Iva and Steve

I think we can all whole heartedly agree that Byron Bay weddings (like this Byron Bay Surf Club wedding from Weddings by Averie (Averie Harvey)) are relaxed, beautiful and oh so much fun but Iva and Steve? They added three different cultures, incredibly bright blooms and made the most of the beach side site.

Iva tells the story of how she and photographer Steve met. “We used to worked together. I was Steve’s assistant. Steve actually read out all of our email correspondence in his speech. It was hilariously embarrassing!! It took 2 years of working together for us to finally admit we liked each other. Steve got an offer for a photography project in WA and asked me to come along… I didn’t hesitate and went with him. We spent 4 weeks in a caravan together driving and taking pictures of beaches. It was amazing. When we first kissed we were watching True Blood so we made sure we played the theme song as one of our wedding dance songs.”

Steve wore a grey suit from P Johnson Tailors.  Iva tells, ” Having a night apart before the wedding. It was very symbolic and created even bigger excitement for us.”

“Our wedding was a little festival. It started on Thursday with the ceremony and continued until Saturday. Everyone got to really know each other and spend amazing time with great food and loving atmosphere. Wedding dress, flowers, decoration and even food were simple and relaxed. We tried to focus more about the feel of the wedding than the look of it.”

The bride and bridesmaid carried brightly coloured bouquets in shades of yellow, ted and tangerine. Iva tells “The flowers where from the Flowers On The Run. It was great to work with them and I absolutely loved all the flowers. They totally fulfilled my ideas and expectations.” Iva chose an elegant sheath gown from Amanda Garrett.

Guests contributed to the ceremony space, Iva telling, “All beautiful flower decoration came from our friend’s garden. All the hosts brought a pebble with and wrote their initials and date. They created a circle where Steve and I were standing during our ceremony. It was the circle of love and support.”

Byron Bay Surf Club was chosen as the wedding venue, Iva telling “Our wedding took place at the Surf Club in Byron Bay. We had the ceremony on the deck with the ocean view.” Iva walked down the aisle to ‘She’s the one’ by Robbie Williams.

The couple’s adopted dog Phoenix made a virtual appearance at the ceremony.

Iva remarks, “It was amazing having my parents here from the Czech republic. It was their first flight ever, and first time to leave the homeland!! It was beyond amazing to have them in Byron Bay. Byron Bay is a very special place to both Steve and I. We spend a lot of time there and most of our friends are based in Byron.”

Of their photographer, Iva tells, “Averie was our first and only option. Steve had worked with Averie when she was assisting few years ago and had seen on Facebook that she was now shooting weddings. We love her style of strong composition and her talent to capture the perfect moment. Averie is so professional and went beyond being just a photographer, she brought a beautiful positive vibe to the day and just blended in with the whole wedding, and even came with us to get tattoos the next day! You can feel the atmosphere through her images and it is incredibly touching.”

Back at Byron Bay Surf Club, the guests enjoyed drinks and canapes on the deck overlooking the beach catered by Eat Drink Catering.

“Our friends did all the decorations which was so meaningful for us. Lots of dancing which we both love. We got our dress ups out and danced crazy all night. It was so fun.”

Plenty of family traditions were incorporated into the day, Iva remembering, “The wedding was mixture of three different cultures. I am from the Czech Republic, the groom is English and we live in Australia. Steve’s brother and best friend (and his whole family) came over from London and my parents and best friends from the Czech. Because my parents don’t speak English the ceremony was translated by one of my bridesmaids. We managed to bring some Czech traditions as well. The newlyweds are supposed to break a plate and clean it up together as a symbol and always working together and being a team.”

The first dance was one of the highlights of the night, says Iva. “We had our first dance right after dinner. There was no question about our first song. ‘Mul mantra’ by Snatam Kaur has been “our” song since the beginning of our relationship. It is really symbolic. Then we had a compilation of ‘We found love’ by Rhianna and ‘I’m sexy and I know it’. Haha I had a laugh the next day with Steve as I got confused with the Rhianna lyrics. I was singing the whole time “We found love that holds this space” Everyone laughed at me when I let that one out. I really wanted to dance to three songs so we could really express ourselves through as much dance as possible haha. Our “first dance” ended with extremely silly dancing. It’s all about balance!”

The evening was far from over, but guests made sure to enjoy cake from Sweet Obsession Cakes.

Congratulations Iva and Steve! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Weddings by Averie (Averie Harvey) for sharing today’s wedding!