Ryan and Kim

Ryan and I meet 4 years ago at an after work event. It was  just a typical love story of boy meets girl, boy chases girl (for a really long time) and girl falls in love with boy. Over the next 3 1/2 years, Ryan and I grew closer together not only as best friends but as companions for life.

As a little girl I always dreamed that my future husband would be tall, dark and handsome. I definitely got this but I had no idea that Ryan’s fun loving, laid back nature would influence my life in such a positive way and be reflected in our choice of wedding style.

We both agreed that we did not want a typical wedding which was regimented and disengaging. With this in mind we created a relaxed and fun wedding not only for ourselves, but also for our families and guests, making them feel comfortable and able to have a laugh throughout the day’s processions.

Our first point of call was to locate a beautiful sandstone church with a lovely centre aisle in which to hold the ceremony. St Stephen’s church in Willoughby provided the perfect location and just so happened to be the same church Ryan’s parents were married in many years ago. The church accommodated for a full five piece band, the option to select our own minister and celebrant and to utilise the church grounds to serve light refreshments and dessert to our  guests.

Weddings for the bride are a lot about the dress. After trying on over a dozen or so dresses (and making sure they fit the design brief and the budget!) with my mum, I found the perfect dress – simple and elegant! An A-line dress, made by the lovely Ella Australia, with delicate beading in the  middle of the bodice and with small rhinestone beading detail at the middle and sides of the train.

My wedding makeup was done by the beautiful Sophie Lau, who did a marvelous job on the day achieving a natural and fresh look for the big day.

We were blessed to have such wonderful weather for a winter’s day which was lucky because we planned to have an outdoor picnic in the park for the bridal party after the ceremony. This provided a fantastic opportunity for the bridal party to spend time together just having fun and more importantly getting something to eat. Our photographers, Paul and Tracy from Eclektic Photography + Design took full advantage of this set up and captured the emotion and ambiance of both the picnic and entire day perfectly.

The wedding photos were taken at various spots around Bicentennial Park. The bridal party helped with organising the picnic baskets and setting it all up at the park while Ryan and I got some couple shots in. As the girls experienced, wearing heels on soft grass was not the easiest thing to do. On the other hand, the bridal party got to mingle and relax over some bubbly and sweet treats before the second part of the day.

Wanting our guests to indulge themselves and have plenty to eat, we held our reception at Rhodes Phoenix Restaurant where our friends and family gorged themselves on a 12 course Chinese banquet. As for entertainment for the night we had the typical comic speeches from the bridal party and family, photo presentations and  a photo booth (with props) which was a huge hit as  it was always occupied throughout the night. We were fortunate enough to have a family friend make our wedding cake, and our good friend Sonny to DJ for us so our family and friends could dance the night away.

The whole day was such a fun and magical day as it will probably be the only day where both our families and friends were under the same roof. We absolutely loved the day and will always look back with such fond memories. The day would have not been possible without the help of so many of our families and friends.

 

Ms Gingham says: This wedding looks so full of joy. I love the photo in the church with Ryan holding Kim and all the guests gathered around. Thanks to Ryan and Kim for sharing their day with us on Polka Dot Weddings today!

Kim says: We were married three months ago with an aim to hold a relaxed and fun wedding and reception which could be enjoyed not only by the bridal party but also the guests. We’d really like to thank our fantastic photographers from Eclektic Photography + Design who managed to capture the essence of the day perfectly.