Michelle & David

I want to kick off the week with a deliciously splendid wedding and I think I have the perfect one – Michelle and David married in Sydney with a wedding that completely reflected them – full of colour, tradition and plenty of music!

Michelle explains how she and David met. “We met through friends when we were both 18, and quickly became amazing friends. We were both in other relationships at the time but became quite inseparable. Then when we were 21 something just clicked – and here we are. We knew from quite early on we would get married, and in April last year (8 years later!!) David popped the question while we were having a picnic at Vaucluse lighthouse – all very romantic.”

Len of I Love Wednesdays photographed today’s wedding. Len’s work always makes me smile – it’s so quirky and captures the atmosphere of the wedding day with a little bit of humor, a little bit of glamour and a lot of individuality.

Michelle (also known as Mish!) wore a one shouldered gown from Bridal Reflections. Her bridesmaids wore red and white floor length gowns from Kookai.

Michelle created the paper goods herself. She recalls “I designed the invitations & RSVP postcards, we worked together on the wording, we picked our own paper from Eckersleys and printed them ourselves. We also ordered our own stamps with a cute photo of us from Australia Post“.

Family and friends pitched in right from the start, hair and makeup included! Michelle remarks “Marina Hickey (sister in law) and Jacqueline Newman (awesome friend & bridesmaid) did the Brides, Mother of Bride, Flowergirls, and Bridesmaid’s hair. They did an incredible job!!”  The girl’s makeup was by Donna Nehme at Glamoureyez 0413 115 582 and Michelle wore a hair comb from GlamaDonna.

Michelle says “Another friend of ours: Belinda Wincote (of Zing Flowers) created our amazing centrepieces, bouquets, boutonniere, and flowers for the reception… I trusted her 200% so was pretty open to her picking the best flowers of the season, and she came up with the best flowers I have ever seen.”

Michelle and David held their wedding ceremony at – St Augustines Catholic Church, Balmain. Michelle explains “St Augustine’s was very special to us as this is where David’s parents were married 37 years ago, and also where David was christened.”

The bridal party were transported throughout the day in blue and red Kombi vans. Michelle says “We used Kombi vans as we have both loved them forever and dream of one day owning one and taking it around Australia. (Red – Michael Taylor 0407 935 597, Blue – Matt Chapman 0414 681 672).”

Michelle walked down the aisle to Canon in D played by The O’Neill Brothers.

Michelle remembers, “The cheers, yells, and applause of all our friends and family as we kissed and read our vows was heartwarming – everyone was just so happy for us, as were we.”

Michelle describes the wedding day as “Magical, full of Love and Laughter – absolutely everything we could have ever hoped & wished for, just wish it was a week long affair.”

Of I Love Wednesdays, the couple’s choice of wedding photographer, Michelle remarks, “I found Milena through Polka Dot Bride and she has been incredible to work with throughout the whole planning, day, and post wedding process – you can tell she is so incredibly passionate about what she does through every single photo she takes. When we ran out of daylight after the ceremony – she didn’t hesitate to offer to catch up with us the day after the wedding for some intimate shots, all of which have turned out amazingly and will be treasured by us forever as photo’s from the first day of married togetherness. We both can’t speak high enough of her professionalism, enthusiasm and all round awesomeness.”

The couple held their wedding reception at The Deckhouse, Woolwich. Michelle explains “We found the Deckhouse, while it was still under construction and booked on the spot when we saw how great it was going to be. Co-incidentally, a new co-ordinator (Kate Richardson) came on board half way through planning andturned out to be a friend of David’s from his days of working in hospitality! Dealing with Kate was fantastic, she got us very well and made sure the day ran smoothly. The food tasting day in the lead up to the reception was a very enjoyable and memorable day, and really relaxed. The tasting was very thorough, and we got to enjoy some of the best tasting dishes and combinations we have ever eaten. The day ran exactly as planned and the food, drinks and staff were all wonderful!”

Favors were a favourite of David’s. Michelle says “The groom had an idea to have mini Jagermeister bottles as bonbonniere (as it’s a drink we’re both known for – part of my Slovakian heritage, and because we both love them to get the party started), we designed and printed little labels with a range of different photos of us so everyone on the table had a different photo, with 2 random guests receiving ones with a photo upside down, meaning the MC called them out and they had to make a quick speech about their funniest memory of the couple.” The miniature bottles were specially ordered from Callaghan Street Liquor Shop, East Ryde.

The two tier wedding cake was made by Something Blue Cakes.

Michelle remarks “I also designed & printed the order of service booklet, the seating charts, the framed pictures to be hung at the venue, bought all of the vases, wishing well & decorations for the venue from various shops in Sydney, eBay and Etsy. We ordered the pom poms from a vendor in the US (via Etsy) in our choice of colours – these were hung on the church pews and also from the railings at the reception.”

Little, personal touches created special moment sat the reception. Michelle explains “We bought mini Paris photo postcards from Typo, and printed and stuck name tags to them in the same font and colours used in our stationary – these were then affixed to wine glasses with mini pegs and acted as place cards – everyone loved them and ended up sticking them to their ties and dresses for the rest of the night. I’ve since visited friends and they have still kept them as mementos from the day!”

There were plenty of cultural traditions added to the day, including a traditional breaking of the plate. Michelle explains, “We wanted the day to be one big fun party with all of our closest friends and family. We entered the reception straight into a Slovak “Breaking Plate” tradition – where a member of the Bride’s family smashes a plate and the newlyweds have to work together to clean it up – symbolising their mutual respect for each other and sharing future workloads. This was very special to me as a lot of my overseas family could not make the wedding, and we wanted to do something to honour them and my heritage.”

More traditions followed. Michelle remarks, “We had a welcome shot of Jagermeister & Becherovka (Slovakian herbal liquer – similar to Jagermeister) – which is a ritual at all of our Slovak family gatherings – and really makes for a quick speedy ‘get the party started’ atmosphere :)”

The speeches were a favourite memory for the newlyweds, says Michelle. “We had many very funny & heartfelt speeches, and once the formalities were over, we both spent the rest of the night on the dance floor and chatting with everyone.”

For their first dance, the couple couldn’t decide! Michelle says “We’re both huge music lovers and as such don’t have “our” song, as we have about a thousand we both love and adore that remind us of special moments shared, some not ideal/appropriate for a first dance. The night before we were still um-ing and ah-ing over the first dance song – we had a list of about 10 we both loved. But we managed to cull it down to 3 and had a little boogie in the lounge room to work out which one suited our dance style (which is a mash up of waltzing, twirling and dips – no real structure, just going with the flow), long story short – we ended up dancing to Maroon 5’s version of Frank Sinatra’s ‘The Way You Look Tonight’.”

The littlest members of the bridal party were kept amused by a pre planned table from the bride and groom. Michelle explains ,”We created a kids table with a party bag of goodies to keep them entertained (crafts, toys, textas/pencils, and activity books) – this went down a treat with the parents as it kept them busy so their parents could party the night away….wearing funny costume sunglasses (which were also on the presents table – made for some awesome photos!).”

The final memory that made Michelle’s night? Nothing but a little serenade! “A big shout out goes to our MC (again another friend) Steve “Lower”… he had the whole place in stitches for most of the night and it made it so special for us to have a friend overseeing things…. the 3 way serenade of Steve, David and best man Rob singing to me “You’ve lost that loving feeling” (maybe not that appropriate but I felt very loved anyway) was hilarious and awesome all at the same time.”

 

Congratulations Michelle and David! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thanks also to Len of I Love Wednesdays for today’s photographs!