When Lisa and Sherwin’s original wedding date was limited by restrictions, they decided, instead of spending their evening in a dinner party style wedding, to move their date four months. The result was a day that honoured this pair’s dream that their wedding is at its very core, full of joy.  “We really envisioned our day to be FUN!” says Lisa. “We didn’t want formalities, because we’re not formal, we just wanted everyone to enjoy some time together, reconnect, laugh and drink a lot – and boogie – especially after such a rollercoaster 12 months.”

Embracing the incredible garden setting of the Southern Highlands for their big day, and inviting Maple and June along for the ride, their day, which was beautifully romantic, full of heritage (both Scottish and Iranian get a nod!)  was also incredibly personal to both the bride and the groom.

Sherwin budged his way into Lisa’s life, sitting next to her at a uni tutorial. Lisa remembering “It feels like an eternity ago! I (Lisa) was in a uni tutorial and shockingly, my husband-to-be was late (a common thread over the past 10 years). Running in, he plonked himself down at the front of the class strategically next to me, the teacher’s pet who already had two full pages of notes for the final exam. Instead of copying the notes, or staying back after class to catch up with our lecturer, Sherwin took a photo of each page on what would have been a picture quality on a phone that would be unreadable at best, and then ‘slid into my DM’s’ 12 months later (before it was even a thing!) on a relatively new platform called Facebook. We went on our first date in 2010 where we showed up in the same outfit (blue flannos) and to this day it’s still undecided who wore it better!”

And it took a surprise international trip from Sherwin, to really knock Lisa off of her feet.  “For predictable Sherwin to surprise me was going to be a difficult task, but he somehow pulled it off! Whilst I was in San Francisco for work, after a big week, I got back to my hotel and on one knee in the courtyard, there he was. He had apparently picked the ring up late (surprise, surprise), booked the next available flight and had been waiting for me to arrive! I couldn’t believe my eyes, I genuinely had no idea! With a ‘romantic’ “So how ’bout it?” I said yes!”

Sherwin and his groomsmen dressed in pieces from MJ Bale and H&M “If it was up to Sherwin everyone would have been in shorts and a t-shirt, so we compromised… ” laughs Lisa. “The groom and his men wore black chinos from H+M with a plain white button-up shirt, a beautiful pistachio green suit jacket and brown suspenders from MJ Bale!”

Lisa gives a big shout out to makeup artist All Made Up. “I don’t know how many other people could have fit in travel, eight bridesmaids, a bride and a mother of the bride’s hair and makeup.”

Lisa found her off the shoulder gown at Perfect Day Bridal, She tells  “I was lucky enough to take some time off work and spend the gown shopping days with my mum, lots of laughs and tears but we found the perfect one! I always wanted something timeless and simple. Adding the Louis Vuitton shoes and Viktoria Novak headpiece brought the whole look together.”

In a day rich with heritage, Lisa even made note of her own Scottish heritage. “I brought in our Scottish heritage with our family’s kilt which was created as a tie around my bouquet and included in some of my wedding photos, just like my Grandma had it in hers.”

Lisa was lucky enough to be surrounded by her favourite women, her bridesmaids dressed in frocks from Bec and Bridge and Shona Joy. “I’m blessed to be surrounded by some pretty incredible women in my sisters and my girlfriends that I’ve known since I was 11 and whilst many dropped their jaw when I told them I was having eight bridesmaids, I thought I couldn’t be luckier! For our original wedding date, we had eight of the same dress – the Bec + Bridge Carmel top and skirt or dress.

When I saw them all together, whilst the girls are stunning it was just too much of one colour. I spent a day out with my girlfriends bringing together a mix and max vision and it all worked; we welcomed a little bit of Shona Joy and another Bec + Bridge into the group, keeping true to the earthy tones and colours.”

Piccolo and Poppi not only styled the flowers of the day but brought the look to life in every beautiful way. Says Lisa “Flowers were difficult due to the shortages surrounding COVID. We opted for neutral tones with a little dash of copper and dusty pink. We also decided to go with church candles throughout the reception to compliment them.”

The couple met before their ceremony for a first look and photos.

Lisa and Sherwin only have amazing things to say about their choice of photographers. “I have no words. Zoe and her team were incredible. I’ve been a bridesmaid quite a few times and when I joined one of my best friend’s wedding parties and met Zoe, I knew when I got married she HAD to be there. From the moment she called to chat about what we were like, and what we were after, to the date we got our photos and the incredible video we loved her and her team the whole way through! My mum even said, “ I loved Zoe – we should invite her for family dinner”!

“Our wedding party were the gift that kept on giving! We called them our “I Do Crew”! We’ve both got some of the best parents going ’round in Charles and Kathryn (Lisa’s parents) and Homa and Mansour (Sherwin’s parents); they supported us from day dot and we loved spending all the planning in the lead-up and celebrations on the day with them by our sides.”

Sherwin and Lisa made sure to honour the groom’s rich family heritage amongst a modern colour palette of soft, earthy tones tells the bride.  “We wanted to keep it simple and let the incredible Bendooley venue do most of the work! We wanted to keep the tones throughout earthy – lots of greens, dusty pinks and some pops of toffee roses and terracotta colours.

Sherwin’s parents are Iranian so bringing in some of the beautiful cultural elements of a Persian rug and a sofreh table which includes items which represent health, love and good fortune. We had a Persian table which is called a Sofreh Table. Sherwin’s parents are from Iran and this table had items that in the Persian culture mean good luck for the couple, it was beautiful and formed the space where we signed our wedding certificate!”

For her walk down the aisle, Lisa remembers “I walked down the aisle with my hero, my dad. We walked down to the ‘Can’t help falling in love’ version by Hayley Reinhart – originally by Elvis.”

Lisa and Sherwin married in the garden, in a ceremony officiated by Father Martinho. Lisa tells “We were very keen on having a garden ceremony where we are at one with nature and the elements. My mum played a crucial role in planning out the ceremony with us and we were blessed to have Father Martinho join us. Among prayers of the faithful and a gospel reading, my oldest friend opened the ceremony with the marital bliss reading which now hangs in the entry of our house:
“ It’s second chances
Spontaneous living room dances
Doing nothing side by side
Teary eyes full of price
Mundanity and chaos all rolled into one
It’s hard work and a whole lot of fun
Growing together as the days blend into seasons
Store bought flowers for no particular reason
It’s trust in memories yet to be made
A past too strong to evade
Only getting stronger with time
In love with this love of yours and mine.”

 

Lisa says having a first look before the ceremony was one of her and Sherwin’s favourite ideas. “Doing photos before the ceremony meant we could spend more time with our guests. Straight after the ceremony, we had cocktails and canapés by the lake with live music from The White Tree, we were able to be there and be present the whole time!

Bendooley Estate with its book-filled reception space was chosen by Lisa & Sherwin for their wedding, the couple sharing “Books hold a very close place in both of our hearts. Sherwin’s family owns a book shop and my grandparents who are sadly no longer with us fuelled my love of reading – especially Harry Potter so it was a very fitting venue!”

The couple opted out of any handmade elements of the day, Lisa explaining “One of our non-negotiables for the day were that we didn’t sweat the small stuff and we determined early on that if we diy’d anything, it would take away from what we wanted to experience on the day which was being present with our loved ones and enjoying every moment.

Remember this is your day! It is the only party you’ll have where every single person in the room is there to celebrate you both! Enjoy every moment, don’t sweat the small stuff and be present.”

Lisa and Sherwin embraced the traditions that matter to them and ditched the rest.  “We’re not formal, and we like to have a little bit of fun so the elements we didn’t want, instead of feeling like we HAD to add them in – we didn’t do them! We didn’t cut the cake, we didn’t throw the bouquet, but we DID do the first dance – choreographed, which was really fun.”

For the dancefloor, Lisa slipped into a dress by Dion Lee, with a very special touch. “I wore two dresses, my second dress was a Dion Lee design which we made slight alterations to which included the lace from my mum’s wedding dress, something I’ll cherish forever.”

Remembers the bride “We had two songs for our first dance. The first was an appropriate iteration of “Wherever you will go” by The Calling sung by Charlene Soraia. Halfway through the dance, we had a sudden transition to Natalie Cole’s ‘This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)’ where we had a much more upbeat dance to get the vibe up and thus the DF going. The best part of it was that one was a slow choreographed dance and the other was a fast and fun one – very parent trap!”

And the dancing continued! “We asked each guest to “submit” a song that would guarantee they would hit the dance floor with us and this formed our playlist for the night. A highlight was when the Persian songs came on and everyone formed a big circle to dance and celebrate!”

A big congratulations to you both Lisa and Sherwin! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us. Thank you also to Maple and June for sharing today’s celebration with us (the team also capturing the film above!)!