Adam and Lani

Adam and I got married in January – in Sydney.  As we are both young we wanted to ensure the wedding wasn’t too “formal” or just a “white room” that could belong to anyone. Adam is very creative and we really wanted our personalities to be reflected throughout the day. The day was amazing, and was captured by Puregraphy Photography. We had family and friends come from around the globe – England, South Australia, Spain, Victoria, America. It was particularly special to have my 92 year old grandpa come out from England, and my god parents from America.

Adam’s sister was our flower girl, and she slept over at my house the night before. The morning of the wedding my four bridesmaids arrived – with muffins and coffee in hand. We got ready at my house, and it was a lot of fun just hanging out in the morning. My dress was from the Bridal Outlet in Somersby.

My shoes were blue, and were from Nine West. For my something old and borrowed I wore my mum’s garter. It meant so much to me to have a piece of her wedding at my wedding.

The bridesmaids’ dresses were the hardest to find. Coral was our colour – but boy are there are lot of shades of coral. We finally found some beautiful strapless dresses in a little store in Parramatta Westfield. My maid of honour – best friend from Primary School, Lina – added extra beading to the top of the dresses. Their shoes were just from Payless Shoes – I really didn’t want to make my best friends spend too much money for one day.

The ceremony was held at the church we attend, St Matthew’s Anglican Church in West Pymble. Church is such an important aspect of our lives together, so it was really important for us both to have the ceremony in the church we attend. The music was played and sung by friends, which made it even more special. I walked up the aisle to “Love Never Fails” by Brandon Heath”.

I’m an early childhood teacher and I really wanted to include this in the ceremony by providing “kid’s programs” for the children. So as the adults received orders of service, the children received booklets and crayons with wedding themed dot-to-dots, colouring in pages etc. We also placed bubbles at the end of each pew, so as we walked down the aisle, as husband and wife, to “DNA” by Thirsty Merc, guests blew bubbles.

After the ceremony we had a lolly/candy buffet for the guests. This was created by Princess Jades Candy Buffets, and drinks provided by my brother-in-law. It all tasted delicious and just looked amazing!!

Adam and I love nature, and I particularly love trees, so our photos had to be taken at Homebush Bicentennial Park. The Park is stunning, and as it was close to our reception it also cut down on travel time meaning more time for photos. Adam gave each of his groomsmen a pair of Aviator sunnies as a little gift. As soon as they put them on you could see they felt very cool. The glasses also lead to some great photos.

Our reception was held at Oliveto Ristorante – an Italian Restaurant in Rhodes. Adam’s family is Italian so it was perfect. Adam and I went to the restaurant for dinner one night, and we knew immediately that we HAD to have our reception there. The atmosphere is amazing from the moment you walk in. And the food is just phenomenal. The view is also spectacular – looking over water with nature all around.

To make the reception personal, we brought in our own special touches. Adam hand made a tree thumb print guestbook – we provided ink pads, pens, and baby wipes for afterwards. What we didn’t anticipate was that the ink wouldn’t come off everyone’s thumbs!! But this just lead to many funny moments, and even made it into several of the speeches!

Adam also made a photowall from scratch – I married a very handy man!

The dance floor was also a great success. Adam and I love a good dance. We played a variety of music (new and old) with Adam specially requesting “Sexy and I Know It” by LMFAO – resulting in some crazy moves from the boys.

We decided on cupcakes as the restaurant provided dessert and we didn’t want cliché bomboniere– each guest receiving a cupcake in a box to take home. The cakes were made by a friend of a friend – Noely’s Cakes.

Everyone warned me that “something would go wrong, it always does, and you just have to “move past it”. But seriously… nothing did!! I would not change a thing! Nothing went “wrong”. Adam and I are married and that is the best part, but seriously, nothing went wrong. 🙂 I could not thank my parents, Adam’s parents and my maid of honour enough for all their help, love and support.

Photography by Puregraphy Photography

Ms Gingham says: I adore Lani’s blue shoes. What a great way to bring some of your personality into your day.

Lani says: “As we are both so young it was important to us that our wedding reflected our youthfulness. We brought in many special touches and unique items to the ceremony and reception – we definitely didn’t want a ”typical white room” or a wedding that was too ”formal”. The reception was also full of ”us” – Adam is very artistic and quite a handyman so he created some of our decorations and activities. Lastly I HAD to wear blue shoes (both for the ”something blue” but also because it was FUN! :D)”