Mary And Magnus' Pretty Perth Farm Wedding

Mary and Magnus

Organising our whole wedding with Magnus was so fun and easy. Quite a few friends told us “You’ll have so many fights and wish that you eloped” but that was never the case. We had lots of fun and laughs planning it all.

As a wedding vendor myself I knew what I did and didn’t want – and I was very lucky because Magnus and I were on the same page every step of the way. People thought I was crazy for styling my own wedding, since I of all people knows how much effort and time goes into it! Both Magnus and I are pretty chilled out people though, so when one of us suggested something the other always thought it was great!

We really wanted it to be a day that was fun and relaxed. I know that a lot of people say that, but we really wanted to set that tone with the invites straight away. We have a friend who is a graffiti artist draw up some of our favourite things and we used that as the basis of the invites. The piece featured images from Nintendo to the Fremantle Dockers to travel and music and we tried to make sure that people could see from the invite that it was going to be a day where people could just come and be themselves.

I added colour to the invite illustration myself and Magnus and I couldn’t choose what colours we liked best, so we printed four different invitation colour schemes and sent them out to people at random. It was awesome being at friends’ houses leading up to the wedding and having other friends notice the invitation on their fridge and say “Hey, I got a different colour – that is so cool!” The colours, shapes and fonts from the invites carried through to the colours used on the place cards and stubby holders and the fonts/shapes used throughout the ceremony and reception.

In my job as a wedding stylist I take a really hands on role and create everything from invites to signage and floral arrangements for couples I work with. It was no different for our own wedding! I made almost everything, even the place cards that had ten cuts to make on each one (that was 1200 cuts for the place cards alone… don’t get me started on the menus!)

Magnus got a taste of what my job is like as he helped me make the hanging greenery installations. The Friday before the wedding it was all hands on deck as we set up everything at Perth City Farm. We had some amazing friends and family members help us out with that!

Both Magnus and I knew that as soon as the ceremony was over the rest of the day would be a blur of talking to people and we probably wouldn’t get to spend lots of time just us two together. This is why we decided to do a first look and all of our photos beforehand.

It was really special hanging out with Magnus before the ceremony. We even went to our favourite bar for a private drink together (we kicked the bridal party and our families to another bar). It also meant that our ceremony could go straight into our reception without any waiting time in between and this was really important to us. We didn’t want to leave the party we had spent so much time and effort planning to go and take photos!

We didn’t really have any formal traditions incorporated into our wedding – but Magnus’ Mum is Korean and his mother, sister and auntie wore the most stunning traditional Korean dresses I have ever seen! I spoke some very basic Korean in my speech, thanking Magnus’ family and we had Korean Cherry Blossoms painted onto our cake.

Our ceremony was amazing. Magnus’ sister, Saritah is a professional musician who lives in Los Angeles. Just having her there for the day was really special, but it was made even more special by her playing an instrumental version of one of her songs for me as I walked down the aisle. Our celebrant, Adie, is a close friend and was incredible! Friends still come up to us saying that they have never laughed or cried so much during a wedding ceremony.

When we made our entrance into the reception there was such an incredible energy in the room. Everyone was buzzing, laughing and just all round having a great time. We both said to each other “this place has the best vibes of anywhere we have ever been.” Those good vibes continued throughout the night and I think they can be summed up by the fact that our celebrant started off the dance floor after our first dance by doing the worm! Everyone was screaming with joy by that point!

We had so much fun at our wedding – so much in fact that when we were due to make our ‘exit’ at midnight we didn’t actually want to leave! The DJ played our exit song and we ran through everyone’s outstretched arms. When we got to the end Magnus and I looked at each other and both said “I’m not ready for this to be over!” So we went straight back to the dance floor for another hour and a half! The DJ Will Slade was awesome for staying so much later just to keep the party going!

Our wedding really was the perfect day and I think it all came down to the fact that we had exactly what we wanted. We of course had people giving us suggestions and advice on what to do – but we didn’t really take them into account as we knew that we could plan a pretty awesome party that people would love.

My biggest piece of advice to all couples I work with (and anyone else planning a wedding) is just do you – and don’t worry about tradition or what you think other people will think. Want to do photos beforehand? Go for it! Want to have two desserts (three if you include cake)? Go for it (we did!) Want your first dance to be a Blink 182 song? DO IT! Think your mum will be upset that you want black roses in your bouquet? Don’t be – she won’t care (in fact she loved them!)

Ms Chinoiserie Says: Congratulations Mary and Magnus – I’m so pleased you made your wedding all about ‘you’ – it was just perfect!

About Mary: At Marielle Studio, I will work to create every visual aspect of your wedding and make it beautiful. From your invitations right through to flowers, styling and setup – I will curate everything to be cohesive, stunning and fun so you can have the event you deserve!