Olivia & Hayden

We’ve got an utter delight for you today and it’s all the way from sunny and beautiful Perth.

Olivia and Hayden chose a summer’s day for their nuptials – January 10th rolling around for a dream day that was “classic, elegant and chill”. Captured by the talented Amy Skinner Photography, the pair made the most of the summer weather, choosing an outdoor garden ceremony, before they dined and danced the night away with their guests under festoon lights by the water. Pretty magical don’t you agree?

It had been such a long time in the making for Olivia and Hayden’s love story – the pair met when Olivia was just 12!! Olivia explaining “We met through Hayden’s step sister when I was 12 years old and Hayden was 14, so we have been in each other’s lives for a long time. Hayden moved to NSW for a few years and when we were older (age 15 and 17) he came back to Perth and we started officially dating.”

The proposal was over a romantic picnic – even though Olivia was tipped off accidentally a little earlier! She tells the tale. “I had finished a uni placement and he had booked a dinner at 8 to celebrate, I thought it was a really late time to book dinner but didn’t cotton on until I overheard my mum say to my dad on the phone “I think tonight might be the night”. I knew straight away that he was going to propose! As soon as he walked into the house I said: “You are going to propose to me tonight aren’t you?”.

He took me to our favourite spot at Mullaloo beach. He had wine, cheese and snacks ready to go but was so nervous forgot to get it out of his car so we ended up with two cans of coke.

As the sun was setting on one of the windiest nights ever he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. After calling all our family and friends we cancelled the reservation and everyone came over to celebrate (we finally got to eat the cheese and wine), it was so amazing that everyone was free and was the perfect end to a night full of love.”

Olivia and Hayden chose The University of Western Australia for their wedding ceremony, telling “After driving around all of Nedlands trying to find the perfect ceremony spot I finally gave in to my mum and had a look at UWA. I originally thought it was cliche and was against having the ceremony there. As soon as I walked on the grounds I was blown away by the beauty and surroundings and caved! It was an absolutely amazing place to get married and the sunken gardens felt magical. The shade that is provided is also great, so nobody felt too hot.

We had our wedding on uni holidays so there was no one around as well which made it feel even more special and private. The only downfall was because our wedding was on Friday all our guests had to pay for parking (even though it was uni holidays) so that was a bit of an inconvenience.”

Olivia walked down the aisle with her dad to Rachel Platten’s “Better Place”.

Hayden’s favourite memory of the day? It happened right at this moment. “My favourite memory of the day was when I finally saw Olivia walking down the aisle towards me. The lead up to the wedding felt like so long and all I wanted was to be married to her.

When I saw her walking down the aisle I just took a deep breath and realised everything we worked for and looked forward to, was finally here. I am a person of not many emotions but the second I saw her I couldn’t keep it together – the love I had for her was bursting out of me and I couldn’t contain it I just started tearing up, but once my wife-to-be arrived I was just in awe of her. It felt like it was just Olivia and myself standing together with no one else, it was just me and her in that moment. It is a moment that I will never forget and cherish forever.”

“We wanted our ceremony to have a relaxed happy vibe” Tells Olivia. The couple choosing Tanya Whitehurst to officiate their day. She adds “The song I chose to walk down the aisle to was quite upbeat and I really liked that, because we were so happy to be getting married to each other. We wanted to have a short and sweet ceremony that was very personalised and opted to have no readings. Our personal vows were so lovely and even when things went wrong like Hayden said “yes” instead of “I do” I quickly corrected him and everyone laughed, afterwards so many people came up to us and said they felt the ceremony was so personal and “chill”!!”

Guests celebrated with tasty gelato from That Little Gelato Cart.

“Take your time with planning, don’t be afraid to be engaged for a few years to get funds and plan the wedding you want” advises the bride. “Do not cut costs on things you are excited about if you can. I think spending money on the photographer and beauty (hair and makeup) are the most important things. Make sure you book things in early, so many good vendors book out soooo fast in advance. Also, make sure you meet up with the important vendors to ensure your personalities mix as you don’t want them to have a negative impact on your day!”

 

“Our photographer was so amazing” raves Olivia of photographer Amy Skinner. “From the first meeting we knew she was the person for us. We loved her style of photos because they weren’t too dark and moody but still looked modern and professional. She was absolutely lovely in the lead-up and took time to meet us at the location to discuss where to take photos.

On the day Amy and her assistant made us feel so comfortable, they had our best interests at heart and felt like we had known them forever. She was super supportive and made us feel so beautiful with her encouragement.

The night of our wedding Amy sent through a few images as I wanted to upload a professional one to Facebook, I was honestly so blown away. She had captured our wedding beautifully and all our hard work had paid off! My friends say the photos make it look like a Pinterest wedding and we are pretty proud of that haha!”

Olivia and Hayden worked with The Flower Girl on their floral arrangements, Olivia explaining “We chose our flowers because we wanted a classic white and green mix with some textures. I love Pampas grass and saw the florist I chose had created some amazing arbours and floral pieces with pampas in the past. Our arbour flowers were our favourite part, to us they looked so amazing and set the tone for the ceremony. When I first saw the arbour as I walked down the aisle I was in awe with what she had created for us!”

The groom dressed in a classic black tux from Tony Barlow. He tells ” I knew I wanted a classic black suit and after looking through a few shops it was clear that Tony Barlow’s products were the best quality. I really liked that it was 100% wool so it was a lot less hot to wear than synthetic brands. They also had a great sale on, which made it affordable for myself and the groomsman. I wore a black bow tie and my groomsman wore black ties, I liked this idea because I also got to stand out a little as the groom.”

Olivia’ beautiful gown as designed by Olvi’s and found at Brides Selection. She shares “I didn’t have a set style in mind but knew I wanted to cover the top part of my arms as I don’t love them, it was a bit of a challenge finding a nice dress with short sleeves, not long sleeves! I had a really good experience dress shopping and after going to four shops I couldn’t stop thinking about one of the first ones I tried on, I think I knew that was the one at this point. When I went back and tried it on it was so comfortable, there are no zips so it goes over your head and is super comfortable and fits your body.
I was second-guessing whether the dress was too casual, especially the lack of long train, The helper at Brides Selection offered a solution to have a long veil instead to create some drama. As soon as I tried on the veil I loved it, I am super happy with my dress and haven’t seen anyone else in it so far!”

A waterside reception at Nedlands Yacht Club was held under the open sky. Olivia noting “We fell in love with this venue at one of its open nights, the views and vibe were exactly what we were after and because it is so sheltered the water is almost always calm! The large green area was perfect for the outdoor wedding we had envisioned and after comparing prices with other venues it was quite reasonable. Jacinta is the event coordinator for the yacht club and was the most kind, patient and organised helper. She has so much knowledge and really wants the best for all the couples that choose to get married there.”

Plenty of guests pitched in to help with this reception, even if it was unexpected. Explains Olivia “My brother was in charge of the reception and because it was so windy when he returned after the ceremony all of the flowers had fallen over. He had to enlist all of the guests to grab a vase and fill it with sand so that they wouldn’t fall over. Apparently, there were 40 guests who had arrived early frantically filling vases with sand.”

The bride and her father had one special surprise instore for guests. “My dad and I did a really special choreographed dance together that we had been practising for months and months, everyone was so surprised that he could dance so well!”

For the first dance, Olivia & Hayden chose “At Last” by Etta James, the bride remarking “At Last was the song we chose because we loved the classic vibe it had and reminded us of romance. We practice a simple waltz and had a small lift before our family and friends joined us on the d floor.”

Chris Martin Cinema captured Olivia and Hayden’s wedding on film!

A big congratulations to the newlyweds! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us. Thank you also to the ever lovely Amy Skinner Photography for today’s stunning images!