Zac and Holly

Zac and I met in 2003 while we were studying Education at university. A glance across the library and it was love! After almost 9 years, Zac proposed not long after arriving back in Australia after our few years living in London. To immerse ourselves back into the Australian lifestyle, we decided to drive down the coast to our favourite beach spots. Zac prepared a picnic of some of my favourite food and wine from our time in Europe and asked me to be his wife. He presented me with a stunning Edwardian style ring which he’d picked while we were living in London!

I had been planning my wedding in my head for a few (many!) years so when he asked me to be his wife, I was straight into wedding planning mode. I absolutely loved every single minute! I have been told on numerous occasions I am the most excitable bride ever. Apparently, I was jumping up and down on the spot during the ceremony. I really was so excited to marry Zac and it obviously showed!

My mum, my bridesmaids and I got ready at Macarthur Chambers. We were recommended these apartments by our lovely photographer, Lisa Clark because of their high ceilings and beautiful lighting. While we had our makeup and hair done, my bridemaids and I wore floral dressing gowns which I sourced from Etsy. My hair was by Jo McDougall Hair Styling and I wore a beautiful crystal and ribbon hair piece which I made myself. My makeup was by Kylie Rose HTMS.

I have always loved anything rose so I made sure that roses featured right throughout our wedding. My dress was Watters Mojave, a strapless gown with a sweetheart neckline and embossed roses all over the material. To make it even more amazing, I added a swarovski crystal and pearl belt which was sewn into the dress.

My dress came with two big flowers in the same material so I wore one and then had the other altered so it could be worn by my flower girl in the same place.  Her tulle and organza dress had gorgeous little rosettes all over the bodice and was by Fashionably Yours. I chose royal blue dresses for my bridesmaids from Light in the Box and then white lace shoes to contrast with my royal blue shoes. To accessorise, I chose simple Swarovski crystal drop earrings and wore my Grandma’s pearls as a bracelet. To keep with the rose theme, I wore my favourite fragrance, Lancome Tresor Midnight Rose.

For my flowers, I chose David Austin roses – surprise, surprise! My florist was Jeninne from Florabella Designs. She created the most stunning bouquets with soft pinks, peach, white and ivory. My bouquet was finished with a blue Art Deco brooch.

Zac and his groomsmen looked incredibly handsome in their grey Zara suits. As a surprise, I sourced personalised cuff links for Zac from Etsy which said, “I do” and “22.09.12” I also had some ‘Father of the Bride’ ones made for my dad! He was proud as punch to be wearing them.

We chose Newstead Park, Brisbane for our ceremony venue. Zac and I had lots of Sunday afternoon picnics there when we first met so it was perfect. Under the trees, right on the water, I walked down the aisle to ‘Space They Cannot Touch’ by Kate Miller Heidke. We hung pom poms from the big poinciana tree which we were married under and this gave a soft and romantic look to the location.

After the ceremony, the guests made their way along the river to Shucked Coffee House. Zac and I came across Shucked Coffee House when we first arrived back from the UK. Quickly, it became our favourite coffee and breakfast place! We decided that we had to have a coffee, champagne and snacks break for our guests on our wedding day at Shucked so they could refresh and relax. As a surprise, my lovely brother set up a camera and remote as a ‘photobooth’ against a graffiti floating couch which they have in the cafe. Everyone loved taking happy snaps and we made a stop motion movie of all the clips. My favourite shots are ones taken when they were not quite ready – hilarious stuff!

While our quests were relaxing, our bridal party, Zac and I wandered around Newstead Park and along the boardwalk of the Brisbane River for photos with Lisa Clark.  Our photo session involved Zac accidently throwing my bouquet and flowers flying everywhere, Lisa Clark entertaining us and keeping us laughing right throughout the shoot and lots of love!

During our photo session, our reception venue pulled up to the Newstead Pier. It was Pure Adrenalin a 27 metre luxury motor yacht! This was same boat which the Queen of England chose to travel on down the Brisbane River  last year. It is seriously fit for a Queen – and us! Our guests walked along the boardwalk from Shucked to be surprised by the boat which we’d been keeping a secret!

It was a no shoes policy on board so we all kicked our shoes off and immediately relaxed into a night of food, drinks, speeches and beautiful Brisbane lights. My wedding cake was made by my mum and it was decorated in beautiful roses! It was four tiers – red velvet, milk chocolate mud cake and white chocolate mud cake! Our dessert continued with cake pops dressed as bride and grooms made by Sweet Lip Sensations. Our guest book was a fingerprint tree drawn by my beautiful sister and bridesmaid, Essie! I love it and now we have some cute art to look at every day on our wall. For a sweet end to the night, we chose rose laser cut bonbonnieres with love heart rock candy inside.

There were many hilarious moments such as Zac pretending I’d cut his hand while cutting the cake and my sister telling the world as part of her speech that she knew Zac loved me when he saved me from a sea urchin in Thailand.

One of my favourite parts of the planning was making things ourselves. Zac and I designed and printed our own invitations, thank you cards, save the date cards and ‘On the day’ cards with helpful instructions. Knowing we had invitation designs that were completely unique to us was so cool!

Now, a few months down the track, I am still as excitable as I was on the day. I loved the planning, love being married to the love of my life and still love all things wedding! All in all – success!

 Photography by Lisa Clarke

Ms Gingham says: We first met the gorgeous Holly and Zac when they shared their engagement session with us and now it’s so great to see the wedding day! It looks like it was a perfect day all round! Congratulations guys!

Holly says: I’m a 27 year old teacher who lives in Brisbane. After 8 years of planning my own wedding in my head, my lovely fiancé Zac proposed. I have spent the last year planning what I think will be my most delightful day yet. Small obsessions of mine include:

1. fashion magazines
2. sushi
3. red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing
4. glomesh bags