Nicole & Omaid

We love a bit of black tie at Polka Dot Bride, there is something truly special about doing a beautiful gown, a bow tie and drinking champagne with your favourites. For Nicole and Omaid, the urban setting of Luminare was the most glam of settings for their day. A rooftop ceremony followed by traditional Afghan dancing, a sit-down reception and plenty of celebration as the city lights twinkled in the background. The entire story captured beautifully by Aleksandar Jason Weddings was a culmination of one heck of a journey together, one which began with Tinder!

Omaid popped the question when the pair were holidaying in Sri Lanka. Nicole starts the story for us. “We were holidaying in Sri Lanka and I had no idea that Omaid even had marriage on his radar. We were staying at a gorgeous residence in Kandy. That night Omaid told me he had organised a special table with the perfect view of the river. When we arrived at our table it was lit with candles and there was a bottle of champagne. I still didn’t click! It wasn’t until Omaid got down on one knee and I noticed the waiter was filming the whole thing that I realised he was asking me to marry him. I said yes with tears of joy (and shock) running down my face.”

Nicole worked with Annette Of Melbourne on a stunning lace gown. She tells “I had made appointments with around seven bridal shops to try on dresses and nothing had the wow factor I was looking for. I was starting to give up hope of finding “the perfect dress”. From the moment my mother and I walked into Annette of Melbourne we were blown away by Rose and how she just knew exactly what I wanted. She did not give me a style to try on, instead Rose started sketching a silhouette of the dress and it was spot on! (She didn’t even want to see my inspiration, she just knew exactly what I wanted without having to ask me. The next 9 months was a magical journey. It was so wonderful seeing my dress start out as a piece of material and every few weeks seeing it transform into the perfect Haute Couture gown. The whole process was something so special and it was a great mother-daughter bonding experience. Words cannot explain how happy I was with the end result.”

The morning of the wedding day was one of the bride’s favourite parts of the day. “Omaid got ready with the boys at our house in Flemington” she shares. “The girls and I had hired a gorgeous terrace house around the corner from our venue. We started our morning with an early yoga class, followed by face masks and then by having our makeup and hair done while sipping on champagne. It was such a fun lead up to the big event. We also decided to do a “first look”. Omaid met me an hour before the ceremony so we could get all of the photos out of the way and share a special moment, just us, before the craziness of the wedding.”

“Having three of my best friends as my bridesmaids was one of my favourite parts” tells Nicole. “They kept me so grounded and ensured there were no bridezilla moments.”

Floretta by Grace styled beautiful floral arrangements of raspberry red and pink, a contrast to the stark black and white colours worn by the wedding party. Nicole tells “Floretta’s work was absolutely stunning, still to this day guests are talking about our flowers! The colour palette consisted of reds, burgundy and maroon tones. For each table, I had asymmetric, abundant & dramatic stand arrangements, filled with mixed foliage & flowers. Our ceremony backdrop was filled with giant deep red roses and greenery on gold stands. Our bouquets were layered, organic & abundant unstructured bouquets full of deep reds, with Cluster roses, scabiosa, cymbidium orchids, anthuriums, carnations, dahlias, in green and burgundy.”

Nicola and Omaid chose Luminare for their wedding, holding their ceremony on the venue’s rooftop. Nicole explaining  “The things that were important to us were good food and wine which Luminare delivered on.”

Nicole walked down the aisle with her father to “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green played live by acoustic singer Lydia Rose.

Nicole and Omaid chose Kate Ryan to officiate their ceremony, sharing  “Our ceremony was romantic but fun. Our celebrant, Kate Ryan, was the best celebrant. She was super relaxed and made the ceremony fun. Kate had incorporated our friends into it by sending them secret surveys for them to answer. She encouraged us to write our own vows, which we did. I am so grateful for that advice, as it made our ceremony very intimate and personal, yet still managed to make our guests laugh and cry.”

The bride had one very special surprise for the groom with her vows, she explains “I learnt Farsi (Omaid’s first language) and did part of my vows in it as a surprise to Omaid. To see the look on his face, when I started speaking Farsi, instantly made me feel so happy.”

The tiered wedding cake by Hiccup & Honey Cake Design was the star of the show, remarks the bride.

“Every vendor was amazing, however, a special mention must go to our cake maker, Tia Nguyen from Hiccup & Honey Cake Design. She made our cake, which consisted of two flavours, half white chocolate and half Lindt salted caramel. This was topped with buttercream icing and decorated with real flowers and gold foiling. The cake was delicious and a real show-stopper. We packaged the cake up for our guests and handed it out as party favours for them to take home. We received many compliments after the wedding on how delicious the cake was.”

And what better way to celebrate the newlyweds than with traditional dancing? “We had a Lebanese drum group perform as we first entered the room as husband and wife. It really set the mood for the night. Everybody was up dancing and it really added an extra special element to our wedding. Almost every guest we have caught up with since we married, the first thing they mention to us, is how amazing the drums were at our wedding. Omaid is Afghan, so he incorporated some traditional Afghan music into the celebration and had his whole family get up and perform the “Atan Dance”. It was so nice seeing the Australian guests join in and get amongst the culture.”

Of their photographer, the bride declares “We choose Aleksandar Jason along with his wife. They were fantastic! They made us feel so comfortable and for most of the day, we didn’t realise they were there. They managed to capture our wedding perfectly and never made us pose or do anything we didn’t feel comfortable with. The end results were perfectly candid pictures that captured the mood and feel of our big day. Aleks manages to capture so much detail from the dress to the flowers. I couldn’t be happier with our photos.”

As night fell, guests were seated for dinner and the speeches began. “I loved the speeches! ” remembers Nicole. “Our “Best Man” nailed it and made us laugh until we cried. He had captured the attention of every guest. My mum’s speech also was amazing. There is an amazing feeling, knowing that someone has gone out of their way to write a special piece about your love story! It is something we can now look back on when we watch the video and re-live the day all over again.”

A romantic first dance kicked off a night of revelry. “Our first dance was to Leon Bridges “I’m Coming Home”. We both love Leon’s smooth “Motown” sound and it was the perfect tempo for a first dance and a song that now holds a special place in our hearts.”

And the finishing touch? The happy couple chose Atti & O Weddings to capture a film of their day unfolding.

A big congratulations to you both Nicole & Omaid! Thank you for sharing the stories of your beautiful day with us. A shoutout and thank you also to Aleksandar Jason Weddings for sharing today’s images.