Black tuxedos and beautiful white roses. It was in true classically elegant style, that Monique and James tied the knot. True North Photography capturing a wedding that was all about minimal, beautiful styling with plenty of glittering candles and fairy light to add just a touch of magic.

The pair, who met on Tinder, made their first real-life connection in a bar. “On our first date we went to a bar for some drinks. Unbeknownst to me James’ friends decided it would be a good idea to tag along” remarks Monique. “James didn’t tell his friends which bar he was going to so they searched several places in the city until they found us. They even sat at the next table. Luckily James was able to keep his cool, I had no idea this had happened until a few months later when James revealed the truth.”

James decided to ask Monique to marry him while the pair were skiing in New Zealand’s Queenstown. “We went to NZ for a ski trip, we spent the first day of the holiday exploring Queenstown. In the afternoon we went for a walk along the lake. I was busy taking in the view of the snowy mountains when James suggested that he take a photo of me looking into the mountains. It took some convincing as I’m not the biggest fan of having my picture taken. I was busy taking in the view when James said to turn around, he was on one knee, tears in his eyes, he barely managed to get out “will you marry me?” James confessed later that he had a speech prepared but couldn’t get it out because he was so choked up.”

The groom and groomsmen wore classic black tuxedos from The Cloakroom.  The bride explaining “James choose a classic black tuxedo for him and his groomsmen, as he thought it was a style that never goes out of fashion. The tuxes were made by The Cloakroom, a boutique made to measure a tailor who uses beautiful Japanese fabrics. Everything about the experience with The Cloakroom was perfect; the fit, style and design made an absolute show stopper of a suit.”

Monique found her beautiful Pronovias gown at White Lily Couture. She remembers “I found the process surprisingly very easy. I saw my dress online and instantly knew it was for me. I’m a big fan of a classic timeless style and this dress was exactly what I was looking for. My cousin also had a Pronovias dress and I love the clean, timeless designs the brand does. I loved the simple front, the detail and slight sparkle of the back and how it hugged my figure. It was the first dress I tried on and I was sold straight away.”

The day kicked off with special moments, says Monique. “On my bouquet, I had a photo charm of my nan and aunty who we sadly lost too early. It was a special reminder that they are always with me.”

Monique and James chose mountain winery venue Hampton Estate Wines as their venue. “We stumbled upon Hampton Estate Wines while we were out looking at another venue in Mt Tamborine. We loved that we could hold the entire day at the one venue and that the staff would look after every element. Hampton Estate Wines provides so many options for your day, they have a beautiful lawn and decked area that overlooks the mountains as well as several undercover areas in case it rains. They have their own wine and their food is delicious. Their wedding coordinator made sure everything ran smoothly and was so helpful and obliging to all our requests.”

Monique chose Ed Sheeran’s “Best Part Of Me” for her walk down the aisle. She was accompanied by not one, but two of her favourites. “I walked down the aisle with my mum and my pop” she tells. “My pop is in a wheelchair so we requested that the aisle be slightly wider so that this special moment would be possible.”

And in keeping with their own personal touches of the day, the couple chose not one, but two celebrants. “We wanted our ceremony to be heartfelt, romantic and to tell a story about us as a couple. We had 2 celebrants, one of my oldest friends is training to be a celebrant so we had her run most of the ceremony with the wonderful Vicki stepping in to do the legal bits.”

“For us, it was incredibly special to be able to have all our family and friends in one place. James’ brother Michael and his fiancé Emily came all the way from Spain and were quarantined just to be there. We were also extremely lucky to have our wedding fall in a time where all borders were open so all our interstate family and friends were able to come.”

Monique has this advice for you. “Enjoy the process, at the end of the day it is your wedding and you can do whatever you want. Try not to listen too much to what anyone else thinks you should or should not do on your wedding day.
Take a few moments during the day together to have a deep breath and take it all in as the day absolutely flies by.”

In keeping with that classic, timeless style of the day, the couple chose floral arrangements of classic white roses styled by Emunah Events. Monique explaining  “My nan passed away a few years ago and having her favourite flowers, roses, was my way of having her there on our day.
Our florist Carissa from Emunah Events was nothing but a delight right from the start. Even before I had locked in my booking she went out of her way to contact our venue to enquire about table sizes so that I could get an idea of how many centrepieces we would need.”

Looking for your wedding photographer? Monique and James have all the props to give to theirs! “Colin from True North Photography was amazing, he brought so much energy and passion. He was able to capture our day perfectly, we wanted our photos to tell the story of the day and he was able to do this for us. He listened to all our requests as well as guide us and make us feel really comfortable when having our photos taken.

We love the photos of the sunset from the lookout on Mt Tamborine. We had about 10 minutes to get these photos before the light was gone, our photographer worked his magic and got some really special shots.”

“James is an avid cyclist and he has ridden for many years. He has got me into cycling and early on in our relationship we would stay up late watching the Tour de France. As a subtle nod to this our welcome sign had a little bike on it with the words “This is how we roll” written underneath.”

As night fell, Monique and James’ guests gathered for sit-down dinner lit by candle and fairy light. “Putting together all the style items was fun” shares the bride. “My favourite feature was all the candles on the tables and the fireplace in the reception hall, I spent so much time on Facebook Marketplace hunting down the glass vases, seeing them all lit up was so satisfying as it was exactly as I envisioned.”

Says Monique “All of the design elements of the wedding were done by my sister, Felicia. She is a graphic designer so she did our invites and signage.
I arranged and sourced all of the style items myself. All of the candles were second hand through the Facebook marketplace. Our menus and favours were awesome Etsy finds.”

Want to know more about that beautiful cake? It’s a creation of Milk and Honey Cake Creative says Monique. “Our cake girl Grace from Milk and Honey Cake Creative is a superstar. From just a few emails and random inspiration photos she delivered the cake our dreams; it was perfect and delicious.”

For their dance floor debut, the newlyweds again chose a bit of Ed! “Can you tell we like Ed Sheeran?” laughs Monique. “Our first dance was to “Perfect”, a bit of an obvious choice but I think we knew that this song had to be part of our wedding as soon as we heard it.”

A big congratulations to you both Monique and James! What a beautiful honour it was to share your story today Thank you both and thank you to True North Photography for sharing today’s celebration with us!