedding to be a ‘relaxed party’ feel, and I think that’s what it was… we didn’t do any traditional things like throwing the bouquet or a garter toss, as they just weren’t us. Our MC organised a great reception game which was lots of fun. We also hired some giant games (connect four and Jenga) for our guests to play throughout the night.

We chose to have 2 long tables rather than traditional round tables – and I think it worked really well. We also chose not to have a bridal table, which meant we could talk to all our guests easily and our bridal party could sit with their partners.”

There was one final surprise for both Zoe and Chris to round off what was a magical day. Zoe tells the story “I bought Chris a guitar as a wedding gift which one of his groomsmen (Gethin) gave to him the morning of the wedding. It was something he had wanted for years, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get him something special. Gethin also helped me choose the guitar on some secret lunchtime missions.

Little did I know that Chris had been planning to play one of our favourite songs (‘Everlong’ by the Foo Fighters) on his old guitar after his speech at the wedding. Gethin also knew about this, so had to keep both secrets for months in the lead up to the big day! He did a wonderful job as we were both very surprised!

Chris playing a song for me was the most special part of the day (apart from becoming his wife) and is something I will remember forever. I can’t listen to that song now without thinking of that moment.”

Congratulations Zoe and Chris! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Capsix for sharing today’s photographs!

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

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Heidi and Will

Today’s whimsical wedding took my fancy from the word go. There’s something very special about it- the intimacy , the handmade touches, they’re all pretty but the raw love between Heidi and Will? That’s what I love the most.

Heidi recalls how she met Will. “We met at a party, almost ten years ago. We were busy catching up with friends at the party and didn’t say much more than ‘hello’ to each other. Afterwards, a friend put us in touch via email. Will was organising a ski trip in Perisher and Heidi wanted to go along. We got to know each other in the lead up to the ski trip. Then, on the trip, we realised that we really, really liked each other! As they say, the rest is history…”

Photographs today are by Tim Coulson. I love the gentleness of Tim’s captures. It’s like he was there, but not intruding, not in the way, just capturing moment to moment.

Will wore a suit from Calvin Klein and shoes from Florsheim. Family contribution was a big part of what made the wedding day special for the couple. Heidi notes, “Many of our family members and friends contributed to the wedding in some way and this made it very special for us. We were blown away by the amount of happiness and love that came our way from the moment we announced our engagement and it still hasn’t stopped. We are forever grateful to our family and friends who helped us to put all of the details in place and to ensure the day ran smoothly.”

The ceremony space was decorated with bunting (made by Heidi) from Good Will Bunting, fairy lights and giant balloons from Geronimo Balloon Troopers . Heidi says “Jihan Zencirli, the creator of Geronimo Balloon Troopers (Los Angeles) designed our amazing giant balloons suite that we dotted around the grounds and courtyard of Briar Ridge. This was the Australian debut of Geronimo balloons and they were simply magical.” Heidi was able to get ready at the venue and after a few last minute touches spent a few minutes in the garden on her own amongst the balloons.

For their wedding, Heidi and Will chose Briar Ridge Vineyard in the Hunter Valley. Heidi explains, ” To us, it was very important to be married in the Hunter Valley. Both of us were born and raised in the Hunter and still feel very connected to it. After several years spent living in Europe, we returned here to live only last year. We’re so happy to be home amongst the nature, fresh air and wide-open spaces! Briar Ridge is a place that we have visited together as a couple many times over the year.”

Heidi wore a gown by Kelsey Genna, a variation on the “Begonia” gown in a pale blush pink. It featured  a hand-cut petal skirt in Babe Pink Silk Crepe de Chine. Heidi paired it with pale pink shoes from Mimco. Heidi had her hair styled by Monique at Platinum and did her own makeup (and her mothers!).

The aisle was covered with Turkish carpets loaned from Briar Ridge and they married on a Turkish carpet of Will’s. Heidi explains, “Will spent 1999 living in Turkey and returned there to visit with me in 2010, so it’s a special place for us. ”

Heidi and Will were married by Leanne Rose. Heidi notes “We wanted a handmade and meaningful wedding. We also wanted to keep things simple and focus on our marriage and love for each other and family and friends. We didn’t want to get carried away or fuss too much. We feel that we achieved this and would love to think that our family and friends feel the same way.”

Heidi purchased and styled the flowers herself. She recalls  “I prepared them with help from friends Mel and Barb. The inspiration was springtime in my mum’s beautiful garden and also my late nanna’s garden. I sourced the flowers from Joe Nati at Nati Bros Roses and his colleagues at the Sydney Flower Markets.”

Of their photographer, Heidi says, ” Tim was brilliant. He is a superb photographer and is lovely to be around. Tim knows all the right moments to shoot. His relaxed and friendly approach to photography combined with his technical talent and emotional intelligence, resulted in natural, loving photographs that are extremely meaningful to us. Tim was perfect for us and it is without hesitation that we recommend him to other couples. ”

Heidi created most of the stationery herself and had it printed by ONA Print. Four home brewed beers (made by Will and Heidi’s brother Darren) were presented to guests and labelled with designs from Girl In Gear Studio.

Guests gathered for the reception at the Vineyard’s restaurant Briar Grillade. Heidi remarks “When we visited again earlier this year we were pleasantly surprised to learn that they had opened Briar Grillade, which meant that they could then accommodate functions. With their beautiful leafy-green grounds, picturesque vines, and typically Hunter and quintessential Australian land, we knew it was going to be perfect for our wedding.

A special thanks to Food and Beverage Manager Ady, Head Chef Pete, Restaurant Manager Simone and team. Heidi’s nephews were the ring bearers for the couple and also the hosts for “Love Trivia” during the reception”.

Guests were gifted homemade preserves with personalised ribbon created by The Lonely Heart. Heidi recalls “I was raised in a small town in the Upper Hunter Valley on my parents’ small farm, which, for many years, has been a small market garden. We wanted to bring a piece of the farm to our wedding and to our guests. The preserves and plants that were offered to guests as favors were made on the farm by family.

We gave Cauliflower Pickles made by my brother Darren, Orange Marmalade made by Will and I and my parents, Robyn and Warren Adnum, using fresh navel oranges from their farm, Tomato Relish made by Robyn and Warren Adnum, plants (basil, spinach, tomato, sweet corn) raised from seed by Warren Adnum, fresh flower posies made by myself and her friends Mel and Barb.”

Even the music was heartfelt. Heidi recalls. “Many of our guests live abroad, and as such, sadly, many were unable to make it.  We welcomed guests to submit ‘Love Song Dedications’. These songs, in combination with our own song picks, made up the playlists for the evening. We thought it was a way to still include those special people who couldn’t make it. In the end we had more songs than time allowed but even if a song wasn’t played/heard on the evening, we now have a very special playlist to keep and enjoy over the years. Now, when we hear each song, we think of the person who sent it to us. ”

The wedding celebrations continued on to the next day, Heidi explains “We wanted to spend time with our family and friends after the wedding, so we postponed a honeymoon/holiday. We enjoyed a BBQ the day after the wedding. There, we got to spend more time with family and friends that had traveled from afar.”

Congratulations Heidi and Will! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you to Tim Coulson for sharing today’s photographs!

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Heidi and Jae – The Celebration
2. Heidi and Jae
3. Weiping and David’s Whimsical Sydney Wedding

Nina and Zharn

I never tire of the iconic location  of Sydney Harbour. Today’s couple married right between the two icons of Sydney – the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. A simply sweet day peppered with flavours of their culture and of course plenty of love.

Nina tells the story of her and Zharn’s relationship. “We met in December 2007 at “A Day On The Green” Concert for Lionel Richie down at Centennial Vineyards, Bowral.

Two girlfriends and I had booked our tickets months in advance because we were so excited to see Lionel sing (being from the UK, he is huge with our age group)… Zharn however had been at a wedding the night before in Berrima and had no intentions of going to see Lionel Richie… Truth be known he had no idea the concert was happening and even if he did, he couldn’t have cared less. Zharn you see, is actually in to Heavy Metal bands, some of them pretty hardcore like Slayer and Kyuss… both bands that I have never heard of before meeting him… so love ballads were probably far from what Zharn would usually choose to see BUT when he heard a couple of his friends from the wedding were going to see Lionel he decided to tag along and continue the party. All very impromptu!

So as it happens we were sitting near each other on the grass… and when Lionel came on stage and started his show, Zharn spent most of the first songs videoing his friends on his mobile phone!!! I just couldn’t bare to watch him ignoring Lionel so I made him dance (little did I know that he didn’t like to dance especially when it isn’t heavy metal or rock!)… anyhow, he danced and then when I left him alone, he’d get back to taking pics with the phone.

Being a little tiddly I insisted that he put the phone away and enjoy the music – Lionel was amazing! So, we got talking and dancing and then that was pretty much that at the end of the night. Well it was until my friend who was sober and driving saw him walking out of the hectic car park in the vineyard all by himself… we thought his name was “John” so in our best British accents we called out “John” to him and low and behold he answered… we invited him to come with us to find some food. We just made it to chinese take-out before it shut up for the evening in a nearby town…. and during this time before dropping him back, we had a sneaky kiss, exchanged phone numbers and then dropped him off.

After dropping him off, we noticed that he had left his jacket in our car…. and being girls we all thought that this may have been a deliberate ploy to have an excuse to see me again! Well it worked, he did call and we did catch up again and the rest is history! Funny thing is that now that I know Zharn and was corrected on the John misunderstanding on our first date (!), I quickly realised that he is possibly “THE-most-forgetful” person I know. He leaves his stuff everywhere so leaving the jacket in our car was definitely not premeditated…. although it may have been a little helpful hand from cupid. He insists that regardless of forgetting one of his favourite jackets, he definitely would have called!!! we’ll never know and I suppose it really doesn’t matter anymore.

So that is how we met. He actually quite likes Lionel Richie now and Lionel played a big part in our wedding songs… we are actually went back to Bowral to see him on 27th March 2011 for another day on the green event with the same two girlfriends as when we met, just for old time sake. I also attended my first heavy metal festival at Soundwave in Brisbane… whilst it didn’t rock my world, it’s meant to be all about give and take and sharing right?!”

Photos today are by Matthew Mead. I love the warmth and relaxed beauty Matthew has captured in today’s wedding!

Nina wore a gown with accessories by Jean Fox. She paired her look with shoes from Suna.

Nina’s bridesmaids wore blue gowns from Bridesmaids Only.

The couple held their ceremony overlooking the harbour. Nina says “Our ceremony was held at iconic Campbell’s Cove, the boardwalk in front of the Restaurant strip, The Rocks waterfront. We enjoyed looking out on the water with the Harbour Bridge to the side and facing the Opera House.” Nina walked down the aisle to ‘Annie’s Song’ by Jesse Younan.

Zharn and his groomsmen wore suits from Roger David. Nina recalls “Roger David were the friendliest, most accommodating store. We had to buy suits from measurements for our groomsmen who were not located near us. Roger David organised for the suits to be delivered to the groomsmen for us. Just fantastic and friendly people.”

The couple chose a simple theme that matched their surroundings. Nina says “Our wedding theme was nautical. We decided to keep this very simple however.The bridesmaids wore sapphire blue dresses and co-ordinated groomsmen ties, blue wedding cake ribbon, blue chair covers resonated the simple nautical theme. The location was obviously nautical, with various nautical themes inside the venue and outside (like the ship hanging off the front of the venue). We were lucky enough to have a tall ship sail in right at the end of the ceremony as well.”

Nina remarks “We only had 40 guests, so each person was very special to both of us.”

Mother Nature came up with a special plan to make the day extra magical. Nina remarks “We had not realised, but on the morning of Friday, 13^th May 2011 – four planets aligned… something that hasn’t happened for a hundred years.  There had been cold and wet weather all week, but I think the planets helped bring out the best winter sunshine for the day and took the chill out of the air for us. This set the location off perfectly.”

Of their photographer, Nina says “I rated our photographer, Matt Mead, as the best supplier of my whole wedding.  Matt was generous with his time, providing a pre-wedding photo shoot as part of his package so that we get to know each other and so that we also got used to the camera. He was available by phone and email any time.

On the day, he was the most calming influence. Capturing precious moments, despite the chaos. One of my favourite shots is of Matt doing up the Groom’s tie as the Groom and his groomsmen had no idea!!! I thought this was very cute.

Matt has great ideas and really listened to what sort of photos we wanted, the important shots and then used his creativity to deliver what can only be described as breathtaking photos which we both feel truly capture the essence of the day.  From the emotion of the ceremony, to fun& iconic pics with the bridal party, staying on till the bitter end to get heartfelt emotional photos from the speeches as well as hilarious shots from the fun on the dancefloor. Every guest is represented”

Nina and Zharn celebrated with guests at Trawler & Heritage Rooms, Wolfies Restaurant, The Rocks (Dockside Group). Nina explains “We booked a Winter Package deal which made the reception one of the most affordable parts of the day without compromising quality or ambience. The wedding team at Dockside were very accommodating to our needs, including a back-up, indoor wet weather option (which thankfully we didn’t need), ceremony set up of chairs and champagne after for free.”

The stationery was designed by Paper Candy. Nina sealed each invitation envelope with a red wax stamp featuring an anchor.

The speeches were a brilliant highlight, Nina explains. “One of the most memorable and special moments was the father of the groom speech which was undertaken by the groom’s grandfather. Instead of  a speech, Pa had spent months re-writing the lyrics to Frank Sinatra’s – I did it my way… he changed each verse especially for us with the chorus – “you’ll do it your way”. He didn’t read it BUT sang it…. Providing copies for guests so that everyone could join in and sing to us….. absolutely magical. I don’t think there was one person, male or female that didn’t have a tear in their eye at this gesture. He then presented us with a framed copy of the song as a keepsake! Ingenious, personal and special and totally in-keeping with the intimacy of the whole day.

For their first dance, Nina and Zharn chose ‘Kiss Kiss’ – Tarkan. Nina explains “Our first dance was something that we had overlooked in the hectic-ness leading up to the big day, so we chose a song that we could improvise to and have a bit of fun with. It was a Turkish song which incorporates a bit of my Persian heritage.”

Nina says “Our wedding was heartfelt (vows), intimate (in number) and iconic (in setting), eclectic (in music) but fun for all.”

Congratulations Nina and Zharn! Thank you for sharing your wedding with us ion Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Matthew Mead. for sharing today’s photographs with us!

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Marlinna and Josh

One of the things I love most about weddings, is when cultures meet and merge and melt together. Marlinna and Josh are both Latter Day Saints and Marlinna’s background is Cambodian. Both cultural elements played a big role in their beautiful wedding day.

Marlinna recalls how she met Josh. “It’s quite a funny story really. We are both members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter day saints also known as Mormon’s. At that time we were apart of the Young single adult (YSA) program. Apparently Joshua and I have met a few times but didn’t really take notice of each other, until a LDS musical fireside where us members of the church get together as a congregation in a chapel to listen to a musical scriptural presentation. I was in Liverpool stake and was apart of this musical fireside. We were rehearsing for our musical fireside and choir. At every practice I would see Joshua there watching his cousin Andrew practice with us.

While taking time out from practicing my best friend notice him sitting at back, she turns around and whispers to me “ don’t you think he’s hot? Like different but hot?” I said “ umm yeah I guess so” I didn’t care to pay any attention. One night we had practice, Joshua didn’t turn up and that’s when I realised I was missing his presence and agreed that he was hot. After that, we would see each other at YSA dances and activities, started talking and texting each other and a couple of months later it was official.”

Photos today are by Alma Photography. I love the fun, relaxed nature of the photographs this afternoon.

For the ceremony, Marlinna wore a gown made by Josh’s mother (Sherri Simon) who also made the bridesmaid’s gowns. Sotheary Nget styled the girl’s hair while  Jenny Truong from Canvas Book styled the makeup.

Marlinna and Josh were married at The Church Of Latter Day Saints Sydney Temple in Carlingford by Adrian Hoesli. Marlinna says ” I was in tears at my ceremony in the LDS Sydney temple it was the most beautiful place to have started my day!”

Of their photographer, Marlinna explains “Alma photography is fabulous at what they do. I knew about them from an event we were both at in 2010. Since then I’ve had friends who were getting married referring me to them, I’ve never looked back they were a tremendous choice.”

 The groom and groomsmen wore suits from Indochino Italy.

Lusila Macgregor from Flowers By Arrangement styled the bouquets.

The day turned out to be a scorcher with tempratures breaking 48 degrees. Marlinna recalls “It was the best most, happiest, unforgettable HOT day of my life. I believe that day was the hottest day since years. Started at 35 degrees and by midday it reached to 48 degrees. It felt like we were standing in a sauna and just couldn’t escape the heat no matter where we stood. We kept our bodies hydrated with water and loads of slurpees’.  We had the best bridal party who just ignored the heat and just had fun. It was definitely a day to remember.”

Marlinna sums up the day as “A very hot, hyperactive magical and colourful day.”

Marlinna and Josh held their reception at Golden Star Palace at the Sunnybrook Hotel. Marlinan remarks “We ended with a lot of dancing and food at the Chinese Golden Palace.”

The couple dressed in traditional Cambodian costume for a traditional Cambodian ceremony.

When asked about her favourite parts of the day, Marlinna remarks “My husband of course, my family, our bridal party, family and friends having fun on the dance floor and dancing with my husband.”

The reception venue provided the cake, catering and transport.

For reception entertainment, Marlinna explains “My father hired a Cambodian band from Cambodia and famous Cambodian singers”.

For their first dance, Marlinna recalls ” It was very overwhelming, I’m quite a shy person and don’t really like being in the spotlight. Unfortunately I didn’t know what the song was because It was sung in Cambodian, all I know is that it was about never-ending love.”

Marlinna says “I totally think the photos taken by Alma Photography illustrates the day of my wedding very very well. Colourful, original, funky happiness and FUN!”

Thank you Marlinna & Josh for sharing your wedding day with us and also to Alma Photography for sharing today’s photographs!

Want More? Check Out These Posts:

1. Kim and Christopher’s Multicultural Sydney Wedding
2. Amy and Hong’s Modern Sydney Wedding
3. Sandy and Ben’s Elegant Sydney Wedding