Sweet At Home Wedding In Perth

As we dive headfirst into The Home Issue, today, we kick it all off with the sweet, at-home wedding of Stephanie and Daniel. And if it takes a village to raise a family (apt, when you see Stephanie’s gorgeous baby bump!) well it takes a community to host an at-home wedding!

The couple. who met over their love of martial arts at Muay Thai training, had a bit of a chaotic time planning their big day. The couple’s initial plans falling in line with the five-person rule induced thanks to COVID-19. Daniel sharing “Soon after we started planning, you were only allowed five people at your wedding i.e. couple, celebrant and two witnesses. We were actually debating whose parents would attend. Due to these restrictions, we were only looking at something small but nice, at a park or garden.

As the date drew closer the restrictions changed and we were allowed a total of 10 people. Just under two weeks out from the wedding and restrictions changed again to around 30 people. This allowed us to invite some more family to our wedding. We wanted to invite more people and looked for a venue but most places were either still closed or not wanting to host groups.”

And so? An at-home wedding was the only option, and we’d say it was pretty perfect! “We decided to do a simple lawn wedding in the back yard of Stephanie’s parent’s house. It ended up raining that weekend so this was moved to the outdoor entertaining area which came up really well in the photos. We really just wanted to keep things relaxed and intimate and a nice day that people would just enjoy for the occasion that it was. We wanted our families to be there but due to Covid a lot of family living interstate, overseas and even in the restricted areas could not come. My uncle set up a live stream of the entire event. I was shocked to see people still there watching five hours after the ceremony had finished.”

Kenneth Lim was the master behind the camera for this one, capturing every heartfelt moment (right down to the furry four-legged friend, and epic Mauritian feast!).

Stephanie wore a dress from Asos. “With a young one on the way, it was not easy to find a dress. I managed to get something nice that went well with our theme. It was a pretty straight forward procedure but I had to order a back up dress in case there was any issues.”

Stephanie’s parent’s backyard was just the place for this at-home wedding. Stephanie explains “A lot of work was done by my father over the years and the outdoor entertaining area looks great. It showed up really well in the photos and we have actually had a few comments from people that have seen the photos asking where this venue is.”

There was plenty of DIY, but Stephanie and Daniel did enlist a pro, Chandelabra, to style and add flowers to the event. “Kerri from Chandelabra was fantastic, we had no idea for styling and she was able to create a much better vision then we had. Kerri helped us to choose the flowers, to go with the arch and dinner settings. She did a good job and people loved the way the setting looked.”

“It had a great intimate feel,” says Stephanie of the day. “Every one was happy and enjoyed themselves, the effort that family and friends went to in helping out, marrying my best friend and just how smoothly everything went.”

The couple made sure to invest in photography of their day, and it is a decision they did not regret. “We knew the quality of his work well has he photographed both my brother’s engagement and wedding. He did a fantastic job, was extremely professional and friendly. Even though it was such a small wedding he spent a lot of time planning. His demeanour through out actually made us both feel more relaxed and took the nerves out of the day. He also stayed well past the agreed time to make sure he captured everything.”

Stephanie chose Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t tale My Eyes Off Of You” for her walk down the aisle.

Andrew Murfin officiated the ceremony. Stephanie remarking “Andrew Murfin was a fantastic celebrant and we received many comments about how well he conducted the service. He was very engaging and really added to the event.” The couple wanted a relaxed upbeat vibe for their ceremony, adding just one reading “You Share Today the Joy of Deep Commitment.”

Shares Stephanie “Everything was pretty much DIY except for the food, arch and flowers. We really have to give a big thank you to both our families and friends that came together to help put on such a great event.”

Advice from Stephanie if you’re yet to walk down the aisle. “Be creative, plan things well and spend within your budget and you will be able to have a great wedding day that people will remember, without getting into debt.”

The couple opted for a wedding croquembouche from Cupids Delight.

One of Stephanie’s favourite parts of the day? “Mauritian Food and Reggae music. The groom is half Mauritian and really wanted to have Mauritian food. We ended up with a huge buffet of Chicken Byriani, Dholl Purri, Gateaux Piment, Napolitaine, Poudine Mai, Gateaux Coco, Gateaux Patate and a Croquembouche for the wedding cake. The food was a huge hit and we had people queueing up to take home the left overs.”