Carly & Chris

One of my favourite places in Sydney is the Chinese Gardens of Friendship. It’s a little oasis in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city. Carly and Chris chose this little oasis to  tie the knot and then explored one of Sydney’s most famous precincts – Darling Harbour for their wedding celebrations!

Carly and Chris are high school sweethearts and Carly describes their wedding as, “A big fun party with all our closest friends and family hanging out with Chris and I for a day.”

Photos today are by Simon Harrington who captured the wedding day with nothing but fun and happiness infused in his images.

Carly’s retro inspired makeup was styled by Jennifer Erdahl (0414 857 087 ) while her hair and her bridesmaid’s hair was styled by Toni at Sterling Hairdressing & Barber Shop. Carly and Chris started their wedding day with invitations using original art by Lara Torr ( 0407 184 575 ).

Carly wore a gown from Caleche Adelaide and red shoes I Love Billy. Carly’s bridesmaids wore floor length oyster coloured gowns from Charlie Brown . The girls all wore accessories from Miss Martini.

Carly & Chris held their wedding ceremony at The Chinese Gardens of Friendship. Carly walked down the aisle to Portishead -‘ Sour Times’.

Carly and Chris were married by Robyn Pattison. Carly remarks “Robyn Pattison was our celebrant, a friend recommended her and she was fantastic….. I definitely recommend her. She is young and upbeat and kept everyone entertained. I felt total confidence in her and that definitely helped keep Chris & I calm on the day. My family and friends loved her!” The couple chose wedding rings by Jane Bowden.

Carly and Chris had a very special wedding with many guests traveling. Carly says “We had 125 guests. 110 of them flew from interstate or overseas to be with us which was pretty mind blowing.”

Of their photographer, Carly says “Simon is a friend who is a funny, entertaining and as you can see is an awesome photographer. What more could you want?”

Carly remarks “I loved the vibe. So much love and happiness. Even from strangers walking by, everyone was just so happy for us. We were both really happy and chilled on the day.”

Carly and Chris held their wedding reception at The Star Room. They hired a photobooth from Flashback Photobooths for their guests. Carly explains “Photo booths are a bit of a Wedding fad at the moment, but I have heard of a few different companies not turning up on the day. We had no problems with these guys and the Photo quality are great. While I spent most of my night on the dance floor, Chris said the Photo booth line up was a great place to catch up with everyone. He said he didn’t get stuck chatting to anyone because of the two minute turn around time and the ever refreshing queue. Smart & funny boy… That’s why I married him!”

Carly says “I could not have asked for a better day….there was a slight incident with the fire alarm going off at the reception and everyone had to evacuate down 6 flights of stairs. It didn’t really interrupt anything but for Chris’s Gran who just had a knee operation it was a bit of a pain. Friends had thought ahead and bought down drinks and cupcakes to eat so that was nice. It only last 10 minutes or so, but the Star Room apologised straight away and let us stay and party for an extra half an hour at the end of the night so we were all happy with that.” A red and white cupcake tower was created by Cupcake Confidential (0414 412 455).

For their first dance, Carly and Chris chose something a little different. Carly explains “We danced to Queens of the Stone Age – ‘Make it Wit Chu’. It was a little bit awkward but fun, Chris couldn’t wait for it to be over!”

Congratulations Carly and Chris! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Simon Harrington (and Robyn Pattison) for sharing today’s images with us!