Intimate Brisbane Garden Wedding

Alita & Michael

Today’s intimate garden wedding was nothing short of a day of fun for Alita and Michael. Sparkly shoes, champagne bottles popping and plenty of dancing. The couple switched their wedding from a country farm celebration to just their closest family and friends in a backyard. They chose Murray Redpath.

“We met at work. A job we both hated but knew we where there for one thing! To meet each other. When I (Alita) moved onto a new company we lost touch. It wasn’t until one sunny day in Port Melbourne, Victoria that we where to see each other whilst passing by. I (Alita) was out for a run and Michael was driving in his ute. Alita describes this encounter as “Whoa, who is that hot guy driving that ute?” Michael had friends in the car and asked if he could do a U-turn to speak with Alita. It’s funny, this encounter never would have happened if it wasn’t for Alita admiring two beautiful birds sitting on a tree. Alita calls them the love birds. (They weren’t love birds at all, but it makes for a cute story). Michael took Alita on their first date early January 2011. It was on this date that both Alita and Michael knew they where the ones for each other… They had no idea that both of them felt this way until the wedding day when Alita asked Michael… “When did you know?”. We had the same answer.”

Alita worked with Parisima to design her two piece wedding dress adding sparkling heels to finish her look. Alita remarks “This lady is one of the most beautiful people I’ve come across. She went above and beyond. I was going to have two tops made, we made the first and I fell in love with it. I said don’t worry about the second one as we where very tight on time (five days to be exact!) On the day I went to pick up my dress she said to me “There was something not right in my heart” and she felt compelled to deliver what I dreamt. Michael, David and our nephew Sebastian presented me with the leather crop I wore. Everyone were superstars.”

Alita remembers, “The whole day is a story on it’s own! We had “disasters” like any wedding day has. In fact our “disaster” was Australia Post sending a box that had basically everything except, Michael’s suit, my wedding dress and shoes in it… Phew, at least I had that!! It just goes to show, with even the most perfect planning stuff just happens. My mum always says to me “To problems, we find solutions” It’s a great attitude to have.”

The bride’s sister in law arranged the flowers, the couple marrying under an arbour made by Michael, David and their nephew.

“Our Uncle Frank and partner Melissa surprised us with their handsome German Shepherds Dutch and Dexter all dressed up in their tuxedos!”

The couple ditched their country farm wedding for a wedding at Michael’s twin brother’s home, noting, “We are very laid back people personally. Both of us have highly driven jobs. Alita a Managing Director of a Business Training Academy and Michael is the Sales Director of a major Property Developer. A traditional wedding was not on the cards for either of us. We originally thought we’d do our wedding in November at our farm in Country Victoria. But after some thought we decided to bring it down a notch, keep it small with limited fuss so we could all enjoy the day. The venue of choice was simple. Michael’s identical twin brother’s beautiful home in Karana Downs. We kept it very intimate with only a handful of friends and family each.”

“We had the most perfect team of family & friends around us to make this day as special as it was. My girls didn’t mean to but all 5 of them ended up wearing a shade of turquoise or blue so they appointed themselves as the unofficial bridesmaids. Perfect!! Our readings where chosen by the ones who we appointed. We had no idea what they where going to be. Both of them summed us up perfectly. One of them was titled “Love is like a dog”, it was hilarious and perfect. We love our pets.”

Alita remembers, “For the processional, one of my best friends Thea Milides from Heart Stings played the violin, I was so excited I didn’t care what she played! I just wanted her and her violin. After we signed the registry she played off the cuff “For he’s a jolly good fellow” My whole family got up linked arms and started skipping around!”

Of their photographer, Alita remarks, “This guy went over and above. Coming from Melbourne and organising the wedding from another state it was amazing that the day turned out so perfectly! Murray knew we were from interstate and he took the time to personally select locations to take our perfect photos and remember the day forever in amazing emotion filled photos. I personally couldn’t speak more highly of Murray both as a person and a photographer. All our guests commented on how he fit in as one of the guests! He is a no stress kind of guy. Perfect for the relaxed bride.”

The reception was decorated by the bride and groom and catered by Cuisine on Cue “Amazing food, incredible service from start to finish.”

So many details were handmade, down to the hand poured candles as guest favors.

The couple chose the bride’s favourite carrot cake made by the bride’s mum who practiced weeks before the big day. The special charm pull allowing guests to get involved.

The first dance was chosen as a special touch to the bride’s grandparents, Alita tells, “Our first dance was done to “The Last Waltz”. It was the first song my grandparents ever danced to. We lost my beautiful grandfather two weeks before our wedding so it was a perfect tribute to a couple whose love lasted a lifetime.”