Alexandra and Andrew

Alexandra and Andrew love colour, so they filled their they day with it.  Polka dot dresses, big fluffy bouquets and aqua green chairs were also checked off the list, with the relaxed and the retro theme every bit Alexandra and Andrew  – and that makes today’s wedding a little different, a little quirky and so very them.

Alexandra tells of how their story began. “Andrew and I met in February 2007 at a pub in Brisbane. We began dating and saw each other every day. That is until two months later when Andrew was deployed overseas for six months with the Australian Army. Whilst overseas, Andrew received his interstate posting. So not long after meeting, we were both thrown into a long distance relationship. We traveled to see each other every month for a year until Andrew left the Army and returned to Brisbane. Andrew then developed his own business in training and development in Brisbane and I am serving as a Police officer attached to the Queensland Police Service.”

John Reyment Photographics captured the fun and quirky mood to the day with his gorgeous photography.

Alexandra wore the Lucia by Fiorenza. She notes, “The wedding dress I chose was in fact the very first dress I tried on! I knew it was ‘the one’ when I cried as soon as I put it on. I was very lucky that the designer Pina Fiorenza was in the store the day I tried it on and she dressed me in it. She told me about the origins of the dress and where she took her design inspiration from. The fact that she named all of her dresses in that particular line after important, strong women in her life made it even more special.  I fell in love with it! The dress is called Lucia (named after her sister) by Fiorenza.”

“The best part of the day was marrying my amazing husband, but I will never forget the moment my father saw me in my wedding dress for the first time. On the drive to the ceremony he never let go of my hand. It was such a special moment that I will cherish forever.”

Green and Bloom styled the floral arrangements for the day. Alexandra telling, “Upon searching the Internet for weddings at Roma Street Parklands I came across the wedding of Roberta and Matt (also featured on Polka Dot Bride). I was instantly drawn to the flowers featured in her wedding. I later found out that Roberta owns a florist called Green and Bloom and does some amazing work. Her style matched mine perfectly! Unusual bright blooms in unstructured bouquets and mismatched jars. She was very easy to work with and understood my style well. She achieved an amazing result and all my guests commented on the beautiful blooms were. They were so happy when they got to take them home to display in their homes.”

“Andrew and I wanted a lot of ‘different’ elements to our wedding and certainly did not want to make it cookie cutter traditional. It is just not who we are.   I am obsessed with colour. Colour just makes me happy! So the bridesmaid dresses (all different dresses and colours, but in similar styles), flowers, and decor had to have a lot of colourful interest.” Alexandra’s bridesmaids wore gowns in shades of navy, white and red, including the RetroSpec’d Sandi Dress & RetroSpec’d Betty Dress from Birdsnest and John Lewis.

Alexandra and Andrew chose Palm Tree Court, Roma Street Parkland for their wedding ceremony, Alexandra explaining, “We both wanted an outdoor ceremony with a celebrant. We felt it added to the relaxed feel of the day. When we began planning our wedding, we went for a walk through the Roma Street Parklands which is in Brisbane City and found a quiet, secluded garden on the hill called Palm Tree Court. The garden had beautiful Crepe Myrtle trees which made the perfect backdrop for the ceremony and the green lawn and brightly coloured blooms around it made it very private and pretty.”

The One Day House provided the furniture for the day. “I really wanted to have vintage mismatched chairs at the ceremony and the reception. I found a beautiful hire company called The One Day House which had some beautiful pieces including the mismatched chairs, door arbour, and whitewashed trestle and pedestal tables. Kristy and her team did a great job at setting everything up at both venues which led to a stress free day.”

“I loved our program fans for the ceremony designed through Etsy (from TwigsPrintStudio) which I stuck onto oversized paddle pop sticks”

For her walk down the aisle, Alexandra remembers, “We both love live acoustic music and definitely wanted it for the relaxed feel of our ceremony. We had an amazing acoustic guitarist and singer Wafia Al-Rikabi play at the ceremony. I walked down the aisle to her singing and strumming Elvis – ‘I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You’. Wafia also entertained the guest before and after the ceremony.”

“Andrew and I decided to write our own vows. It was very touching to express our love for each other in front of the special people in our lives.”

“We tried to involve a lot of friends and family into our day. My colleague’s wife was our celebrant, my Uncle designed and made our wedding bands, my cousin designed and made our amazing cake, and a close family friend did our hair and make-up. They all run their own very successful businesses so it was amazing they were happy to help us out! It made the day even more special.”

“I was amazed with how many people traveled such long distances to be at our wedding. It made us feel so special and loved. Andrew’s Army friends traveled from all across Australia and we had family come from the four corners of the globe.”

“Our bridal party was willing to do anything for a good picture! This included my bridesmaids climbing a tree and the bridal party climbing on top of a concrete structure at the Powerhouse in New Farm. There were plenty of laughs all round! I found out the night before the wedding that the wedding vehicles had been involved in a traffic crash and they weren’t available for our wedding. Thankfully we were able to find other means of transport through another company. Looking back now I remember it being quite a stressful time. But really, if I had shown up in a cab or otherwise, who cares? I was there to marry the love of my life and nothing was going to get in my way!

Of their photographer, Alexandra says, “I found an amazing wedding on the internet which was photographed by John Reyment of Reyment Photographics. The bridal party went to the Royal Exhibition, “The Ekka”, for a bit of fun after the ceremony. The backdrop was so unusual and the photographs were so bright and natural, not posed. John later told me that they decided to go there completely on a whim! The bridal party looked relaxed and happy. John captured the moment perfectly. Upon exploring John’s website I found he had won a number of awards for his candid style of photography. Upon meeting him at his studio he was friendly and fun and understood exactly what we wanted. The photographs say it all!”

“After getting photos taken it was so lovely to sit down at our favorite little cafe and bar in New Farm called Bitter Suite. We had some fantastic beer and champagne and had a chance to sit back and enjoy some quiet time with the bridal party before going to the reception.”

Gambaro Restaurant was chosen for the reception. Alexandra explaining, “We needed a venue large enough to cater for our 130 guests. We had been to Gambaro’s Restaurant in the past for a party and we loved the service and food. The staff were very organised and really helped out with making the venue suit our style. The menu items were delicious and it was a nice touch that we were able to place a bottle of scotch on each table for our guests to drink as an alternative to beer, wine and champagne.”

“My family and friends helped me make the  bonbonierres which were beautiful handmade soaps wrapped in kraft paper and tied in navy or red ribbon as well as homemade rosemary infused olive oil in beautiful cylindrical bottles with “Merci” written on kraft tags. I used different size jars I collected over time and bought on eBay to give to my florist to house the flowers for the ceremony and reception. I used ribbon, old doilies and twine to decorate them.”

“My mother writes in amazing calligraphy and she helped by writing all the guests names on the  kraft tag place cards which were wrapped in twine around cute vintage French postcards. She also helped with our vintage “World Map” seating chart. Needless to say her hand was a little sore by the end.”

For their first dance, Alexandra recalls, “When Andrew and I first heard James Morrison – ‘I Won’t Let You Go’ on the radio we knew we wanted it for our first dance. I always get teary at weddings during the first dance and this wasn’t any different! It makes me smile when I look back on the photographs and I see the looks on our guests faces during the dance. I also loved sharing a special moment with my father, my two brothers and my cousins who then took me for a spin. Some lovely things were said.”

“Despite not being a traditional Greek wedding, I wanted to pay tribute to my father’s side of the family and my background. There was plenty of Greek music and Greek dancing, ouzo, and cigars at the end of the night.”

Congratulations on your marriage Alexandra and Andrew! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to John Reyment Photographics for sharing today’s wedding with us!