A Sydney Harbour wedding with fireworks and an iconic backdrop

A Sydney Harbour wedding with fireworks and an iconic backdrop

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R O S I E + A N T H O N Y

Rosie and Anthony met while working together. After a year of friendship, it became clear that their bond was something much more special. Rosie walked down the aisle to Elvis Presley's lyrics; "take my hand, take my whole life, too, for I can't help falling in love with you." We can't imagine a song more fitting for the couple. We first met...

Anthony and I met when we were working together in a Summer internship program at Ernst & Young in Sydney.

We knew it was love...

After about a year of friendly flirtation, and some careful contemplation, I decided it was time to take our friendship to the next level. I made my move at a mutual friend's birthday party and I knew that night that we were going to be together forever.

The proposal...

After five amazing years together, Anthony decided to pop the question at a beautiful harbour side park near our apartment in Pyrmont. He had planned a small picnic so as not to attract my suspicion, where he popped the question. He then whisked me away to Bells at Killcare for a romantic engagement weekend.

Our wedding photographer...

Our photographer was Dodie from Expert Photography. We chose Dodie because we instantly clicked with him the minute we met him. It was important to us to have someone who was professional and easy to get along with, in addition to having a great body of work. I love how he was able to capture how we felt that day. The love between us and the fun both us and our guests had really shows in his photos.

T H E W E D D I N G

Our dream wedding...

I really wanted a glamorous harbour side wedding with a modern twist. Anthony and I both love the colour lavender and I always planned on pairing that with touches of silver, white and baby pink to round out our colour palette.

Ceremony location...

Our ceremony was held in the Ted Hopkins room at Luna Park. We chose that room because it was large enough to seat all of our guests comfortably, and showed off the beautiful view over the harbour from the large triangle windows.

Pre-wedding celebrations...

Being the first couple out of all our friends to get married, Anthony and I had quite lavish pre-wedding celebrations. Anthony flew to Las Vegas with nine of his closest friends where they enjoyed watching the UFC and attending pool parties and night clubs (amongst other things!). My bridesmaids and I flew to the Gold Coast for an amazing girls weekend the week before the wedding.

The bridal party...

I had four bridesmaids and Anthony had five groomsmen. I went to high school with all of my bridesmaids, two of which now live in America and flew out for the wedding which was so special for me. Anthony's groomsmen are a mix of school friends and work friends. His best man also flew in from overseas for the wedding which meant a lot to Anthony.

The bridesmaids wore...

I wanted my bridesmaids to wear a long lavender/lilac coloured gown, which turns out is actually quite difficult to find! I searched for months until my sister in law sent me a link to a beautiful lace bodice/chiffon Bariano gown on the iconic, which was on sale too!

The groomsmen wore....

The groomsmen wore hired tuxes from Peppers at Cremorne. Their tuxes matched Anthony's for a polished look.

The groom wore....

Anthony wore a custom black tux with silk peak lapel made by P. Johnson Tailors.

The dress...

My wedding gown was a mermaid style gown by Maggie Sottero from Abbey Bridal. I tried on about 20 similar gowns before this one, and this was actually suggested to me by my sales consultant. After initially telling her that I didn't like it, she kept pushing until I tried it on, and she was right! I always wanted a gown that was lacy with subtle hint of bling that showed off my curves, and this one was all of the above.

Wedding flowers...

I wanted my bouquets to be less structured than traditional all rose wedding bouquets. I sent my florist lots of pictures and we worked on a design that had a mix of different flowers that matched our colour palette with a hint of greenery.

Reception venue...

We held our reception in the Palais room at Luna Park. We wanted our quests to have a seamless transition between the ceremony and reception, and Luna Park is the perfect place to have both events in close proximity. The second we walked into the Palais room on our site visit to Luna Park, Anthony and I both knew that this was our reception venue. With its floor to ceiling windows showcasing panoramic views of the Sydney harbour bridge and opera house we were instantly sold.

Reception décor...

We tried to create a classic glamorous style for the reception, so we chose large floral centrepieces in trumpet vases. For a more modern feel we opted for a less structured arrangement with a mixture of different flowers and hanging greenery, which our florist executed perfectly. To make the bridal table stand out we suspended a floral arrangement above it with floating tea light candles for a bit of wow factor. The reception space itself has such an amazing view that it didn't need much work, we added fairy lights on the ceiling and large silver candle lanterns to line the balcony to complement the twinkling lights of the harbour and the park itself. Our table settings had silver charger plates with diamond napkin rings set on a personalised menu and name cards completed by a professional calligrapher.

Our flowers were from Sofia Bridal Flowers and I could not fault her work at all, the highlight being the hanging floral arrangement above the bridal table. Sofia also decorated the cake which was made by That's My Cake. Our event was styled by our wedding planner Stephanie and her team from Pink Caviar Events. She did an amazing job putting everything together and executing my vision on the day.

On the menu...

Anthony and I consider ourselves quite the foodies, and the team at Luna Park deliver such a high quality food selection that we had to go with the full three course sit down meal. During cocktail hour we also had an amazing cheese tower from Ocello for guests to nibble on.

Bombonniere...

We had a large candy bar put together by Anthony's mother and sister for guests to pack their own lolly bags.

Memorable moments...

Our first dance was so much fun, Anthony and I did a fully choreographed number, and we were so proud that we remembered all of our moves! Anthony did manage to rip a bit of lace off my dress during one of the more technical lifts in the dance, but I don't think anyone noticed...

There was also a surprise fireworks display over Lavender Bay towards the end of our reception which we all went out on the balcony to see. It really capped off the night perfectly.

Wedding soundtrack...

I walked down the aisle to Elvis' Can't Help Falling in Love which was played by the Blue Mountains String Quartet. The bridal party entered the reception to Hypnotise by Biggie, and we entered to 99 Problems by Jay-Z. Our first dance was to You by Nathaniel and we exited our reception to Time of My Life by Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes. We also asked our guests to select a song they would like to hear played at the reception on their RSVP, so we had quite an eclectic mix of songs being played throughout the night.

M A R R I E D L I F E

The honeymoon...

We spent 11 nights in Tahiti, staying at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon and Spa. We have always dreamed of staying in an overwater bungalow and we thought our honeymoon was the perfect excuse.

Future plans...

Since the wedding we have moved house and adopted a fur baby, Ollie the Australian Shepherd. We look forward to watching him grow up and maybe having some human babies in the not too distant future.

In 40 years you hope to...

Be still together and in love, happy and healthy and surrounded by family and multiple fur babies.

W E D D I N G W I S D O M

The engagement...

Try not to spend the whole time planning, really take time out to enjoy this moment with your fiancé and your friends.

The planning process...

Be super organised (I had a 20 page powerpoint pack...) but don't expect everything to go perfectly no matter how organised you are. Trust your vendors because they have done this hundreds of times, and print out details like when/where your bridal party and family need to be so you can relax in the lead up.

On the day...

Breathe and enjoy. You only get to do this once and it is supposed to be fun!

Photography & Videography: Expert Photography / Planning and Styling: Pink Caviar Events / Venue: Luna Park Sydney / Flowers: Sofia Bridal flowers / Dress: Maggie Sottero from Abbey Bridal / Cake: That's My Cake / String Quartet: Blue Mountains String Trio/Quartet / Grooms Tux: Custom by P. Johnson Tailors / Grooms Accessories: Hugo Boss / Groomsmen Tuxes: Peppers at Cremorne / Bridesmaids Dresses: Bariano from The Iconic / Hair and Make Up: Absolute Hair and Make Up / Bridal Jewellery: Swarovski / Rings: Custom made by Gabrielle Jewellers / Bridal Headpiece: Abbey Bridal / Tiffany Chairs: Walkers Party Hire / DJ: DJ Direct / Fairy Lights and Rigging: MicroHire / Bridal Shoes: Glamour Puss / Celebrant: Philip Holland / Cheese tower: Occello / First Dance Choreography: Monica from Sydney Swing Katz / Invitations and stationary: Wedding Paper Divas

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