Rustic & Pretty Sydney Wedding

Lauren and Nicolas invited family from over six countries to their wedding day, so it was always going to be a family-focused wedding. Although the wedding was filled with heartfelt and sentimental details (each beautifully captured forever by Bonny Wythes), there were also plenty of visually stunning elements to appreciate, such as the custom-made floral print lehenga that Lauren wore, paying homage to her Australian, Maltese and Indian heritage; and the result was a rustic and pretty Sydney wedding that showed not just the best of the city, but the best of who these two have grown to be.

It was a Christmas breakfast at Estuary Restaurant, Kangaroo Pt for their Ducati motorcycle club that led Lauren & Nico to meet. Explains Lauren “Nico had an issue with his motorcycle and was unable to come on the ride with the club after breakfast, so I wished him good luck as he patched up his motorcycle to make it home.” The story doesn’t end there because when they realised they were meant to be, it was up to Kangaroo Point again they went, so Nico could pop the question. “Nico lured me up to Kangaroo Pt one morning in June 2020 to take photos of me and my beloved motorcycle (I can never say no to photos of me and my bike!) He set the camera to a timer (or so I thought!) so that he could get a photo with me. Instead, he pulled out a ring. I was so surprised I forgot to say ‘yes’! and kept asking “like… actually?!”. He has never let me live it down. We then headed up to the restaurant for breakfast and champagne!”.

Nico’s beautiful brown suit was a Brent Wilson creation says Lauren. “Nico had a textured wool brown three-piece suit from Brent Wilson. He has always loved brown suits and was excited to have the excuse to get one made. His bow tie was made in the same fabric after much deliberation. We also got him a custom shirt in off-white from Marbo Shirt at the Strand to match the base colour of my dress. The tone of the fabric was selected to complement the core colours of the bride’s outfit.”

The couple decide to spend the night before the wedding together and the decision turned out to be one of Lauren’s favourites. “Nico and I decided not to part ways the night before the wedding. Instead, after dropping all of our things off at the venue the day before the wedding, we went for a couple’s spa session to relax together before our big day. After that, we wandered back to our hotel, had dinner at the hotel restaurant and had an early night. We woke up and had brekky together. I gave Nico a vintage watch as a wedding present and we then separated to get ready.

I cherish the time we spent together as it meant we got to start the day focussing on us rather than everyone else. We had a lot of events in the lead-up due to having so many international relatives here for the wedding, so it was nice to have some ‘us’ time. I 100% recommend having breakfast together on the day. It’s such a lovely way to start the day and gives you the chance to process what is about to happen, together. I think it meant we weren’t as nervous etc.”

Lauren wore a stunning floral print lehenga in honour of her culture, working with By Elora on her custom design. She tells “My wedding dress was an Indian Lehenga. I am Australian-born, half Maltese and half Indian. After attending my cousin’s wedding in Delhi in early 2020, I decided I wanted to wear a lehenga for my wedding. Additionally, my mother passed away in 2018 and was not there to help me plan my wedding. She had designed her western wedding dress when she married my dad. So I decided I wanted a custom lehenga that I had designed with a motif of Australian native flora on white silk to reflect my blended culture.

I was incredibly lucky to stumble onto a boutique in Redfern, By Elora, who made bespoke Indian Bridalwear. I was so excited when they told me at the first meeting that they could make custom embroidery. My lehenga was carefully crafted down to the last detail (colour codes, necklines, embroidery, pattern etc). It was a raw silk lehenga with blueberry ash, kangaroo paw, waratahs and proteas, mixed with eucalyptus leaves. Tone-on-tone sequins and beading added shimmer and depth. My dupatta (veil) featured a mini version of this embroidery as a border with a cutwork edge with beading scattered across. My mum’s name was embroidered on the inside of my blouse across my heart. I felt like the dress was more beautiful than I deserved when trying it on for the final fittings, however, on the day I was so proud to wear it and felt so beautiful in it. I couldn’t imagine wearing anything else. It was also super lovely that Elora came to meet us to see her creation in action. It was really lovely to have her there and experience her joy at what they had crafted and to see me wearing it.

I sourced Indian bridal jewellery in stones that matched the embroidery from my dress from Innaya Heritage Jewellery in the UK. I wore my mother’s wedding ring.”

Lauren dotted special family mementos throughout the day, including the jewels. “Yes, I was wearing my mother’s wedding ring. Nico had his Grandfather’s solid gold pocket watch (he was unable to fly from Chile due to his age and illness). My bridesmaid was wearing some of my mum’s traditional jewellery as well as my mum’s original wedding band.”

Lauren had her bridesmaid also dressed in a custom-made lehenga by By Elora. She tells “The Maid of Honour was my best friend of 11 years, Emily. It was so wonderful to only have one Bridesmaid, as we could choose an outfit that looked best on her. I checked that she was comfortable wearing a lehenga with me (she was!) and had one custom-made. The blouse was raw silk, the skirt was tulle, and the dupatta was printed tulle. The ensemble was dyed in the same green as the darkest green thread in the embroidery on the bridal lehenga. The print on the dupatta was the digital rendering of the embroidery pattern that was on the bridal lehenga. The colour was chosen as it worked best with Emily’s skin tone. The other option would have been a pink that was within the embroidery but this wasn’t in keeping with Emily’s usual style.” Nico’s best friend of 17 years, as the groomsmen wore a Brent Wilson suit.

Lauren and Nico chose Rocky Pt Island, Balmoral for their ceremony. “We chose Rocky Pt Island at Balmoral as Balmoral Beach was my mum’s favourite beach in Sydney. It seemed like the perfect way to include her in our day. Both Nico and I had grown up visiting Balmoral (like most Sydney families!) and was the location of my parents’ first date all those years ago. It also meant that we could arrange for water taxis to pick up our guests from the wharf and ferry them across to our reception venue at the Rocks. Our international guests got a wonderful tour of the gorgeous Sydney Harbour. We had the Captains take extra time on the water so that we could sneak in our wedding photos without holding up the party!”

Lauren walked down the aisle with her dad to John Legend’s “All of Me”.

Says Nico “My favourite moment without a doubt was the moment I saw my soon-to-be wife arriving on the island at Balmoral. This was my first time seeing her in the magnificent dress and she looked spectacular; as you probably saw from the photos I did a terrible job keeping it together!”

The ceremony was officiated by Meggan Brummer. “We wanted our ceremony to be light-hearted and personal” explains Lauren. “It was not a religious ceremony as this is not a big part of our lives. Our celebrant, Meggan Brummer, did a wonderful job telling our love story and ensured our ceremony was sweet, funny and meaningful.”

The beautiful floral arrangements were the work of The Ivy League. Lauren telling “Our florist, Carla of The Ivy League in Naremburn, has been our go-to for four years. I gave her a rough colour palette, photos of the embroidery of my dress and what we wanted in terms of installations and let her create her magic. And boy, did that talented lady DELIVER! She did a gorgeous job of mixing Aussie natives with roses and more traditional flowers and the effect is always incredible. She combined blush, beige and dark red roses, king proteas, kangaroo paw, orchids, gum nuts, wax flowers and more to create the most beautiful arrangements.

We had freestanding installations with height to frame us during the ceremony, with ground installations down the aisle with height. This was transferred to the reception venue after the ceremony, which had installations from the timber beams of the ceiling in the dining room and bud jars along the tables.”

“I think every aspect had some element of stress that balanced out the fun – there was satisfaction in the product, like the invites, dress, candles etc, but there were always challenges along the way. Very glad not to ever do it again and to be free of the mental burden of it all!”

After photos, the newlyweds took a private boat to their reception. “It was just us and the photographer and once again it was nice to have some quiet time as we took a private boat across the harbour as the sun set,” remembers Lauren, Nico adding “It was our first time alone together as newlyweds and a really special opportunity to sit back and soak up what we had just achieved together. I recommend that all newlyweds take some time to themselves on their special day to enjoy each other’s presence!”

Even a little seasickness could not stop Lauren & Nico from giving all the praise to their photographer. “Bonny. Bon Bon. The real MVP. Bon is wonderful. It felt like we had a friend with us the entire day. She’s such a warm, genuine person and it made us feel comfortable. She also took some killer shots, didn’t pressure us and was happy to go with the flow as we didn’t have a firm plan on what we wanted out of our photos. The poor thing also had to cope on the boat and feeling a little seasick (the wind picked up and it got a little choppy!) but she soldiered on and took some cracking shots on the water of us.”

The reception was rustic urban in style – the couple choosing to host their guests at Watersedge at the Campbell’s Stores by The Venues Collection. Says Lauren “It was the top of our shortlist and the first and only venue we visited. Nico wanted something rustic and warehouse-y, and I didn’t have any strong ideas beyond wanting something somewhat unique. The raw stone walls, exposed timber beams, gabled ceiling and timber floors coupled with the gorgeous backdrop of the Opera House was enough to seal the deal for us!”

The couple asked Elements For Hire to bring their vision for the reception to life – so they could relax! Says Lauren “I never actually met Robyn. I contacted her, got a quote, paid the deposit, forgot to pay the balance, and Robyn still showed up, strung the fairy lights gorgeously after deciding the original plan wouldn’t work and packed it all down. She was super lovely following me up on the balance a week later knowing we would have been busy and was super understanding. I can’t believe her care and attention to her work and our day despite never meeting us. Thank you, Robyn!”

Lauren & Nico gifted their guests handmade favours of candles. “We made soy wax candles with timber wicks in amber glass jars with a custom scent. We overshot the quantities and ended up with 160 instead of 100 so we used some of the extras to decorate the tables. It meant that our wedding had a custom scent throughout the night that everyone could then take home with them at the end. Making the candles was a whole family affair and a lot of fun!”

The couple took to the dance floor to the sounds of “Black & Gold” by Sam Sparro. “We had been taking lessons at William Maslin Dance Studios and learned several steps in the East Coast American Swing style and danced freestyle at our wedding ceremony. We wanted to have a unique dance to a unique song that wasn’t too rehearsed. Thanks to our wonderful dance teacher, Stina!”