Gabrielle and Paul’s Bright Sydney Wedding

Gabrielle and Paul

It’s a lovely time of year to get married, Spring, when the sun is streaming down and everybody wants to be outside celebrating which makes it a gorgeous time for wedding. I love how Gabrielle and Paul embraced the spirit of the season and planned their wedding day to include bright vivid hues and plenty of fun in the sand!

Their story starts as a set up. They tell, ” Gabrielle and Paul were set up by one of Gabrielle’s closest friends who Paul had worked with some 10 years earlier. They met at an organised Cup eve party at Melbourne Eureka tower. Gabrielle was living in Sydney but traveling for work in Melbourne. Paul had just moved to Melbourne from the UK. They had a long distance relationship for a few months, until Gab took the plunge, moved to Melbourne and the rest is history! ”

Gorgeous bright imagery today comes to us from LB Photography .

Gabrielle chose a Jane Hill gown and chose aqua blue gowns from Zimmermann for her bridesmaids. Maggie May created the floral arrangements for the day remarking “I gave her a picture of the vases and “feel” I was after and she did all the rest.”

Gabrielle and Paul chose Cardinal Cerretti Chapel, Saint Patricks Estate Manly for their wedding ceremony, Gabrielle remarking “The chapel is incredible: the grounds are beautiful, the sandstone sets a stunning backdrop and the inside of the chapel is truly spectacular.”

For the processional, Gabrielle recalls, “We had the instrumental version of ‘Just The Way You Are’ by Piano Mars played while I walked down the aisle. It had personal meaning to us . Our vocalist then sang “The Prayer” and we broke into tears on the alter holding hands.”

Gabrielle describes the wedding as, “An absolutely crazy happy lovely fun celebration of our love with our closest family and friends.”

After the ceremony, there were the photos! Gabrielle tells, “We moved onto a lovely tree lined side street in Manly where photos were taken with the beautiful chapel in all its grandeur shining in the background.”

“From there we traveled to Balmoral for photos on the beach as the sun set. We had a lot of fun here as we played around with our bridal party whilst sipping on some celebratory champagne.”

Gabriella and Paul held heir reception at Zest, The Spit .

As far as DIY went, Gabrielle and Paul made each guest feel extra special, explaining “We purchased beautiful eyelet lace for centerpiece candles. We spent endless weekends painting signs that were positioned around the room, giving instructions for our activities. Each guest had a personalised name setting booklet, which had a picture of the guest with the the bride and groom, a message to the guest letting them know why it was so special that they were there to join in the day. Inside the booklet was a timeline of the wedding day, the menu and on the back a Dr Seuss poem. We had puzzle pieces for each guest as they walked into the reception venue, each piece made up a larger jigsaw puzzle which was a conversation starter.”

For their wedding cake, Gabrielle tells, “We are lucky to be friends with Keiran McKay, Patisserie at Wildfire. We purchased a french style chest of drawers, painted these white and aged them by sanding back the corners. We added some motive handles and hung Gabrielle’s ballet shoes and Paul’s soccer boots. This was our cake table.”

The evening was heavily focused on fun musical moments, Gabrielle telling, “Our wedding party entered the room in partners, dancing to “We Go Together” from Grease. It was cheesy, but fun and everyone was up cheering us as we entered the room dancing. Our fathers put together a rap, which they performed together. we had no idea it was going to happen and they had the room in stitches.”

For their first dance, the couple chose, “Etta James, ‘At Last’ mixed into ‘Feel So Close To You’ by Calvin Harris. Everyone got up and danced with us before we served mains, this set the scene for the night. We used vocalist Arnott, DJ Joseph and Bongos from Lippsinc Entertainment. They really set the scene for the night and had the guests up dancing all night. Our guests keep asking who our band was because they played incredible mash ups of old and new songs.”

Of Gabrielle’s favourite moments, she remembers, “We left the venue through a tunnel of sparklers and boarded a boat as we waved goodbye to guests, watching the sparklers in the distance. It was a magical way to depart and the serenity on Sydney Harbour was beautiful. We just watched the stars and the lights twinkling on the water as we made our journey to the hotel. Whilst people danced the night away they could help themselves to the gelato bar and fairy floss machine which added a festival feel to our party. Everyone was laughing and having a great night, with their fairy floss and icecream, it made for a fun night which was the feel we were really after.”

Congratulations on your marriage Gabrielle and Paul! Thanks for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to LB Photography  for sharing today’s wedding with us!