Sara & Nik
Timeless, classic and elegant was the brief for Sara and Nik’s wedding, which was held at the picturesque Stones of the Yarra Valley The couple, who met through friends when they were 16 and 18, planned their day around this theme, but also wanted a wedding filled with love, laughter, memories and fun. They say having every single person in their lives all in the same room at the same time made it extra special. There to capture all the big moments and beautiful details was photographer Kas Richards and cinematographer Wed-deographer. Below, Sara shares her and Nik’s love story and how their dream wedding came together.
My (now) husband and I were together for more than seven years before he asked me to marry him. I was never a girl who dreamed of my wedding day. I never knew what kind of dress I wanted to wear, how I would have my hair or even what type of wedding I wanted to have. I basically started from scratch as soon as I got engaged. And after all of the magazine gazing, Instagram inspo and window shopping, it came to me. I wanted a wedding that was timeless, classic, yet elegant. A day everyone would remember. The weather was on our side. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was hesitant about having a Sunday wedding. We wanted a Saturday night big party wedding. BUT the vibe was PERFECT! We got married at Stones of the Yarra Valley in Coldstream on November 24, 2019.
I wore a Sassi Holford gown. She’s based in London and works with Bluebell Bridal in Melbourne’s CBD. I secretly loved that her name was Sassi. The dress was different to anything I had tried on. It was satin, A-line, borderline princess. It really had the “less is more” type of vibe. Every other dress I tried on felt the same as the next until I tried this one on. I loved the silk line right across my chest. It felt so elegant!
It was a nervous wait, waiting for it to come in from London for about six months. I was so scared to go in and try my dress on for the first time but as soon as I put it on I remember why I chose it in the first place. My close friends and even my husband all said they knew I’d wear something plain yet fierce. Best compliment!
Nik and his groomsmen went for the classic fitted black suit with a white shirt. Nik wore a bow tie and his groomsmen wore ties. When Nik chose his suits I hinted the satin part of the jacket would tie in really well with the theme.
Our ceremony was in the gorgeous chapel at Stones of the Yarra Valley. The chapel is what made me fall in love with our venue. Our reception was in the “barn” next door.
I walked down the aisle to ‘Runaway’ by The Corrs.
Nik and I are both only children, so we had eight of our best friends up there with us. It was impossible for us to choose one best man and one maid of honour, so we had two each. One pair signed the papers. The other sat and stood beside us. They all had a speech!
The bridesmaid dresses were made by Ohlala Dresses but they came out a lilac rather than a grey! So I took a major risk and sent them to Sydney to get dyed and they came back the perfect shade of grey.
Nik and I wrote our own vows and people thought we wrote them together because of how much we rebutted each other. From talking about me being HANGRY, to talking about how I would never watch Star Wars with him (but I hope the “Force is with us” for the rest of our lives). There were a lot of laughs.
My grandma is Catholic so I really wanted her to do a Catholic reading but there wasn’t really anything that suited us. So, we went for the Corinthians. It did sound different with an Italian accent reading it though that’s for sure!
Our wedding photographer was Kas Richards and she is the ultimate photographer! She is calm, cool, and so down to earth! She calmed me down in a couple moments I was getting overwhelmed and managed to capture the day SO well.
Instead of traditional bonbonnieres we made a contribution to the Leukemia Foundation in honour of Nik’s dad who passed away aged 51 from the heartbreaking disease. At one point I looked around and nearly every person in the room was wearing the ribbon. It brought tears to my eyes.
On a less emotional level, we supplied thongs and a sign on the dance floor to make sure people kept partying! “These are your Sole Mates. When your feet get tired and sore, grab a pair and dance some more!”
Another part of a sign I loved read, “This has been 3095 days in the making. Let’s celebrate. Drinks are on them.”
We had a saxophonist follow us in to our reception entrance to ‘This Will Be – An Everlasting Love’.
My grandpa (accompanied by my grandma) sings at every big occasion and especially weddings. I was so scared he wasn’t going to be able to come because of health problems but he made it and absolutely rocked the microphone singing his classic Italian tunes! He was one week shy from his 87th birthday!
Our first dance was the highlight of my entire night. I truly felt in the moment. We had one lesson about a month before the wedding and practised nearly every night until the big day because we had NO idea what we were doing! We danced to Michael Buble ‘Close Your Eyes’. Nik says whenever he listens to it he thinks of me.
Our videographer was Wed-deographer. We swapped videographers a month before our wedding and it was the best decision we ever made. Wed-deographer was so well priced, accommodating, efficient, kind, and even brought an extra videographer on the day! Watching the day back I had NO idea they were even capturing those specific parts of the day. I didn’t notice them at all!
My advice for soon to be marrieds is to appreciate everything that goes to plan, and laugh at everything that doesn’t.
Join the conversation