Annika and Tom

Annika and Tom

Today’s wedding has a beautiful sense of peace about it. I love how Annika and Tom made their celebration their own, using touches that really meant something to them.

Photos today are by Angela Higgins.

Annika tells the story of how she and Tom met.  “We officially met on the first day of university (about 500 metres) from where we eventually wed 13 years later. We’d been together ever since.” Annika says, “After Tom and I got engaged, we sat down and went through every wedding we’d attended and listed our favourite part of each wedding and our less than favourite part. It was definitely an advantage getting married a little later as we had the benefit of other peoples’ experiences.

Tom and I had been together for 13 years and have lived together for a while so the idea of a stressful and formal wedding marking the start of our future didn’t appeal to us. I didn’t want to be running around on the day concerned about a million details that, six months down the track, would have meant nothing to us. We viewed the wedding as a celebration of our love and a continuation of the commitment we have made to each other over the many years we’ve been together. For that reason, we loved that the wedding never felt too formal and was about our community and not just Tom and I. We bypassed so many traditions (and the associated stresses) like formal ceremonies, churches, table settings, colour schemes, wedding cake, first dances, bonbonniere and the bouquet toss but focused on the things that were important- spending as much time with our family and friends as possible and letting each other know that we were excited about the future but that we had also loved getting to where we were. One of our friends summed up our wedding the next day when he told us that our wedding was different to anything he’d been to before and that the day ‘felt like the two of you.’

We scheduled our wedding directly after Christmas so that a lot of our friends who live overseas and interstate had the opportunity to make it back to Perth for Christmas with their families and then our wedding. It made for a wonderful atmosphere as everyone was already in a relaxed holiday mood.”

The wedding day flowers were styled by Flowers By Michelle. Annika says “Tom and I didn’t want to break up our wedding day by leaving for photos between the ceremony and reception so we organised for a ‘first look’ before the ceremony. It turned out better than we expected as we had that first moment together, completed our portraits beforehand, got to spend as much time as we wanted with our family and friends after the ceremony (and not running around trying to get photos) and didn’t lose the momentum between the ceremony and the reception. It also stopped any nerves getting in the way as we were by each other’s side most of the day. That felt much more true to ourselves as we already share a life together so to be separate for this important day seemed unnecessary. In fact, we woke up in the morning, had breakfast together, split up for a few hours to get ready and then came together again for the photos. It meant that I got to share almost all of my wedding day with my husband.”

Annika wore a (now discontinued) gown from  Brides By Design.  The bridesmaids wore gowns by Veronika Maine. Tom & his groomsmen ordered their suits online from Hong Kong.

Annika says “Angela (our photographer) was fabulous. She was like one of our guests. She was entirely unobtrusive and simply walked around capturing different little scenes from throughout the day featuring our family and friends. Angela was entirely laid back and on board with whatever we suggested which was great. For example, Tom collects (and drinks) wine so we organised to have photos in a local bar and cellar amongst racks of bottles of French wines. These have turned out to be some of his favourite photos as they are so intimate. At our engagement shoot, we asked for photos inside Tom’s vintage (aka falling apart) Alfa Romeo and they look awesome.”

Annika and Tom made the time before their ceremony a celebration “We scheduled our location shots to finish up at a local bar about an hour before the ceremony. I really loved this as we got to have a calming drink, got some great photos in the bar and received wonderful advice from some of the patrons. We also asked our parents to meet us there to toast the start of the day. It was such a special way to make sure we had quality time with our close family as the wedding day can pass by so quickly.”

Check back this afternoon- Annika and Tom held their ceremony and reception in such gorgeous venues, you’ll love what they did!

Photos by Angela Higgins.