Sara & Alex
I love the cool, relaxed atmosphere of Sara and Alex’s industrial chic wedding, The duo chose one gorgeous venue and an utterly romantic first look to maximise their celebration time. They worked with photographer Tricia King Photography to capture their day.
Sara and Alex had quite the journey to their wedding day! Sara starts off their story. “We met chatting between rounds of two-up on Anzac Day 2011. I was on the tail-end of my Work and Holiday Visa, with only a few months left in the country. We tried to keep things casual, but couldn’t help falling madly in love.” Alex continues, “Sara had to go back to the States, so we did long distance for more than a year. After more Skype dates than I can count, we jumped through a bunch of hoops and worked through visa applications to bring Sara back to Australia.”
The newlyweds tell, “Having our sisters and closest friends by our sides throughout the celebration was really amazing. Getting ready in the morning with our favourite people was the perfect way to gear up for the day.”
Little Peach Co created the modern invitations for Sara and Alex, Sara explaining, “When Alex proposed I was working at Little Peach Co., a boutique letterpress studio specialising in stationery. I designed the invites, and the Little Peach Co. team gave them to us as a wedding gift. Such a beautiful hand-crafted way to introduce our day!”
Sara wore a gown by Christina Kim Bespoke, explaining, “I didn’t realise you were meant to start dress-hunting months and months in advance! Thank goodness a friend told me about Christina Kim Bespoke, who makes stunning custom dresses. Together we dreamed up something sweet and comfortable with a low back. My main requirements were (1) creating a timeless dress I’d always love and (2) being able to sit cross-legged at the bridal table! Christina was truly a dream to work with and I’d recommend her to all brides.”
The couple met before the ceremony for a first look.
Of their photographer, Alex notes, “Tricia King is amazing. You can’t improve on perfection.” Sara adding, “Tricia King was our first choice because we adore how she captures the little candid moments. The photos perfectly reflected our celebration, and she was just a joy to work with from start to finish. We felt so comfortable (no awkward posing or super long photo shoots), and she seamlessly worked her way around the celebration. We can’t thank her enough!”
Green & Bloom created the bouquets and bridal party flowers for the wedding.
Sara and Alex chose Lightspace for their wedding, noting, “Lightspace was our first choice, and turned out to be the perfect venue! We are not expert DIY-ers and the prospect of designing the entire event experience was a bit daunting. Lightspace was a dream come true because the venue really shines on its own. Plus, they have an amazing selection of free-to-use industrial chic furniture and decorations, plus a day-of Wedding Coordinator to help with all the logistics.”
The couple ensured guests felt welcome from the get go, explaining, “We created a welcome board with a custom note for each guest. Inside we instructed them to introduce themselves to a certain other guest on the day, along with a a common topic to discuss. Just a fun way to help our guests mingle. And guess what? We sneakily set-up two of our friends—and she has since moved to Sydney to be with him! It’s so special that our celebration could connect another couple.”
Music was carefully chosen for the ceremony, Alex remembering, “Sara walked down the aisle to Angels by the xx. The band was crazy popular when we first started dating, and we used to listen to them while cooking dinner early in our courtship. And once we were pronounced man and wife, we blasted ‘The Hey Song’ by Barry Glitter as an ode to my love of basketball and sports. Perfect song for a fist pump victory celebration.”
Lindsay Carroll officiated the ceremony. “Our ceremony was definitely unconventional, and ended up being our favourite part of the day! Lindsay Carroll was our celebrant, and she just knocked it out of the park. She had such fun ideas, clever solutions and the official paperwork was super easy.”
Alex tells, “Held in the light-filled bar area of Lightspace, our guests had drinks in hand to cheer us on. Everyone laughed, hooted and hollered throughout the half hour ceremony. And most people cried. Especially me! We recited prepared vows, and concluded with surprise hand-written statements.” Sara adding, “Besides saying ‘I do’, the highlight of our ceremony was a custom children’s story— “The Kangaroo & The Prairie Dog”—written by my sister Alli and her husband Zach. Accompanied by puppets, Alli and Zach read the fairy tale story of an ill-fated couple from different parts of the world who fell in love and defeated all odds to make it work. It was so silly and fun. We can’t wait to read it to our future children!”
“As an international couple, we had to jump through a lot of hoops to be together – long distance, applying for visas, etc. On our wedding day, we were just so grateful to have finally made it. It really cemented that we want to love and choose each other always.”
Alex tells, “We set up a “Here in Spirit” table with picture frames of family who had passed on or couldn’t attend. I treasured the look on my Nonna’s face when she saw the photo of my Nonno.”
“We kept the styling really simple because we loved the space on its own. Literally the only things we brought in were a welcome board, vases pre-prepared by the bridesmaids, a smattering of tea candles and big letter balloons. Everything else was arranged by Lightspace or Zen Catering. An amazingly low maintenance set-up!”
In lieu of a traditional wedding cake, the couple chose donuts! Alex remembers, “In a nod to Sara’s love of doughnuts, we assembled a doughnut cake and the caterers hand-passed Krispy Kreme boxes around the dance floor. A highlight of the night was heading home with three extra boxes and eating them with champagne together as we debriefed the day.”
“We wrote a joint speech to thank our family and friends. It was incredible to acknowledge the most important people in our lives on our first day of married life.”
Of the vibe for the wedding, Alex notes, “It was relaxed, but our friends and family were definitely dressed to impress. We wanted to have an engaging ceremony, communal dining for dinner and a wild dance floor.”
Guests received Pez dispenser wedding favors, Alex remarking “Since most of our guests were traveling from interstate or internationally, we wanted a novelty gift they could enjoy on the night. I had the idea of Pez dispensers in a variety of themes; Star Wars, Finding Nemo, Marvel, Disney Princesses, etc. It was fun to let our guests pick and choose their favourites!”
The speech from the bridal party was one to remember, Alex tells, “My best man told me during the night that if anything unexpected happened, just go with. At the start of his speech we realised he wasn’t at the bridal table, and he popped up from afar with a funny hat and suspenders as an Italian tarantella song began to blast from the speakers. As he walked out he brought Sara and I to the dance floor. Throughout the song three more of my mates joined him on the stage for a choreographed routine. The crowd went wild, and it was an amazing surprise gift.”
Of their first dance, Alex recalls, “We both love to boogie, so we wanted a first dance song that was romantic but upbeat and fun. We ultimately chose Lauryn Hill’s cover of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You”, which set the tone for the rest of the night on the dance floor.”
Congratulations Sara and Alex! Thank you for sharing your story with us! Thank you also to Tricia King Photography and Lightspace for sharing today’s wedding!
It looked like a cool wedding. Great vibe.