Casey and Pete's Romantic Abbotsford Convent Wedding

Casey and Pete

Casey and Pete’s Romantic Abbotsford Convent Wedding was the perfect fairytale wedding day. For starters, there’s Casey’s Hayley Paige princess dress and Pete’s sharp Bell and Barnett tux, and their romantic garden and convent ceremony and reception location. But above all of the details and most importantly, Casey and Pete “spent the entire time smiling and giggling at each other. The way he (Pete) looked at me made my heart so happy!” Casey writes openly about her day for us below and the photos were captured by the incredible photographer Jeph Chen and his wife Caroline.

Pete and I went to high school together. We weren’t really friends until we shared a few classes in Year 11. We kept in touch after school finished and we started dating a few years later. It’s kind of nice knowing Pete’s been there for so long, almost like he was right in front of me this whole time.

The style of our wedding was romantic. Everything was quite effortlessly beautiful, soft draping, white and green florals, fairy lights etc.

My dress was one of my favourite things of the entire wedding. I wore a stunning gown by Hayley Paige. It was the first dress I saw, in the first wedding dress shop I went into. The ladies at Eternal Bridal in High St, Armadale were absolutely lovely. My experience was so perfect I didn’t feel the need to look anywhere else. I purchased the dress straight away. My gown was an ivory colour, soft lace bodice with a sweet heart neckline, full tulle skirt with a small train. The lace detail on the skirt was absolutely beautiful and I just felt like the biggest princess all day. I am completely in love with my dress!

Pete chose a classic black tuxedo with shiny lapels. He wore a white shirt with black buttons and a black bow tie from Bell & Barnett. He also wore matching black shoes and belt to the Groomsmen, from Tarocash. He looked so handsome, and he absolutely loved himself in it hahaha. I loved how confident he felt in it, he really felt so special.

We had quite a big bridal party, five bridesmaids and five groomsmen – plus a flower girl!

Pete’s second cousin Ilah was our super sweet flower girl – she was just absolutely beautiful on the day and during the whole lead up.

We had both our ceremony and reception at the Abbotsford Convent. Our ceremony was held outside in the heritage gardens. We were so lucky to have had the most perfect weather. Our reception was held in the Rosina Function space and its courtyard. We absolutely loved how big this space was and how it was almost a blank canvas that we could turn it into anything we wanted it to. We loved the feel of the convent right from the first time we went to visit it.

I walked down the aisle to Ed Sheeran’s song ‘Perfect’. My Mum picked it for us as she is a huge Ed Sheeran fan and heard it on his newly released album. To this day Pete still cries when he hears the song – so sweet!!!

My Dad walked me down the aisle and it was so lovely. This was something I have always dreamt of and I loved having him by my side. I also love how much he respects Pete and I feel so happy that he thinks so highly of my now husband.

We really wanted the ceremony to be relaxed but to be all about us. We each read something to each other that we’d written ourselves and also wrote our vows together. Pete and I just smiled and giggled at each other the entire time, not sure we even realised there were other people around. It was just us.

Our first dance was to ‘Just the Way You Are’ by Bruno Mars. We absolutely love Bruno Mars, we go to all of his concerts together and he released this song around the time we started dating. It always makes us think of each other, so this was a very obvious/easy choice for us. We didn’t take dance lessons or anything, just wanted to be in the moment. I don’t have any idea what it looked like but it felt so right dancing with Pete, we just giggled at each other the entire time. We both felt so happy.

I always imagined that I would ‘DIY’ some of the details but I’m glad that I didn’t. I left everything to the professionals and this made for such a relaxed day and I was really able to enjoy everything.

Besides my dress (haha) my favourite detail of the day was the reception room. It wasn’t just one detail, it was the entire thing. I walked in and just felt like I was in a dream. We had these gorgeous bunches of greenery hanging from the ceiling with fairy lights all intertwined, a soft grey piece of fabric draped along the back wall, the flowers along the tables, as well as the menus and place settings – everything was just perfect! I couldn’t believe it!

The father-daughter dance was very special to me. I’m a dancer and choreographer and my Dad has asked me my entire life ‘when are you going to get a real job?’ So the fact that he agreed to dance with me was pretty special. We danced to Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk (Dad picked the song). I choreographed a fun dance for us and we had lots a private rehearsals, which Dad took very seriously. We kept it secret and almost no one knew we were doing it. I was so impressed with my Dad’s commitment to it and I loved how much fun we had together. Everyone was laughing and cheering so loudly. It was seriously one of the best moments of my life and I know I’m going to remember it forever.

Jeff Chen is a photographic genius. He and his wife Caroline were absolutely beautiful to have around all day. Everyone felt so comfortable and the boys just want to hang with Jeff all the time! They thought he was just the greatest!

Our stylists – The Details Co. were amazing wedding vendors. Our wedding would not have been so perfect if it wasn’t for them. They listened to everything I wanted and then lifted everything to be beyond my dreams. The girls all have impeccable taste and such an eye for beauty. I completely trusted them and had every faith that everything would be stunning – and it definitely was.

5 of our favourite things…

– Getting ready at the hotel with my bridesmaids and parents was one of my favourite things. Everyone was so relaxed and happy.

– Pete completely sobbing as I walked down the aisle. I had a feeling he would cry but didn’t know it would be to that extent. Apparently he was crying before any of the bridesmaids even walked out. He gets teased a lot about it but I think he is such a beautiful soul.

– The reception party! Everyone was up dancing and enjoying themselves. We danced right up until the very end.

– My maid of honours speech was so beautiful and kind – just like she is – made me cry!

– How happy Pete and I both were all day. We spent the entire time smiling and giggling at each other. The way he looked at me made my heart so happy!

Pete’s favourite memory… “Standing in the gardens of the Abbotsford Convent with all our family and friends waiting for Casey, I was so full of emotions and then when the music started and the girls were walking down the aisle I couldn’t contain it, especially when I saw my stunning bride walking towards me.”