Lisa & Andres
I love it when couples make their wedding so very uniquely them, and what they envisage for their day, whether it be sticking to timeless traditions or including moments that make their day special to them. Lisa and Andres decided to include their gorgeous son, Nicholas, by holding a surprise baptism to tie in with their wedding ceremony. Their colourful Shelly Beach Boathouse wedding was decadently planned and styled by Alicia from Form Over Function, and captured by Clarzzique Photograhpy.
Of how they met, Lisa remembers, “Hmmm…. 3am at Ivy in the city. Not the most romantic of encounters! We were both in the queue for a cab and we got talking. We ended up sharing one, and the rest is history!”
Lisa chose a Pronovias gown from Marry Me Bridal, as she wanted an old Hollywood style with lace. “I simply loved my dress. I was so happy with it, and the veil. It was all perfect!” the bride gushes. “Marry Me Bridal made the whole experience fantastic. The girls there were fabulous!”
Andres and his groomsmen wore charcoal suits from Peppers Formal Wear. Andres wore a white vest and tie, and the groomsmen wore charcoal vests and navy blue ties. The page boys wore charcoal pants, white vests and white ties.
As Lisa walked down the aisle, The Dolce Trio played a strings version of Elvis Presley’s “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You”.
Lisa talks about their ceremony, “The ceremony had to be negotiated between us over a couple of long chats, as Andres and his family are Catholic, but I am not. It was something that really mattered to him and I was happy for him to have the blessing of the Church and his family on the day, and we worked together to ensure vows, prayers and readings were something that meant something to both of us. Our son, Nicholas, was 10 months old at the time we married, so we decided to also have him baptised, which was a surprise addition to the ceremony for our guests. It was so special to us to make it a family affair, and we had little blue baptism ribbons handed out at the beginning of the ceremony to celebrate Nicholas.”
Lisa and Andres chose St Marys Immaculate Church for their ceremony venue because they wanted it to feel warm and as intimate as possible. Lisa says, “I had Alicia add hot pink ties to the pews and beautiful marshmallow arum lilies. It was just gorgeous!”
Of their photographer, Lisa says, “Clarissa from Clarzzique Photography was fantastic! I was put in touch with Clarissa through Alicia from Form Over Function. I could not have been happier with the photos from our special day. Since then she’s also taken family portraits for us. That’s how much we love what she does!”
Lisa and Andres held their reception at Le Kiosk (now the Boathouse Shelly Beach), and the bride notes that it had always been a favourite of theirs, explaining that it sits right by the sand, and the sea is so close you can almost touch it. “Andres had coincidentally proposed to me on Shelley Beach the year before, which made it just that more special to us both.”
Lisa’s vision for their wedding reception was to include colour, candles, flowers and romance, and Alicia from Form Over Function created the perfect combination of casual elegance for their celebration! Lisa says, “The hundreds of candles Alicia styled the space with, and the sea breeze created a romantic feel I will never forget. I wanted the colour coral to be the focus without being garish. There had to be colour. We wanted it to be happy and bright. Alicia nailed the brief on what I wanted and she made it seem like fun along the way. We had the best chats, and I just knew I didn’t have to worry about a thing on the day. Everything was just stunning!”
“Alicia made it magical. Hanging from the ceiling where delicate branches with hanging glass baubles and tea lights, the tables all had collections of gorgeous grey vases filled with flowers. The menus carried through the stationery she’d designed – all hand-written by a calligrapher before it was printed. ”
Lisa undertook a little bit of DIY for their wedding, explaining that she and Alicia created the wedding favours together. “I wanted something small, and something that represented Andres’ Peruvian heritage. I found a website that sold handmade Peruvian worry dolls on pins. They were gorgeous. Alicia came up with the idea of attaching calligraphy name tags to the gift boxes so they also acted like place cards.”
“The cake by Faye Cahill Cake Design was so incredible!”, says Lisa. “I could not tell if the sugar flowers were real or icing. It was all just amazing!”
Lisa and Andres danced to an “At Last” cover by Beyonce. “I love the original by Etta James, but Andres and I have always loved a bit of Beyonce, so it was a perfect fit! I had always wanted Frank Sinatra, Etta James, Nat King Cole and Dean Martin playing throughout the evening to give that old Hollywood feel, and I remember walking outside in the courtyard and looking into the reception where everyone was sitting at the tables eating, drinking, talking and laughing, and thinking that this is exactly what I had wanted and pictured in my mind’s eye: the room looked and sounded perfect.”
Congratulations Lisa and Andres! Thank you to the couple, and to Alicia from Form Over Function and Clarzzique Photography for sharing this stunning wedding with us!
Thank you so much for sharing all of the love, and the sunshine, and the candlelight and the laughs, and the pretty Polka Dot Bride. Loved working with Lisa and so glad it shows. Incorporating the baptism into the wedding ceremony just took the love and emotion of the day to a whole other level. So much love from us for this little family. Stole a bit of our hearts along the way. x