Niamh & Andrew
If there ever was a wedding to delight with modern details, beautiful florals, intimate moments and a love story to warm your heart then Niamh and Andrew’s modern Perth wedding captured by Steven Cheah Photography is one to curl up with.
The proposal happened in the freezing cold of Japan one very special New Years Eve, Niamh reminiscing “Andrew is an apprentice electrician and I am an Administrative Officer. It was NYE 2014 and it was our anniversary of the day we met…. 10 years ago!
We were in Niseko, Japan with some friends on a snowboarding holiday. We had spent all day on the slopes having lessons. I (Niamh) was in the worst mood because everyone seemed to get the hang of how to snowboard apart from me. I spent the whole day either on my butt or screaming down the slopes thinking I was about to break a leg. Bruised and battered, we went out to a small bar that night to ring in the New Year. Andrew got down on one knee in front of our friends and I said yes instantly. The whole bar cheered for us and the champagne flowed all night!”
Niamh chose a gown by Ae’lkemi, remarking “As soon as Andrew and I were engaged, I had a vision of what my dress would look like. I was 100% on the fact that it had to have sleeves. I really struggled to imagine myself in a typical wedding gown and I had come to the conclusion that I would probably have to have the dress made from scratch. A friend of mine pointed me in the direction of Alvin from Ae’lkemi. I picked a dress from Alvin’s range and asked him to customise it for me. Alvin and I designed the gown together and I was so blown away by the end product. It was a dream to wear.”
A stunning addition to Niamh’s wedding day style was a veil created by Denise McConnochie Veils, she tells “I was so undecided as to whether I was going to wear a veil but when she handed me the box with the veil in it, she was truly proud of what she had made, the veil was so delicate and beautiful, I knew there was no question. A veil was the perfect addition to my dress.”
Niamh and Andrew held their ceremony at Sacred Heart Church, Highgate.
“My favourite moment was standing in the church, waiting to walk down the aisle, hearing the song start and my dad looking at me as asking me “are you ready?” I had never felt so sure or excited about anything in my life. Seeing Andrew’s face when I walked out from behind the doors is an image I will never forget.”
Andrew adds “My favourite moment was setting my eyes on Niamh as she walked down the aisle to me. Our good friend Jason sang as she walked down the aisle and the tears were rolling!”
“I walked down the aisle to “Love Me Like You Do” by Ellie Goulding (Boyce Avenue version). We were lucky enough to have Dolce Ensembles perform for our guests at our ceremony. I surprised Andrew with organising a very talented musician and a great friend of ours, to sing with Dolce Ensembles as I walked down the aisle. It was a moment neither of us will ever forget!”
“We didn’t have any particular family traditions, but after I walked down the aisle, my father and I met my mother at the end of the alter. They took my hands and then handed them over to Andrew, kind of like they were giving me away. The priest then asked us to not let go of each other’s hands for the whole ceremony. We loved this. It made the ceremony so intimate and comfortable.”
“Mostly, our day was special to us as we kept the whole day simple, elegant and understated. Neither of us wanted to feel anxious about performing a dance or reciting vows. The day was centred around our love for each other, family, friends and we wanted to share every moment of it with our guests.”
Of their photographer, the newlyweds note “Our photographer exceeded our expectations. We spent months looking for the right photographer that suited our style. Andrew and I are both quite uncomfortable in front of a camera and we wanted someone that captured moments rather than having the majority of our photos posed for. We stumbled across Steve’s website and instantly fell in love with his work. Steve and I chatted for weeks leading up to the day, no request or question was too difficult.
We both felt so comfortable around Steve and his partner Cinnamon. They captured our wedding day in the most beautiful way. Viewing our photos for the first time was the most emotional and joyous occasion. We felt like we relived the day all over again. We were able to witness moments captured that we missed on the day. We truly cannot thank Steve enough.”
Niamh and Andrew held their reception at Quarry Amphitheatre , the bride telling “We were 100% certain that we wanted to get married in the wine region of Margaret River. We both wanted a venue that was different, something with the wow factor and we didn’t quite find what we were looking for in Margaret River. We stumbled across the Quarry Amphitheatre, visited the venue and as we walked out of the venue we said to each other “that is where we are getting married.” It was spectacular!”
Flower Talk styled the floral arrangements for the day including a stunning hanging installation at the reception, Niamh remarks “I met with Jappalin from Flower Talk after seeing some of her work featured on some wedding blogs and was instantly impressed. I met with Jappalin and we hit it off straight away. She made Andrew and I feel confident that she would provide me with exactly what we wanted on the day. Even a change in the colour theme was no trouble for Jappalin.”
The couple worked with wedding planners Lou & May to ensure their dream day went off without a hitch. “Andrew and I designed all of the styling ourselves, with help from Kayla from Lou & May, who made sure everything was in the right spot on the day Andrew made the hanging light feature and hung all of the fairy lights in the marquee on the morning of the wedding.
Kayla went above and beyond when helping to organise our wedding. She was the glue in all of the plans and ideas! All of our vendors were absolutely amazing and gave Andrew and I the most amazing day of our lives!”
Under the clear top marquee, the couple took their first dance, Niamh remembering “Our first dance was to “For Once in My Life” by Frank Sinatra. As a little girl, I always imagined myself dancing to this song at my wedding. Our dance wasn’t rehearsed or choreographed, we just enjoyed each other in the moment before we invited the wedding party and all of the guests to join us.”
A big thank you to Niamh and Andrew for allowing us to share their day! Thank you also to Steven Cheah Photography for sharing the photographs of this beautiful wedding with us.
So much content! Well done