Amanda & Douglas

Amanda and Douglas’s bright and fun Point Piper wedding beautifully incorporated old and new traditions. With bright yellow orchids, an energetic Horah and a stunning Sydney location, we adore every second! Florent Vidal Photography captured the day.

Having been convinced to attend a party, the bride did a little Facebook research beforehand. She tells, ”I saw Doug and he looked pretty cute. So I thought I might as well go and maybe I could meet him. Low and behold he was the first person I happened to see at the party. We had a good night chatting away, going on a McDonalds run and a date a couple of days later.” Of the proposal, Amanda shares, ”We had been dating for over five years, we were in bed, and just looked at each other and said we should get married. So we asked each other. We had discussed it many times, and it felt like we could organise it easily now. Then a couple of months later Doug took me to the Harbour Bridge and ‘officially’ proposed.”

Proving love at first sight exists in the realm of dresses, the bride tells of discovering her dream grown, saying, ”I didn’t know anything about bridal dresses. I had a conversation with Doug’s sister who was also engaged, and she explained that you needed to buy them about six months in advance to get them made. With six months to go, I knew I needed to get started. The dress I chose was actually the first one I tried on. I loved it, proceeded to try on many different styles, but kept coming back to this one. It was great, comfortable and a good price. I wanted Doug to wear navy, and it was also the first suit I saw that I really liked. He bought it from Calibre; it fit amazingly well.”

Choosing to incorporate both families into the ceremony was done with beautiful detail. The groom shares, ”We wanted the ceremony and everything that followed to feel very personal, revolving around both our families and what we mean to each other. We had previously met with the celebrant and she opened the service beautifully. The ceremony was performed under the chuppah, a traditional Jewish canopy held up by four posts, with the roof covered by a tablecloth that had been in my family for over five generations. We had each prepared personalised vows, and family were involved in the later stages, with Amanda’s brother David bringing the rings, and my brother Hugh brought out the glass to be stomped on, which ended the ceremony.” The bride was walked down the aisle by both of her parents.

Making the day their own was important to the bride and groom, especially in bringing the fun! Amanda tells, ”The wedding was very fun. We wanted it to be a more casual style of event, and we really wanted people to have a good time and party. I think we succeeded in our vision. The ceremony was just what we wanted. We are from different backgrounds (I’m Jewish and Doug isn’t) and we wanted to bring the families together. Then the party began literally straight after. We rushed out for some photos but were back an hour later and were literally straight on the dance floor to do the Jewish Horah. It brought amazing energy and fun into the room. The night flew by, and everyone was smiling from what I could see.”

Choosing to forego a bridal party, the bride says, ”This was a relatively easy decision for me. I have seen many friends get married and there was always drama associated with the bridesmaids! None of my friends have ever enjoyed being bridesmaids and it didn’t seem like it would add any value to me. For Doug, he had way too many friends and also two brothers. We didn’t really want to have a really large wedding party either.”

With stunningly simple table decorations from Hilla Florist, Zest at the Royal Motor Yacht Club looked beautiful! Amanda shares, ”I am a fan of simple flower decorations. I don’t like over the top. I had seen some flower designs that Hilla had done and one really appealed to me and Doug. And these were the dancing orchids that we chose on the day. I love orchids, they are one of my favourite flowers. I like bouquets to have only one kind of flower, and for all the flower to be the same colour. This is another reason why the dancing orchids worked so well. All the same, on every table!” In choosing a favourite photograph from the day, the bride and groom chose one with some extra company. They tell, ”There’s a photograph of the two of us in front of a mural at Redleaf beach with an old couple on a bench nearby. I think it paints a beautiful picture of how love can stand the test of time.”

Finding a photographer who had the same style as the bride and groom to capture the day was easy in Florent Vidal Photography. Amanda shares, ”We had spent some time looking through portfolios of multiple photographers and Florent’s style had stood out as exactly what we wanted from our photos; that is an informal, in-the-moment style. We didn’t want our photos to look too posed and after talking to Florent, found out he had the same approach in mind, so he was really the perfect choice. He was a real professional to work with, handling the family photos well as we moved through Blackburn Gardens, and finding heaps of great candid photo moments over the night as he moved through the crowd. We really couldn’t be happier with the result!”

Zest, Royal Motor Yacht Club, as a venue, held sentimental value for the couple. Amanda tells, ”We chose it for a few reasons. Firstly, we have breakfast there fairly often with the family. We went for lunch there the first time our parents met each other. Finally, we’ve always wanted to have a venue that was on the water. There are so many venues in Sydney that are on the water, but none of them represent a view of Sydney which is what I know to be Sydney. Growing up in the Eastern suburbs, I wanted a view that felt like home. Also, the food is like nothing else. There isn’t another venue in Sydney that I could find with food as spectacular.” The reception featured a dessert table from Celcius Dessert Bar.

Amanda and Douglas set out to provide a fun day for their guests and most definitely succeeded! Telling of her own favourite moment of the day, the bride says, ”Though the food, the people and all the stages of the night stood out, my favourite part was when the guests joined us in the Horah; a Jewish circle dance that’s traditionally performed at weddings to start off the night with a good energy. It gets progressively faster and more energetic, and it got everyone into a happy buzz that lasted the rest of the night.”

The couple had their first dance to ‘Dance Wiv Me’ by DIzzee Rascal. Amanda tells, ”We picked it while we started dance lessons. Originally we started dance lessons with the intention of learning to dance, not with the intention of doing a first dance. The school gave us a cha-cha with that song and we loved it. Then we moved to wanting to do a dance and wanted it to be different and fun, and that’s why we chose the song. We also had our parents join in on this dance, doing a basic cha-cha in the background which was really cool!”

Thank you to our gorgeous bride and groom for sharing your wedding day and congratulations! Thank you also to Florent Vidal Photography for sharing your photographs.