Elegant & Flower Filled Wedding

Nicole really knew exactly what her vision was when it came to her and Michael’s wedding. Of course, COVID put a spanner in the works a couple of times, but they finally managed to celebrate their amazing day and, boy, was it divine! Nicole & Michael’s Elegant & Flower Filled Wedding was captured by Evernew Studio and is absolutely timeless. Nicole remembers their love story & incredible wedding…

Back in early 2016, I was helping my best friend move into a new share house. Michael happened to be one of her handsome new flatmates. After a few too many unsuccessful Tinder dates, I had given up on meeting anyone in person. I didn’t realise it was even a possibility! Every time I would come over to visit my friend, Michael would give off a bit of a ‘Mr. Darcy’ vibe. He was always hard to read and to be honest, I thought he had a strong dislike for me for at least a month! He then completely surprised me by asking me out for dinner. Five months later, we moved in together, and after nine months together, we bought our first home. When you know, you know!

We were in my hometown of Port Macquarie visiting my Mum. It was Christmas Day (my favourite day of the year) in 2018, we had just finished unwrapping our Christmas presents when Michael disappeared. He came back from our room with something behind his back. Being quite the prankster, I assumed he had a gecko and was about to let it loose near me (not a fan!). However, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I think I asked him ‘are you serious?’ about 20 times because it was so unexpected. Many tears were shed, and my beautiful Mum was there to see it all happen, which was extra special for me. Apparently, he purchased the ring months earlier and hid it in a secret storage compartment in the car. I had literally been driving around with it for months and had no idea!

My Grandma passed a week before my original wedding date, so I wrapped her pearls around my bouquet so a part of her was with me. One of the guests mentioned to me afterward that when our celebrant was talking about “loved ones who cannot be here today, however, their presence is felt” a butterfly flew right in front of my face. Apparently passed loved ones can appear as butterflies, so I like to think that was her way of showing us she was there.

Michael chose a timeless black tuxedo from Joe Black. He loved the fit and quality of the material.

A bit of a funny story, and perhaps a lesson for others – I was on the tail end of a chest infection (not covid-19) that I’d acquired 6 weeks earlier after going too hard at my Hen’s party (!). I was so paranoid about coughing through the entire ceremony, that I took way too much prescription cough medicine as I was sitting in the limo, which then somehow made my mouth so dry I felt like I’d been in the desert for a week. I quickly sculled two bottles of water and I barely had any voice to get my vows out, so it was a miracle that happened!

I walked down the aisle to ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’ by Haley Reinhart. We really liked that version. A tip for future brides – secure your veil with additional bobby pins. I had a three-layer chapel-length veil and thought the comb would hold it. It got stuck on some concrete just as I was about to walk down the aisle and it flew out!

Another hilarious moment – the venue told us we could only use confetti at the ceremony if it was eco rice paper. So we purchased six in a bulk deal, thinking we’d only use two. However, all six were somehow placed out for guests to use. It looked incredible when they went off, but the rice paper disintegrated into a million pieces! Tiny, tiny, pieces were stuck all in our hair, all over guests. I think people were trying to get it off their shoes for hours! I recommend using less eco confetti!

We had two amazing photographers. Danny and Corrina from Evernew Studio. They really know how to work with natural light and made us feel comfortable, even though we’re quite awkward in front of the camera!

Side note – if you are booking a limo for your day, and your photo shoot is on a weekday, you need to allow extra time for peak hour traffic. I didn’t think of this, and we got stuck in city traffic and missed out on some shots.

I really struggled to find something simple and elegant that I loved for my wedding dress. Eventually, I went to Angelic Bridal and fell in love with two dresses – each for different reasons. I really adored the off-the-shoulder satin bodice, but the satin skirt just wasn’t working for me. I found another dress with a voluminous tulle skirt, so the designer Giulia Prestia and her team came up with a solution to custom design a dress that incorporated both of my favourite components along with an extended chapel length train. She was absolutely incredible!

I planned the whole wedding myself and had some amazing vendors who helped bring our luxe vision to life. We wanted something timeless and sophisticated. Lots of lush organic greenery, white, and pops of pink and gold.

The reception was probably our favourite setup! I worked with Lillicreek Florals to design a bridal table feature with overflowing greenery, reflexed Quick Sand and Playa Blanca roses, and orchids. Orchids were in high demand, and Mary from Lillicreek was sitting in a live auction the night prior to get the right colours! Amazing! Above and beyond what she needed to do! She also nailed my brief to a tee!

We had a bit of a rough time with venues. We originally chose Moda Events as we loved the waterfront location. Unfortunately, they went into liquidation in December 2019. There were quite a few of us who lost deposits and were madly trying to rearrange our weddings while having a mini-meltdown. Fortunately, Stamford Plaza, our second option, was incredible and absolutely exceeded our expectations. They were so helpful with replanning, so we quickly locked in September 19th, 2020. Only 12 weeks later… Covid-19 hit. So we replanned once again for April 23rd, 2021! We loved the five-star venue and the attention to detail. It just felt relaxing as soon as you walked into the hotel. Nothing was ever too much trouble for any of the staff.

With a bit of event experience, I decided to plan our wedding myself, and can definitely say all of my suppliers were beyond helpful. They dealt with venue changes, date changes, three major styling revisions, and fielded many emails whenever the borders were locked down or new restrictions were put in place. Most of them even bumped in a day earlier so that I could make sure the set up was as per my brief, which minimised a lot of stress in the lead-up and put a perfectionist bride at ease! AVIDEAS, Staging Creations, Lillicreek Florals, Roving Studios, Angelic Bridal – all amazing!

If you are staying at a different hotel the night before, check to see what parking is like for your vendors who will be accompanying you on the day (hair, MUA, photographers, etc). Some hotels don’t have sufficient guest parking.

Our first dance was really special to us but probably looked quite awkward! We realised about 6 weeks out from the wedding that we needed dance lessons, however, we were too busy running around with last-minute things to get much practice in. So we opted to go the less stressful route and not worry about a choreographed dance. Our song was ‘Stay With You’ by John Legend.