Monica & Ridwan
There is an elegant sweet charm to Monica and Ridwan’s intimate Summerfields Country house wedding. The couple invited only their closest family and friends to share their day – a day which wove it’s way through a marriage ceremony, a tea ceremony and a decadent long lunch. Monica and Ridwan chose Ali Bailey to capture the moments of their day.
The newlyweds tell the story of how they came to be. “We first met in design college in 2004. We were just friends back then. Our love story began with a long distance relationship after we graduated. Because we come from different backgrounds, it wasn’t an easy journey for us. We’ve been through lots of ups and downs for about 10 years. So when we finally made it to the wedding day, we were over the moon!”
Monica and Ridwan were married at Summerfields Country House . Monica remarking, “We both live overseas and we couldn’t fly to Melbourne before the wedding day for the preparation, so it was a little tricky for us to organize the wedding from Jakarta. We fell in love at first sight with Summerfields. We didn’t need to put much effort to make it beautiful because it already is. We didn’t need to decorate at all – instead just adding a little foliage for our reception decor. All of our guests loved the venue too.”
“It was an intimate wedding with a touch of nature. We invited only our parents, siblings and few close friends with total of 24 guests including us. We weren’t aiming for a grand wedding, but something simple yet meaningful.”
Monica walked down the aisle to “And I Love Her” by Passenger.
Of their photographer, Monica remarks, “Although Ali had never met the groom and had met me only once before the wedding day, it seemed like we’d already know each other for quite sometime. She was easy going and she made us really comfortable in front of the camera. We only needed to be our self and do whatever we wanted to do, and she just happened to capture the best moments of it.”
Mary Mary Studio crafted the floral arrangements for the day, the bride telling, “We really love the flower arrangements by Mary Mary Studio – they created the flower crown, hand bouquet and the buttonhole.”
Monica chose her friend to make her wedding gown, noting, “My gown was custom-made by my designer friend based in Jakarta. I asked for a simple dress that I would still love fifty years from now. For the details, we also embroidered our initials and wedding date on the back of the dress.”
A traditional tea ceremony kicked off the reception festivities.
Guests enjoyed a long lunch in the grand estate, Monica remarking, “In planning for our wedding, we really focused on what was important and forgot about the other things that don’t really matter for us. For example, we didn’t want to hire a wedding stylist and we also didn’t do the engagement photos, but we spent quite some time finding the perfect venue and our wedding photographer. In other words, every detail that we added to our wedding was really special for us.”
Congratulations Monica and Ridwan! Thank you for sharing the stories of your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Ali Bailey for sharing today’s celebration!
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