We cannot get enough of Abigail and Lachlan’s colourful & multicultural wedding celebration, blending Malaysian, Indian, and Australian influences, captured by Stellar Weddings. The ceremony showcased an enchanting ‘The West meets Malaysia’ look with girls dressed in Malaysian batik prints, while the reception embraced a ‘The West meets Bollywood’ vibe with Indian-inspired flair. The magic of cultural fusion and heartfelt moments are what make this wedding feature so stunning. Abigail & Lachlan tell us about how they came to be, and about their wedding…

Abigail was studying to be a teacher at the University of Tasmania and was in Lachlan’s mother’s class. They became good friends, and she would invite Abigail over for dinners. Lachlan at the time was studying in Sydney and came home for a visit and got to meet Abigail. Lachlan spent the summer of 2019 back home in Tasmania and Abigail graduated in December before Christmas. Her parents had come all the way from Malaysia to celebrate and Lachlan’s mother invited them to spend Christmas at their place to experience an Australian Christmas. Over the summer, Abigail and Lachlan became good friends. In January 2020, before Lachlan left to go back to Sydney, they were both invited to one of their Singaporean friend’s farewell parties. At the end of the party, Abigail and Lachlan said their goodbyes and he left the next morning back to the mainland. It was during this time away from each other that they realised there might be something there that was not there before. They continued to communicate with each other until the night he called to share how he felt about her. This was the catalyst for the start of their relationship!

Lachlan proposed to Abigail on the day before her birthday. She had always wanted to go to the beach in Tomahawk and Lachlan told her he had plans to celebrate her birthday – just the two of them before celebrating with family on her actual birthday the next day. On the morning of the proposal day, Lachlan came over and cooked Abby breakfast. They spent the morning together and then, he drove her to a secret location to have a light lunch with the view of the beach. After lunch, Lachlan drove them both to Tomahawk and as the tide lowered, they attempted to walk across to Tomahawk Island but it was unsuccessful as the tide was not as low as they had expected. They came back to the beach where Lachlan had snuck the ring out of his bag and into his pocket. He knew Abigail loved the ocean and anything relating to aquatic animals. In order to get Abigail in the perfect spot (where Lachlan had his friends and brother ready to take photos), he told her that he saw fish in the water nearby. Abigail ran to the spot in excitement to see it, saw no fish, and she turned around and saw Lachlan on one knee. He asked, and she said yes and the rest was history!

Lachlan: I wore a classic black suit with a white dinner shirt, pocket square (made out of the batik skirt material from the bridesmaid’s batik skirts) and a black bow tie with gold embellishment detail. My Groomsmen wore classic black suits, batik square pockets (made from the same cloth as the bridesmaid’s skirt), and black and gold bowties.

The venue we chose was Waterton Hall Wines. It is a stunning and unique historic venue with sweeping views of the majestic Tamar River. On the property, there are vineyards, an 1850s restored stone barn (reception was held here), boatshed by the waters and a breathtaking historic manor house surrounded by beautiful gardens and mature European trees. Our ceremony was held in the garden overlooking the waters. It was a stunning location with amazing staff!

Abigail: For the ceremony, I wore a wedding gown called Marina TC382 by Tania Olsen from Confetti Weddings. It was a high-neck, A-line wedding dress with 3/4 length sleeves and button details on the back. The store where it was bought from called it the Meghan Markle dress but it had the twist of the mid-v back! The gown was chosen because it was modest and elegant yet simple. It was exciting to go dress shopping but I did not enjoy it the first time around. This dress was the third attempt in a different city with very kind and supportive staff who went above and beyond to help. My bridesmaids wore Malaysian batik print skirts to represent my Malaysian culture.

Our faith is important to us. Jesus is a big part of our journey together, so we made sure to include Bible readings and a song for praise and worship. We also had our parents on both sides come up and pray for us before we headed into this new journey of marriage.

Our florist, FloraZara, is a 17-year-old genius! She launched her own floral business at 12 years old and we watched her work. Abigail thought one day she would like to get her to do the flowers at our wedding. A dream come true really! We wanted colours and lots of greenery. The florist brought in lots of lush greenery and Japanese maple leaves which were beautiful! The flowers were just a burst of colours! She definitely nailed the brief!

Abigail: I walked down the aisle to “If All I Had Was Christ” by We The Kingdom. I walked down the aisle with both my parents to honour them both for raising me.

Our ceremony was in the garden overlooking the waters. It was a nice day as it was not too sunny or windy. We wanted it to be a joyful celebration. The readings we had were taken from the book of Colossians 3:12-17 from the Bible which says:

12-14 So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.

15-17 Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way.

Our celebrant was AMAZING. She is our pastor at our church and she shared beautifully which made the ceremony our favourite part of the day!

Abigail has known Shirley from Stellar Weddings since she started university in 2015. They connected over their Malaysian roots! She is a luxury photographer who worked well to help us on the day and even in the lead-up to the wedding. Shirley was so easy to work with and would advise us honestly on our expectations for the wedding day. Her presence just puts you at ease and we did not feel like it was hard work on the day. She worked closely with us and flowed so well, that we forgot we were being photographed at some points. She is professional, genuine, and makes you laugh! She is wonderful and brings forth such beautiful photos!

Abigail: For our reception, I wore a tissue banarasi saree to showcase my Indian heritage. It was a gift from my cousin who was based in Abu Dhabi at the time. It was a wonderful experience as she helped me tie the saree on that night and it was a sweet gift that I will treasure! My bridesmaids wore lehengas of different colours to showcase the Bollywood theme.

Lachlan: For the reception, I wore a gold jippa from Malaysia. It is traditional, easy to wear, and went with our theme for a more Bollywood reception, and the groomsmen wore kurtas of different colours to showcase the Bollywood theme.

We chose not to do a first dance but we did do an entrance dance with our entire wedding party into the reception hall to ‘Jai Ho’ by A.R. Rahman.

Some of the graphic designing was done by Lachlan – our menu, signs, invitations, and program. We set up the decorations in the reception hall using foliage from Lachlan’s parents’ garden (gum leaves, other greenery).

All our vendors were amazing, we cannot praise them enough as they all played a part in our special day.

Abigail: We loved earning about each other during the planning process. I learned how creative Lachlan is! He envisioned a lot of our day and I helped execute details. We played to our strengths. Our favourite part of wedding planning was the end of it (we do not miss it and enjoy attending weddings that we did not have to plan!). On our wedding day, we just chilled out and did not think of any of the planning which was GREAT!

Our advice is to enjoy your day as there is no point fussing over details/plans on the day of. If you relax (like we did), you get to fully be present and experience this special day unfold right in front of you. Oh and take it ALL in – you cannot re-start the day!

Thank you to Abigail & Lachlan for sharing such a fabulous day, and to Stellar Weddings for capturing it so beautifully.