Sara & Shane
I love the quirky feel to Sara and Shane’s fun Perth garden wedding. Sara’s vintage inspired wedding dress, with its ruffle skirt set the scene for a day about family, friends and plenty of love and laughter. They chose Fiona Hoy Photography to photograph their day.
Sara tells the story of how she met Shane. “We have known each other for over 15 years – we went to the same high school. Our last names were close alphabetically and we were often placed together in class (until teachers realised how disastrous that was). We started our friendship by flicking pens at each other and then started to date in Year 11. We’ve been together ever since.”
Sara chose Ae’lkemi to make her dress, explaining, “I was looking for something short and fun. When I had what I wanted in mind I just went straight to Alvin at Ae’lkemi and the experience couldn’t have been better. I told him I wanted to have a vintage style but everyone to know that I was ready to party. He worked completely within my budget and made sure that the dress would suit my body style. I couldn’t recommend him enough.”
Bird on The Wall (Melissa O’Driscoll) styled the bride’s hair and makeup, Sara noting, “Melissa was an absolute gem. She did a wonderful job, made the experience fun and came all the way from Northam at a ridiculous time of the morning, for me.”
The couple chose Mabel Talbot Park for their ceremony, noting, “Choosing the garden was a bit tricky so many places we looked at were closed for maintenance! We ended up looking for green spots on Google Maps and driving out to see if they would suit. When we found Mabel Talbot we knew it was perfect (there were cygnets in the pond, it was idyllic plus).”
Shane met Sara at the top of the aisle and the two walked together to Elbow – One Day Like This.
Luke Firth officiated the ceremony, the bride noting, “We wanted a really relaxed, yet romantic wedding ceremony – Luke our celebrant created that atmosphere perfectly. There were lots of jokes and two readings: “He’s Not Perfect” A Quote from Bob Marley and a shortened version of the lyrics to our favourite song “Islands” by The xx.”
Of their photographer, Sara remarks, “Fiona Hoy was our photographer and needless to say she was amazing. She listened to everything that we wanted (bright vibrant colours!) and was great to hang out with on the day. She never barked orders at us so we felt really relaxed on the day. She has the patience of a saint and managed to rope both our families together to get those dreaded family photos. The photos we received are perfect, we love them so much it’s hard to choose which ones to print!”
State of Arts Events styled the wedding, including the vintage inspired floral arrangements.
For their lunch time reception, the couple chose 1907 Restaurant.“The place for the reception was a bit easier we have always loved 1907 and it suited the event perfectly – held 65 people and there was a cocktail bar downstairs for when the party kicked on and all the people we couldn’t invite to the reception could come after work to have a drink with us. Harold and the team were amazing, catered to our every need and put up with our rowdy family and friends.”
“Our favourite part of the planning was the dinner trial, of course! It was just Shane and I, food was AMAZING and Harold from 1907 took care of us like we were royalty. Get to 1907 for dinner if you ever get the chance, it is one of Perth’s best restaurants.”
There were sweet family touches throughout the day, Sara noting, “We used my Nonna’s sugo jars as vases at the reception. Mum and I made all the invites, menus and the boxes for the macaron bomboniere. We love our limoncello (family dinners always end with a bottle being passed up and down the table and everyone having a glass). 1907 were kind enough to let us bring our own and we made sure that our wedding was the same.”
“The day was better than we ever imagined and it suited Shane and I to a ‘T’. It started at 10am, then a boozy lunch at 12, drinks at 4. Then the party descended on our place and kicked on until 1am with a pizza run ordered in the evening. Everyone put so much money in I think the pizza delivery kid ended up getting a $200 tip! It was so much fun, I wouldn’t have changed a thing.”
Congratulations Sara and Shane! Thank you for sharing your special day with us! Thank you to Fiona Hoy Photography for sending this gorgeous day our way.
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