Rebecca and Ben
There is a sense of relaxed New York chic to the wedding of Rebecca and Ben held at fabulous cafe The Grounds of Alexandria. Their evening wedding was filled with sparkling fairy lights, uproarious dancing, and a few farm animals thrown in for good measure! All captured candidly and joyfully by Mark Condon of Gold Hat Photography.
On how they met, Rebecca tells, “We met in London at the Coco Ribbon Christmas Party (Bec was working for Coco Ribbon at the time). We met through their good friend, Alison Chow (Founder of Coco Ribbon). We moved to New York together 6 months after we met and the rest is history!”
Kicking off the groomsmen attire were these sherbet coloured bowties from Bartek Design wearing their own suits. Groom Ben chose Theory and Hugo Boss for his look.
Rebecca wore a sparkling gown from Karen Willis Holmes with gold Badgley Mischka heels. Liv Lundelius styled the girl’s hair and makeup for the day.
Rebecca and Ben chose The Grounds of Alexandria as their wedding venue, the cafe allowing them to have their ceremony, cocktail hour, photo session and reception on site.
One of the favourite moments of the day involved Ben’s grandmother, Rebecca says. “The most memorable part of the ceremony would be when Ben saw his grandmother prior to the bride arriving and broke down crying (which led to foundation stains on his shirt collar from the hug she gave him).”
Rebecca walked down the aisle to ‘That’s When I Knew’ by Alica Keys.
Lillian Lyon performed the ceremony, Rebecca remembering, “Guests who attended the Ceremony could not believe that Lillian (our Celebrant) did not know us personally before the wedding. Everyone has said that it was one of the most engaging, funny and emotional wedding ceremonies they have attended. Lots of laughs and tears..and all topped off by Braaadley the lamb’s baaaaing in the background (which guests found hysterical).”
The couple married outside on a black and white checkerboard floor. Rebecca telling, “The “arch” that we got married under was decorated with hanging bundles of baby’s breath that blew in the wind during the ceremony and pretty fairy lights were hung from the arches.”
Floreat created colourful bouquets of greenery and bright yellow blooms.
In keeping with the relaxed feel of the day, the couple involved as many of their family and friends as possible. Rebecca explaining, “The ceremony was fairly non-traditional and we wanted to involve as many of our friends as we could. We had three friends carry out readings that we chose (Fulfillment of Dreams, Celebration, The Hands of the Bride and Groom). We each chose our own vows. Our mums witnessed the signing of the wedding certificate and it was signed at a beautiful antique mosaic table. Our good friend Alison Chow (who introduced us 5 years ago!) was the ring bearer.”
Of their photographer, Rebecca tells, “After meeting with 3-4 photographers, Ben and I decided on Mark Condon from Gold Hat Photography. We loved the candid, spontaneous nature of Mark’s photos and felt that the images we had seen from other weddings he’d shot made us feel as though we were a part of the wedding itself! We also knew that Mark would be a fun guy to have around on the day as we didn’t want a photographer barking instructions at us on the day and interfere with the natural flow.
Mark was professional, adaptable and offered up some great suggestions for shots on the day. Mark turned our photo’s around rapidly and within 2 weeks we had a gorgeous ensemble of pictures to share with our family. We have since received all our pictures and could not be happier… Mark has captured parts of the day that neither of us even knew existed.”
Each place setting was adorned with a colourful lollipop from I Love Lollipops and a place card written on brown card by the bride. Table names were written with chalk on cheese boards and named after significant places to the newlyweds – London (where they met), Paris (we they got engaged), NYC (where they lived) and Sydney (where they married).
Tables were decorated with loads of mason jars full of colourful “wild” flowers and tea light candles.
Guests enjoyed feast that just reading about is enough to make your mouth water, Rebecca telling, “Part of the reason we chose The Grounds was because of the amazing food. The highlight would have to have been the Bombolini! Our menu was as follows: Warm/Cold Canapes – Arancini – Ocean Trout Ceviche – Yamba King Prawn The Garden Menu – Cabbage slaw – Sugar snap and snow peas – Roast potatoes The Land & Sea Menu – Lamb Shoulder – Pork Belly – Salmon The Dessert Canape Menu – Bombolini (Nutella and Jam filled doughnuts) – Lemon Meringue – Mini Choc Pavlovas.”
Ben’s sister Sarah McCallum designed the wedding stationery, which gave a nod to the cafe’s favourite resident. Rebecca tells “Our escort card was designed to match our Save The Date, Invite and Thank-you cards. It included our initials and a pig on it (for Kevin Bacon at The Grounds).”
Having an evening wedding was one of the best decisions the couple made, says Rebecca. “This meant that we got to spend the day with our respective friends and family (and Mr Frank – our Cocker Spaniel), enjoy the sunshine and take our time getting ready surrounded by so many happy faces and excited people.”
Nick Drabble, DJ sorted the music from start to finish – including the first dance, of which Rebecca remembers, “Our first dance was to Girl from Ipanema (Stan Getz). The DJ Nick Drabble mixed it in effortlessly to Daft Punk’s One More Time, and the dance floor erupted in crazy dance moves from the entire wedding party!”
Congratulations Rebecca and Ben! Thank you for sharing your wedding day stories with us! Thank you also to Mark Condon of Gold Hat Photography for sharing today’s photographs with us!
Sweet wedding! They did seem very relaxed and in love! The “Kevin Bacon’s House” photo is hysterical!
This brought back the best memories! Ben and Bec were a dream couple for me as a celebrant. They were always fun to be with, trusted my suggestions, and together we worked on their ceremony like a well oiled machine. Amazing photos and great blog Polka Dot Bride.
Lovely wedding photography