It’s utter black tie beauty as we hit up Darwin today for Dai & Tristan’s classic black tie wedding! The grooms wanted a hit of glamour for their nuptials- but this? This is a wedding they made truly personal. The duo handmaking every detail and making sure every single decision they made, completely honoured their life together.

As you’ll see with every beautiful image captured by Psealms Productions they absolutely nailed a beautiful, personal day with a bucketload of stories!

Speaking of stories? Let’s chat how Dai and Tristan first met and it all unfolded one day at university. The couple (who answered everything together today!) tells the story of how that day unfolded. One random day at Charles Darwin University, Dai was very scattered-brained from pulling an all-nighter the night before. A random classmate asked if he was gay and if he would be interested in meeting a friend of hers. Dai went with the flow and agreed without thinking much of it, not taking it seriously at all. Dai added Tristan on Facebook but we did not start talking to each other until a week later. We hit it off right away as both are art majored. Dai made very very very terrible jokes and even more terrible pick-up line, but it made Tristan smile a lot and we met in real life a week later. The rest became history.”

Dai was the one who popped the question. “Six months after we started dating, we both went to a convention together. Dai had planned to propose to Tristan about a few months before. We shopped for the rings together but Dai tried to hide when and where he would propose. It was unexpected and Tristan burst into tears and Dai was shaking, trying to put a ring on Tristan’s finger after he said yes. All the while convention-goers cheered and filmed the whole process.”

The grooms chose wedding rings from Lisa Eldridge Jewels. They share “We had custom made rings made in Mayfair London. A design made by renowned make-up artist Lisa Eldridge. It was a 4-carat cushion-cut bezel-set white topaz in 14K gold. And what was even more special is that Tristan had organized a wedding gift for Dai (who looks up to Lisa) and got a hand-written postcard from Lisa congratulating us on our union. Our rings were a small but our favourite detail since it was so special to us.”

These two prided themselves on the handmade and DIY touches throughout their day, sharing  “Dai who is also a make-up artist did all the girls make-up and Tristan’s mother as well as ourselves. We also DIY our invitations and save the date, designed by Tristan and handcrafted by Dai’s groomsman Joyce.”

 

Dai and Tristan both wore Asos suits. They tell “Tristan wore a white jacket with a black collar trim, black pants and a bow tie, he wanted to go for a classic and traditional look. Dai was more relaxed with an open, button-downed shirt, but kept it classy with a three-piece suit. Both looks from ASOS.”

Dai and Tristan chose George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, for their wedding ceremony, noting “For the ceremony, we were considering hiring the fountain area near our venue. It had a great tree that we intended to use as the arch by draping fabric upon its branch. However, due to weather concerns, we did not think it would be wise to choose this. By luck, the venue manager informed us that the outdoor amphitheatre behind the venue centre was included with the reception area. We both loved the theatrical stage-like area, we had the guest sit upon the hillside steps and watched us down below, framed by the wood exterior of the venue.”

Dai and Tristan walked down the aisle together, noting “Going non-traditional, we both walked down the aisle together to the theme of “Always Be With You” from Spirited Away, a Studio Ghibli film.”

The grooms chose I Do With Agi to officiate their ceremony, a decision they don’t regret, raving “From the moment we met Agi she was so fun and excited for both of us. The whole process was smooth and on the day she was so eloquent and beautifully made our ceremony a special one, it felt like we had a friend marrying us, and we did walk away with a very good friend indeed.”

The couple made sure to honour guests far away. “Dai’s family was unable to travel for the wedding due to covid lockdown. We set up a live stream for his mother during the ceremony.”

 

“We wanted the ceremony to be cozy, warm and full of love. We did not include any readings, but thanks to our lovely celebrant, we performed a ritual of writing a letter to our future selves to read on our first anniversary or in times of hardship.”

Three pieces of advice from the grooms to you? “It’s important to set and understand the boundaries of each other. Keep in mind your budget but do not stress, there will always be a cheaper option somewhere else. Follow your guts.”

Tristan and Dai were thrilled with their choice of photographer. “Melanie and co. from Psealms were amazing. We cannot thank them enough for the amazing work they did to capture our special day. They went above and beyond taking 2000 photos in which we got over 600 photos back, all of which were beautifully taken and every angle and detail accounted for to capture those candid and special moments.

We knew from the first meeting that Psealms was going to be our photographer and they did not disappoint. We will always praise them and funny enough one of Tristan’s bridesmaids who is getting married next year also chose Psealms as their wedding photographer as well.”

Tristan and Dai styled the flowers themselves. “We chose all white flowers to keep in the classic theme. We actually sourced the flowers from Coles and picked white chrysanthemums, white carnations and babies breath and Tristan and his wedding party went scavenging for wild greenery for the centrepiece and arrangement fillers.”

The grooms paid a lot of of attention to who would stand by their side. “Our closest friends all whom we met at uni. Tristan’s wedding party aka “The Dream Team” a group name made from our long uni days, the girls work custom dresses with oversized puffed sleeves made by Tristan’s Uncle Fely, a special collaboration since Uncle Fely also made his mum’s wedding dress. Tristan wanted high fashion with clean lines and a simple silhouette.

Dai’s wedding party are his best friends that he met at university. He made a lasting impression by spit-laughing mocha on them from a game of Card Against Humanity. We are all weirdos and would not have it any other way. They all wore suits from ASOS, his female “groomsmaids” loved the idea of wearing suits, keeping in the theme of classy and relaxed with the overall look.”

These two have so many favourite stories from their day, but the croquembouche? It was a team effort and the story of how it came to be, remains a favourite. “One story the comes to mind is that Dai and his wedding party all made the wedding croquembouche. They started the day before, then filled and constructed it the morning of. It was very tedious and quite stressful but the hard work was worth it cause it came out beautifully. However, while we were doing our group photos, the guests had witnessed the whole thing collapse; while Dai was a bit upset, we both look back at it as a memory and a fun story to tell. In the end, it still tasted great.”

 

George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens also plays host to a Visitor and Event Centre which turned out to be just what Dai and Tristan wanted for their reception. “After intense venue hunting, we fell in love with a newly developed space at the Gardens for the reception since it was a long venue with high ceilings and we wanted to have two long tables which worked perfectly.”

If there was any doubt this was a truly personal wedding, let it be laid to rest. “With every piece of decor, table settings and invitation, we made wonderful memories. We both wanted to be hands-on and create these stories and memories to talk about. So the whole process of wedding planning was our favourite part of planning. Everything about the wedding was DIY. We only hired tables, chairs and table cloths. All decorations were done by Tristan and his bridesmaids.”

For their first dance, the grooms remember “We chose “Merry Go Round of Life” from Howl’s Moving Castle, another Studio Ghibli film. We improvised a Venetian Waltz for the song. Dai steps on Tristan’s foot three times.”

Guests enjoyed a sit-down feast catered by Karen Sheldon Catering. “Our caterer Karen Sheldon Catering was a standout and after the wedding we had guests come to us praising the food which was great to hear. They were very accommodating and excellent and friendly service throughout the reception.”

The biggest of congratulations to you both Dai and Tristan! What fun it was to be able to share your day, Thank you to you both and thank you to Psealms Productions for sharing today’s beautiful wedding, images and video with us!