Adrian and Lisa

Adrian and I met through my ex-boyfriend. It’s not as scandalous as it sounds, though. It was an amicable break-up, we remained friends and two years after the break-up, I met Adrian at a party at my ex’s house.

Adrian and I had been together for four years when he proposed. Adrian is a pianist and musical director and we’d moved up to Sydney so he could work on the production of Mary Poppins. One day, I drove Adrian to work at the Capitol Theatre. The cast of Mary Poppins were outside on the balcony of the theatre, cheering and holding a large banner that said “MARRY ME, LISA!”.

I wanted a theme for our wedding that represented us both. I love red and anything vintage. And, Adrian is pianist, so black and ivory were an appropriate choice.

I fell in love with my dress as soon as I’d tried it on. Maria from Raffaele Ciuca in Armadale suggested I try the Demetrios gown on (I hadn’t given it a second look on the rack). Thank goodness I did! It had the vintage look I was after, and the detail and fullness of the skirt was perfect.

My bridesmaids wore black Jim Hjelm Occasions gowns, which I purchased from Here Comes the Bridesmaid.

Our splash of red came in the bouquets of red roses my bridesmaids and I had. The deepness of the red was just stunning. Debbie O’Neil did all of our bouquets, buttonholes and corsages. I cannot recommend her highly enough. She thought of everything!

The girls and I got ready at my parents’ home. I booked Magical Makeovers to do everyone’s hair and our make-up. Both Liz (make-up) and Sally D (hair) were amazing. They each took the time to understand our skin and hair and they made all of us feel so beautiful.

My dad, the girls and I traveled in a 1936 Cadillac Limousine, which we hired from Nostalgic Wedding and Hire Cars.

Family and friends are so important to us, so we wanted to include as many of them as possible.

One of my sisters was my Matron of Honour and I had one of my girlfriends and one of my cousins as my bridesmaids. Adrian had our best friend as his best man and two of our other friends as his groomsmen. I also have two nieces and two nephews, who were my flower girl, page boy, junior bridesmaid and junior groomsman.

Many of our friends are singers. So, Adrian, being a musical director, arranged a song (The Book of Love) for nine of our friends to sing as I walked down the aisle. One of my brothers accompanied them on guitar, making it even more special. Adrian’s two cousins did two lovely readings during the ceremony too.

Poet’s Lane in Sherbrooke was perfect. It was just beautiful and so convenient having everything in the one location. They even had on-site accommodation, which half of our 135 guests took up.

They provided almost everything: flowers, centerpieces, seat covers, a DJ and a beautiful cottage for us to stay in on our wedding night. Kimberely, our Poet’s Lane wedding coordinator, was just sensational.

We were married in Poet’s Lane’s gorgeous chapel. The chapel also acted as a stunning backdrop for our family photos, which had to be moved inside due to rain. Luckily, the rain held out for a little, so we could have some photos in the beautiful garden.

We had an absolute ball at our reception. My other brother and other sister (yes, I have a big family!) were the Masters of Ceremonies and had everyone in stitches.

To add some more red, we made and jarred our own raspberry jam and placed a jar at each guest’s place setting. For the kids, we filled jars with raspberry lollies instead.

Our classic cake was made by The Art of Sumptuous Cakes. It was perfect and the price was amazing.

Adrian and I wanted to capture the fun of the night, so we hired a photo booth from In the Booth.  We also provided our guests with props and a whiteboard for messages. The booth printed two copies; one for us and one for our guests to keep. In the Booth were just fantastic and included a guest book and pens, as well as someone to manage the booth.

Our dear friend, Alana, helped with our wedding dance (The Beach Boys’ God Only Knows). She was lovely, patient and choreographed a dance that looked good and catered for our lack of dancing ability.

My family like to joke that I’m a bit of a daddy’s girl (there may be a little truth to this). My dad and I did a Father-Daughter dance, but instead of a slow or sentimental dance, we did a tongue-in-cheek, swing dance to The Andrews Sisters’ song Daddy.

Our wedding stationery was designed and made by K3 Kreations. The quality of their work was just amazing. We had so many compliments on the invitations and after getting about ten different quotes, their prices were the most competitive.

And last, but definitely not least, our wonderful and talented photographer, Kate Deagan, captured all the important aspects of our day. The photos are divine and we’re so happy we had the foresight to value hiring a good photographer.

Image by Kate Deagan

Ms Gingham says: A beautifully classic wedding! Thanks for sharing your story today Lisa!

Lisa says: “I am a new bride who works in marketing and wants to share everything about her wedding. :-)”