Janice and Ban
I was visiting my family overseas and Ban surprised me by flying all the way there to ask for my Dad’s permission and propose to me in person. But before I knew he was in the country, he had organized a “Legend of Zelda” themed (yes, we are huge geeky fans of that game!) treasure hunt around my neighbourhood. He even got my sisters and shop keepers involved! The last clue led me to the rooftop of my apartment where he was waiting for me. It was very romantic and just like something out of the movies!
The night before the wedding, all the girls and I stayed in a beautiful little cottage called Botanica Editions. We can’t recommend this place enough. Karen was a wonderful host, the entire place was so comfortable, and her attention to detail was excellent; we were even given a beautiful rosemary plant as a welcome gift. I will be back there for a weekend getaway for sure!
When I was deciding on my dress, I knew I wanted a comfortable dress which I could still walk, eat and dance in! I’ve also always been obsessed with lace, so my Claire Pettibone dress from Closet White was perfect. I felt the entire experience quite nerve-racking. I think so much emphasis is put on “the dress” these days especially with the abundance of social media wedding inspirations and being in the industry myself as a hair and make-up artist. But I am also a very self-aware person and made sure that I chose something that reflected who I am. I figured if I was comfortable, I’d look good either way!
The entire world of Pinterest inspired our wedding. We also wanted to make sure our dogs could be there and we needed to find a venue that really reflected both our personalities. Tara Rise was the perfect place for us! We wanted the entire night to be as relaxed as possible with good food, awesome music and great company. We chose all our vendors based on how they would contribute to that vibe.
We were told that having a good ceremony really sets the tone for the rest of the night and couldn’t have agreed more. So we made sure we had a really heartfelt ceremony by choosing the right celebrant – Janet Hussey was brilliant! We wrote our own vows and injected plenty of humor into it while keeping the ceremony short and sweet.
I am a huge flower person. It was basically the first thing I thought of when it came to planning our wedding. When I first met with Amy from Wunderplant I had all these ideas on what I wanted. But I also really love Amy’s work so I tried to let her do her thing. After all if you let the professionals have creative freedom, they usually do their best. I gave her a colour palette and the style I was after and let her do her thing. The result was amazing!
We chose Digging for Fire BBQ food truck for our reception because we knew that the food would be great! Dave’s approach to the entire night was exactly what we were after, hearty food that tasted great and plenty of it! We had so many comments from our friends and family on how much they loved the food and how full they were!
We also had LuxBite do our dessert catering. Anyone that has every had the opportunity to step foot into this amazing little macaroon & dessert café in South Yarra would know how deliciously perfect all their desserts are! My bridesmaid, Elizabeth, made our beautiful wedding cake.
For drinks we asked Beer Gypsies to take care of all the beer and wine enthusiasts. Dan was so incredibly easy to communicate with; his staff arrived with an array of craft beers and ciders and made sure everyone always had a drink in their hands! They also had fun with the guests and packed down at the end of the night with not a single fuss.
Our amazing wedding coordinator, Kate from Ashleigh K Weddings, did an amazing job making sure the entire night ran smoothly. If there were any hiccups, we didn’t notice it one bit. She was such a pleasure to work with and went above and beyond the usual “on the day duties”. Kate really cares about all her couples and we can’t recommend her enough!
I love doing crafty things so a lot of elements from our wedding were handmade. The soap favours (we almost burnt down the house making those!), hand lettering on the chalk boards, place cards and bunting were all made during my spare time. We also did all of the styling ourselves. It was all heaps of fun to do and see it all come to life! I studied Graphic Design at university so I also designed our wedding invitation and website – with a lot of help too from my designer friends and my brother in law who is also a graphic designer. It was a fun experience to be doing that sort of work again and going through the entire production process!
We rented all our prop furniture from My Sweet Event, little touches like cushions from The Georgeous Store and the amazing ceremony arch from Nomad Styling.
Lost in Love Photography are actually my colleagues so I didn’t hesitate for a second to ask them to take our photographs! I love their work; they are so talented and so good at what they do. Ban and I don’t really like having our photos taken, but they are super relaxed and fun to be around so it was really easy in the end! Our wedding was heaps of fun and we were so happy with how things went – and that’s all that matters!
Ms Chinoiserie Says: Congratulations Janice and Ban! A beautiful romantic wedding with so many sentimental details; your flowers were exquisite!
About Janice: Hi, I’m Janice! I been doing hair and makeup for as long as I can remember.I initially started out in the fashion and commercial side of the industry but realized I really loved being involved with people’s big day. It is always very exciting and fun day to be a part of! I am a bit of a geek and I am also a huge animal and adventure lover, so if I’m not addicted to a game or t.v show, I am outdoors on adventures with my fur kids, my husband and friends!
great article thanks