Ashleigh & Griffin
Ashleigh and Griffin wanted a traditional, vintage feel for their classic Fremantle wedding. Ashleigh noting, “Traditional, vintage, romantic, personalised. Our inspiration was a rustic vintage theme that was traditional but not overly formal.” The couple chose Tanya Voltchanskaya to capture their day.
Ashleigh tells the story of how they came to be. “Griffin and I are high school sweethearts who met on the first day of Year 8 in High School. By the end of Year 8 we had started dating and the rest is history. This month we have been together for 11 years.”
Ashleigh chose a Mia Solano gown from Luv Bridal, explaining, “Early in my engagement I fell in love with a Watters gown that was not available in any of the dress stores in Perth for me to try on. About three months into our engagement we went on a 7 week trip to Canada, the UK and Europe and while I was in London, I went dress shopping with a girl friend who lives over there now, specifically to try on the Watters gown. I tried it on and absolutely fell in love but it was a little bit out of my price range.
My plan was to get a dress maker in Perth to make me a similar style once I was home. After arriving back in Perth I went Bridesmaid dress shopping with my maid of honour one afternoon and we went into Luv Bridal to have a look for her. While she was trying on bridesmaid dresses she asked me to just try on a few wedding dresses.
I tried on my gown (which was completely different to the Watters gown) and fell in love. I went back a couple of days later with my mum, two of my other bridesmaids and my aunty and they convinced me it was the one and I so bought it. This was all still around 18 months out from my wedding!”
The bride finished her look with a string of pearls her father had given her mother on their own wedding day.
Ashleigh and Griffin chose Point Roe Park, Mosman Park for their ceremony.
The bride chose Yellow by Coldplay for her walk down the aisle. She remembers, “I remember getting to the end of the aisle and seeing Griffin waiting for me. My dad and I stopped for a moment for me to take it all in before walking the last few steps. I had been dreaming about walking down the aisle every time I heard Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ for years and now it was finally happening!”
“We loved seeing Griff’s Nan with a tear in her eye after she saw the chalkboard sign we had set up with a quote and photos of our grandparents who couldn’t be there but who we knew were watching down over us. We also loved having our mums act as our witnesses when we signed the marriage certificate – they were both so touched.”
“I’m glad we had a big wedding! There were a couple of times during the wedding planning that I couldn’t believe I was organising a wedding for 180 guests and honestly just considered eloping. But now I am so glad that we had a large wedding. It meant I had to cut other things out of my budget to keep the guest list so big but it was so worth it! It was so fantastic to have all of our loved ones in the one place, celebrating with us. I wouldn’t change that for anything!”
Guests enjoyed afternoon tea and garden games after the ceremony.
The couple hired a tram from Fremantle Trams to get around on the day.
Of their photographer, the bride remembers, “Our photographer Tanya Voltchanskaya was amazing! It felt like having an extra friend with us during the bridal party picnic as she was so easy to get along with we felt so comfortable with her. The photos we have seen look amazing and have the artistic look to them that we were hoping for.”
Lua Leuca styled the bridal party flowers for the day.
The reception celebrations kicked off at Fremantle Town Hall, Ashleigh telling, “I was looking for somewhere that allowed us to bring in our own caterer and alcohol to try and keep our costs down and that also seated up to 200 guests. It also needed to be somewhere that matched our rustic/vintage theme and the Fremantle Town Hall is such a breathtaking old heritage building that it was an obvious choice.”
“One of the biggest DIY projects I undertook was making 180 jars of salted caramel popcorn about a week before the wedding (with the help of my family and some beautiful friends). I also made the table runners, all stationery including invitations, menus, table names and place cards, the seating chart and all of the wooden and chalkboard signs.
I also sourced 100 mismatched jars and vases, around 80 hardcover vintage novels and around 50 tea light candle holders from op shops over the course of our engagement to use as centerpieces and to hold flowers. Rather than throw out or try and sell all of the props and décor I have collected, I am now starting up a wedding décor hire business in the Peel region called Little Vintage Hire Co.”
Lisa Rossi from Design Your Day ensured everything ran smoothly on the day, “Lisa Rossi from Design Your Day was absolutely worth her weight in gold. She came in the day before the wedding with her husband and kids to start helping us set up the hall. She had had a horrible week personally but she did not let that affect her professionalism and efforts. On the night she was incredible. Everything ran more smoothly than I could have expected and she made sure Griffin and I (and the rest of the bridal party and our parents) had everything we needed all night. I could not recommend her more!”
“When we arrived at the reception. The Fremantle Town hall has this cute little back stage area with couches a coffee table, fridge and dressing room. Our amazing wedding coordinator had some drinks and an antipasto platter ready for the bridal party so that we could chill for 10 minutes while the guests were being seating in the hall.
While we were waiting I had a peek through the curtains behind the stage and it was overwhelming to see our 180 guests filling up the hall. Around that time I had been thinking how quickly the day was flying by and it was such a nice moment to realise that we still had a whole party with all our loved ones ahead of us! It was a surreal moment.”
Of the first dance, Ashleigh and Griffin remember, “We chose Romeo and Juliet (cover) by the Killers – it was at the beginning of the reception in front of all our guests at the town hall. Griffin had torn the ligament in his left ankle about three weeks before the wedding and we thought he was going to need to be on crutches all day. It was amazing that I was finally dancing with the man I have loved for over a decade on our wedding day – and not even a torn ligament could stop us!”
“There were so many highlights from reception! The food was amazing, I got so many comments from guests saying how absolutely delicious it was. The catering company did a fantastic job, the wait staff were so attentive – our drinks were never empty! Our DJ was amazing and ensured the dance floor was full all night from the moment the mains were finished. The speeches – people are still commenting about how funny the Best Man speech was, and both our dads and my maid of honour did a great job as well.”
The reception was a much talked about event thanks to vendors like Brad Jenkins from Spectacle and Jacob Ferreo from Creative Catering , the bride noting, “Brad Jenkins from Spectacle music made sure the dance floor was full all night and also does some amazing acoustic work. I would definitely recommend him to future brides as he is very versatile.
Jacob and his team at Creative Catering also need a mention. The food was incredible and their wait staff were so professional and attentive. Nothing was too much to ask. When we started to run out of beer just before the mains were served (as we provided all the alcohol and didn’t buy enough beer – oops) my mum and Dad were going to catch a cab to the bottle shop to buy more. When the maître de realised this she wouldn’t let them – and sent two wait staff to go and buy more instead. It was little things like that that we really appreciated and helped to make the night so enjoyable.”
Congratulations Ashleigh and Griffin! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Tanya Voltchanskaya for haring today’s wedding with us.
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