Kitsa and Rob's Beachside Sophistication Wedding

Kitsa & Rob

This wedding is nothing but elegance. From the bride’s amazing raspberry red gown, to the Manly beach venue and the mass of colourful blooms. I love the combination of style and sophistication next to the bliss and beauty of the beach.

The couple recall the story of how they came to be. “Rob & Kitsa met at The Loft, where Kitsa was the hostess with the mostess and Rob was the star DJ. Working out what songs and artists she loved, Rob played a soundtrack for her, while she kept the top shelf wine coming. As they got to know each other and with the universe working its magic, on a late night dance floor they met for an evening shuffle. Rob whispered in her ear, “I’m a single man now”. They danced till the wee hours and the rest is history.”

Making their Polka Dot debut today is LB Photography who captured this wedding with all the colourful sophistication that flowed through the couple’s styling and atmosphere of the day.

White House Flowers created the bouquets in tones of red, pink and cream which complimented Kitsa’s stunning Lanvin gown and Charlotte Olympia shoes.

The couple chose Manly Wine Suites for their wedding venue. Kitsa explains, “We wanted our wedding to feel warm, welcoming and generous and to be sophisticated without being fussy. The Manly Wine Suites was the perfect choice and the groom, the world’s biggest Manly Sea Eagles fan, could not agree more. The Wine Suites’ wedding coordinator Lisa was so organised, professional and energetic and the team ran the show seamlessly on the day. The Wine Suites’ summery feel and eclectic styling was a great backdrop for the subtle Greek/exotic touches I wanted to include as a nod to my heritage and the team offered their existing props to help achieve this look. Our ceremony on the white timber-panelled terrace featured an Afghan runner as the aisle and giant potted ferns.”

The day had sweet personal touches to add flavour to the day. Kitsa says “Guests were welcomed into the venue by a pencil drawing of the happy couple drawn by our friends’ young daughter Annika and fresh flowers thrown into vases from our home. In our ceremony, the personally scripted stories, vows and hand-picked readings got lots of laughs and a few tears.”

With Rob being a DJ and the couple meeting over music, it makes sense that music choices were a major feature of their day. Kitsa recalls, “I walked down the aisle to James Blake’s cover of “A Case of You” by Joni Mitchell, “…I could drink a case of you darling…and I would still be on my feet”. During the signing of the wedding certificate we listened to Joanna Newsom’s “Good Intentions Paving Company”, the lyrics of which we also used as a reading, and as the ceremony ended as we had our first kiss to the rising chorus of “So Happy Together” by The Turtles.”

The couple made sure their family was heavily involved in the day. Kitsa explains, “Our guests came together to celebrate the occasion, enjoy the stories, and fill the room with love. My cousin Jenny spoke beautifully at our ceremony, straight from the heart, giving us advice about marriage we hope to live by, and Rob’s two sisters recited readings and blessings that meant so much to us. Our best man Cam, bridesmaid Adele and my mum made cracking speeches which brought on more laughter and tears. Guests on both sides made an effort to get up and try the Greek dancing, and everyone, from oldies to toddlers, danced the night away with big smiles on our faces.”

Of their photographer, Kitsa says “Luke was cool and creative and took the time to understand us and the spontaneous style we wanted for our pictures. A couple of weeks before the wedding he came to our place for a glass of wine and we had a fun practice shoot in the rain in the back alley. We adore these photos and one ended up as a cutout decorating our wedding cake. On our wedding day Luke took us to some unique locations that set off our personalities and our style and captured a beautiful story. He humoured me when I wanted to chase a blue tongue lizard through the car park, when Rob wanted to pose with the Manly Sea Eagles flag on someone’s car, and made use of some cute volunteer models when a mini scooter contest sprung up during our shoot.”

The groom wore a suit from Dolce & Gabbana with shoes from Paul Smith . His groomsman wore a suit from Saba while Kitsa’s bridesmaid wore a black Wayne Cooper gown and Christian Louboutin shoes.

The reception kicked off with a relaxing afternoon of canapes and champagne before guests headed into the reception. They were greeted by a beautifully decorated three tier wedding cake made by That’s My Cake, Kitsa remembers “Wendy, our cake maker, beautifully fulfilled my lime and coconut cake and lime curd idea and decorated it with fresh flowers my mum and I picked up at the markets.”

Kitsa hired aqua blue vases from Divine Events and decorated the reception with help from her mother. She recalls “The room looked stunning with tables decorated with runners hand-sewn by Rob’s mum using Liberty fabric we bought in London, loads of candles, and hydrangeas, peonies and ferns fresh from the market and arranged by me and my mum.”

The couple’s wedding stationery was designed by a friend. Kitsa remarks “Our friend Clare very generously designed a personal Kitsa&Rob text and emblem which she incorporated into our invitations, menus and thank you notes and which we will use forever.”

The couple wanted a certain atmosphere to their day, and I think they nailed it! Kitsa explains ,”There is a Greek word, ‘kefi’, which means lust for life. We experienced the kefi from the very beginning to the end of the day thanks to the fun and generous spirits of our loved ones, great music, and fine wine and food.”

The food was a priority to the couple, to form part of the celebratory atmosphere of the day. Kitsa says “We enjoyed Greek mezze (with grandma’s tzatziki) before a light, fresh dinner and lime and coconut wedding cake with lime curd for dessert. We had personally selected the wine and the food at two separate tasting events we thoroughly enjoyed before the wedding. We really feel the Wine Suites’ personalised service and the freedom they offered us to sculpt the menu and styling to our taste created a unique experience that reflected us and was noticed and appreciated by our guests.”

The reception was always going to have a packed dance floor. Kitsa remembers “We dined and boogied to our hand-selected dance-floor mix, including Greek tunes supplied by my dad, and our DJ mate Andy Lippo had the crowd in the palm of his hand from a DJ booth decorated with fairy lights and framed with handmade pompoms.

After 12 months of ideas and many shortlists, we settled on sexy, soulful “Baby” by the Phenomenal Hand Clap Band to celebrate our new found strength as a team…’Baby, I could rule the world with a girl like you on my arm’.”