Julie and Pedzi

When this wedding landed, I knew it was going to be an emotional one. After Julie and Pedzi’s insanely fun engagement photos, I knew their wedding would be one I’d love- I didn’t know it would be one that would make me cry or draw me in so significantly, which is why I knew it was one to share with you! So on this Wednesday, we have an Italian/Zimbabwean wedding straight from Brisbane!

Julie recounted how she and Pedzi met. “We met one Sunday morning in the church bookstore,  Pedzi had just arrived in Australia from Zimbabwe to study at university while I had just finished film school.  Apparently Pedzi had noticed me before (but I don’t remember!).

I thought he was charming from the first time I met him, I also knew very well the importance of making new friends when arriving into a new country, as I immigrated to Australia from Italy when I was nine.

It wasn’t long before I asked a common friend for his phone number and texted him a ‘hello!’ five minutes later, I get a phone call from an unknown number – he had called me from a payphone! So cute. From then on, it was nearly three years of the ‘we’re just best friends game’.  We went through long distance, short distance, overseas ‘I miss you’ and finally started dating.  The one thing that I love about our relationship, is that even after 6 years of our first meeting, it still feels like we are best friends regardless of our marital status.”

Photos today are by Hailey of You Can’t Be Serious Photography who has captured the emotion of the day so beautifully- I lost my breath when looking at this photos and losing myself in the moment? That’s my favourite type of photography, one Hailey does so well!

Julie carried a bouquet by Bloomberry Flowers while her bridesmaids carried bouquets of vintage silk roses made by Julie’s Aunty Jan. One of Julie’s favourite memories was being surrounded by her beautiful bridesmaids. “I love my amazing bridesmaids made up of my gorgeous cousins, my beautiful best friend and my cant-live-without new sister-in-law!”

Julie wore a Mia Solano strapless gown from Luv Bridal and paired it with killer gray stilettos. She says “I actually bought my shoes before I had any idea of what kind of dress I would have, they were on sale (which makes them even prettier, right?) and I fell in love with them instantly!”

Julie and Pedzi held their ceremony in the garden courtyard at Hillstone St Lucia. Julie chose to walk down the aisle to an Italian song “Senso di te” by Elisa.

One of Julie’s favourite memories is walking down the aisle. “The moment I walked down the aisle I saw Pedzi crying, my heart melted.  I couldn’t believe that I was not only about to marry my best friend, but the most genuine and most loving man in the world.”

The ceremony was pretty special, Julie recalls “Pedzi’s mother or ‘Mhama’ as we like to call her, flew all the way from Africa to be at the wedding so there was no stopping her celebratory dancing and cheering.  Throughout the whole ceremony, whenever something significant happened, we would hear Mhama cheering and the Italian side laughing and joining in! From the beginning it was a fun, loud, emotional party filled with incredible energy.”


Julie and Pedzi did their best to put their own touches on their wedding day.

I love that Julie and Pedzi incorporated the blanket from their engagement photos, into their wedding day!

Before joining their guests at the reception (held in Hillstone St Lucia’s Rosewood Room) the couple celebrated with their bridal party. Julie says “I didn’t want to get caught up in the wedding hype, so decisions were made pretty easily, my family was incredibly supportive and always brought me back down to earth, they always reminded me to never take anything for granted.

I was and still am blessed to have a man as wonderful as Pedzi in my life, all  I hoped was for our wedding to be a reflection of that blessing – and it was so much more that!  No matter where you fit in the picture, it felt like each of our guests were a part of one big family.”

Favors were custom printed boxes from Sacred Art filled with the traditional five  Italian sugared almonds (representing happiness, wealth, health, fertility and long lives) . These doubled as placecards and were the perfect gift for international guests who couldn’t attend. The tables were decorated with dried, mini rosebuds and candelabras.

Julie loves that “neither of our cultures ‘do’ quiet weddings.”

Of their first dance, Julie recalls, “We started doing our wedding waltz to ‘How deep is your love’ by the Bee Gees, but low and behold that was just to fool our guests! The music quickly changed to the Reggae remix of Marvin Gaye’s ‘Sexual Healing’ where we broke out into a choreographed routine.  It was so much fun!  Everyone then danced all night to a mix of Motown, RnB and African music, even Nonna joined in!”

Congratulations Julie and Pedzi! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us on Polka Dot Bride! Thank you also to Hailey of You Can’t Be Serious Photography for sharing today’s photographs!