Emma & Patrick

On the biggest day of romance around the globe, we couldn’t help but find a wedding that was filled with not just the most appropriate colours (hello The Colour Issue) blush, magenta, cherry reds. But also a day of utter romance. A beautifully classic church ceremony, floral details that are wild and romantic, a gown made by the bride’s aunt, a dessert table full of decadence, the list goes on. It’s all captured magically by the talent of James Simmons and just as the bride and groom and dreamt, was a day “Romantic and luxe with hints of tradition”.

It seems these two had their fate written in the stars well before they had met, the pair unknowingly living close to each other for almost twenty years. Their meeting finally coming at a mutual friend’s birthday 21st birthday party, where they caught each other’s eye and their future was set.

It was in stunning Kings Park that Patrick dropped to one knee, in Emma’s words “One Saturday morning Patrick suggested going for a walk at Kings Park. As we were walking through the gardens and with the city in the background, Patrick dropped to a knee and asked me to marry him. After saying yes he suggested going to a pub in South Perth to have a celebratory glass of champagne. When we arrived there, I was shocked and ecstatic to find he had organised a large group of my closest family and friends to be there to celebrate with us. The next day we put an offer on a house that would be our “forever home” and it was accepted later that evening. It was a very eventful weekend, to say the least.”

That beautiful lace wedding gown? The bride lucky enough to have worked on it with a very special aunt, sharing “My dress was made by my aunt Anna who is a dressmaker. She also made my mum and sister’s wedding dresses so I was very keen to carry on the tradition and asked her to make my dress very soon after we got engaged.”

Emma and Patrick chose a classic church ceremony at the grand St Patricks Basilica.

The bride walked down the aisle on the arm of her father to Pachelbel’s Canon in D.

Beautiful floral arrangements of pinks and reds contrasted stunningly with the green bridesmaid gowns, the details styled by Signature Floral Design.  Emma sharing “Annaliese, my florist from Signature Floral Design, did an absolutely amazing job of our flowers. I asked her to play with different hues of pink and red to go with our “romantic” theme but to keep it fairly summery as our wedding was in the middle of January. She did the most epic floral installation over the bridal table. Instead of doing favours for our guests, we asked everyone to take flowers home at the end of the night and our guests were literally standing on the tables pulling down this installation to take home! Everyone had gorgeous arrangements in their kitchens the following day!”

Emma and Patrick had fallen in love with the work of their chosen photographer long before the big day “I was a bridesmaid for my best friend Vanessa’s wedding and she had James Simmons as her photographer. As soon as he started taking photos on her wedding day, I knew I wanted him for my wedding. He made us feel so relaxed in front of the camera and his photos are out of this world! He was the first vendor I made sure I locked in”.

The industrial-style building of Pakenham St Art Space set the scene for a stunning reception, tells Emma. “For the reception, we decided on PS Art Space as it was walking distance for our guests from the Basilica with plenty of great spots between for a drink after the ceremony. PS Art Space was a blank canvas allowing us to create exactly what we wanted.”

“My favourite details of the day were the beautiful floral installation and the delicious spread of sweet treats and cake on the dessert table,” tells Emma of the table of sweet treats created by Sukar.

 

The groom lent his own skills for a stunning piece of wedding decor – the wishing well! Emma explains “My husband Patrick is a carpenter and he created a beautiful wooden and glass wishing well for our wedding. We have since lent his DIY creation to two other friends who have got married.”

Guests enjoyed a delicious sit down feast catered by Heyder and Shears. “The food at our wedding was absolutely delicious,” remarks Emma.

As the sunset, the newlyweds took one of their very favourite wedding photos. “Patrick and I snuck back out of our reception around 6:30 pm as the sun was setting and we got the most amazing photo of us dancing in the middle of the street in Fremantle. The light is gorgeous and the wedding dress looked amazing!”

The newlyweds chose the romantic tune of “Say You Won’t let Go” by James Arthur for their first dance, the bride remembering “Patrick and I are both terrible dancers so we had a couple of lessons before the wedding with a professional who helped us learn some moves to the song.”

The couple chose The Wedding Video Masters to make a film of their day. The end result, not just a memory captured of their own day, but of another very special moment in time. “My mum and dad had a video done for their wedding 35 years ago and I used to love watching it when I was growing up. When we decided to have a video done for our wedding I asked the videographer to include some snippets from my parent’s wedding. They did a wonderful job and I cry every time I watch it!”

A big congratulations to you both Emma & Patrick! What a joy it was to be able to share your day. Thank you also to James Simmons for today’s stunning images.