The day was magical from the moment the sun rose. In the middle of a 40 degree summer, this day boasted perfect weather with a sunny, yet shaded, 27 degree day. The estate smelt of sweet aroma from the beautiful rose garden accompanied by the sound of horses trotting around. The day was beautiful, a true fairytale. And the best of all is ... it was my fairytale, my BIG-DAY!
I am excited to share some of my favourite memories from what was the probably best day of my life. Actually that's a lie ... everyday is the best day of your life if you've found THE ONE, and I'm hoping those of you who are reading this have been lucky enough to find your Prince Charming. And if you haven't, don't worry, life tends to send love at the most unexpected times. And in my case, life decided to send me love on the day of my sister's wedding, exactly one year before my wedding. Long story short, I ended up marrying my brother-in-law's cousin. (No, its not incest ... everyone asks that). And I have never been happier.
Anyways, this blog is the start of many more 'Real Bride' blog posts. Where we will be sharing photos on some of the most special moments of a real bride's big day (it could be you). And let's not forget the team of vendors that made it all possible.
Anyways, back to my wedding.
When I first got engaged I had NO IDEA what kind of wedding I wanted. Not because I never thought about it (because believe me, I did), but because I just LOVED too many things.
If you ask anyone that knows me they will quickly point out the fact that I am the most indecisive person to walk this earth, or at least in Perth. (See what I did there ... maybe I should have become a poet). My point is I thought making choices for my wedding would be impossible, but honestly it was so easy. It was almost unbelievable how easy it was.
Starting with the venue. The first day I went looking for venues in the beautiful Swan Valley, the first place I stumbled across was Brookleigh Estate: an equestrian estate that has it all. I booked Brookleigh as my venue that same day. Crazy I know. But after one look I imagined my fairytale wedding. The estate is a perfect combination of a rustic, yet royal venue with the castle-like chateau boasting beautiful arches and walls covered in foliage. Just a few steps down an old wooden bridge and you're right next to the Lakeside, surrounded by a stable on either side, and newly renovated lakeside gazebo. Choosing the venue was the easiest decision, but actually deciding which location on the estate I wanted to get married at, was the hard part.
After seeing the reflection of the warm oranges as the sun set over the lake, we decided to have our ceremony at the Lakeside Gazebo, with the Chateau in close range as we looked up the hill, past the wooden bridge, to where we held our outdoor, cocktail style reception. 
Enough for now about how the venue, you're probably dying to see how the bridal party (and maybe the bride and groom) looked.
Most brides always start with the dress. They plan their whole 'look' around what they are wearing. But after having worn some of the most beautiful, bedazzled, couture gowns I realised that all I wanted for my day was to look like myself. An enhanced version of myself of course. Who doesn't want a little make-up and bling on their big day.
Ultimately the look I was going for was classic, clean, and natural with a little bit of sparkle.
Speaking of sparkle ...the moment I got engaged I remember contacting Anita saying that I wanted custom-made Kezani jewellery along with make-up and hair that was flawless and done to perfection, and then find a dress.
After trying on the whole store, here at Kezani, I went back to my 'indecisive nature' of not being able to chose between a choker or back jewellery. So being the creative genius that she is, Anita combined the two things I loved into one piece. A simple chain choker with a rose gold flower feature hanging down my back.
The name of this unique creation was definitely fitting to the occasion.The
'Be-Leaf' in me necklace was raved about all throughout the day with all my guest commenting on its unique nature. The rose gold fit perfectly with the rustic surrounds of the Estate. The necklace was accompanied by simple rose gold diamond studs and the
Baby Jessica hair comb, made up of an array of small rose gold painted leaves, pink pearls, and crystals.
Choosing my dress was based around the desire to show off some back jewellery. This wasn't hard to find because I had put down a deposit for my dress after my first visit to Collezione Bridal. Yes ! it was that easy. I walked in, my sister pointed out the dress, I tried it on and fell in love. Who said falling in love isn't easy ?
I'm starting to think that I've found my real career calling ... giving talks about the idea of 'love-at-first-sight'. Meeting my husband was a moment of 'love-at-first-sight' and so was picking my wedding dress. Okey, you're right. Maybe two instances doesn't make me an expert but I've heard stories of brides trying on every dress in every store in town... so in my case, I consider myself lucky.
Taking a moment to reflect back on 'being lucky' and the realisation that my wedding was more than just an event I had to plan. It was a commitment I made to love someone forever, a commitment I made in front of family and friends (and did I mention a 12-man bridal party).
This brings me to my beautiful bridesmaids. I was very lucky to have such an amazing bride tribe (literally a tribe), filled with some of my closest friends and family members. They had spoiled me so much over the 6-month period I spent planning that I wanted to get them something special to remind them of this journey together. After hours on end consulting with my advisor (Google) I felt helpless. It was only weeks before the big-day when I went to do a jewellery fitting at Kezani and Anita asked "So what jewellery will the bridesmaids be wearing ?". Which I totally forgot about ... to be completely honest. But all is well when you're in a store filled with pretty things almost all girls would love.
Anita designed the most beautiful 'dual-purpose' earrings that could be worn three-ways and tied in perfectly with my wedding jewellery.
Moving on to the rest of the #dreamteam, I was lucky enough to have the best-in-the-bizz when it comes to Perth hair and makeup artists.
Although I kept saying I cared most about my hair and makeup, I actually had NO IDEA of what I wanted my makeup to look like for the big day. After having my makeup done several times by the lovely Cat, from
Cat Elizabeth Artistry, as well as having a bridal trial, my phone was filled with so many photos of her flawless creations that I just couldn't settle on 'the look' I wanted. On the day of my wedding, Cat and I agreed to go for a 'less is more' look and I let her take the reigns with everything else. Yes this can be risky ... and I am not saying all brides should just let their makeup artist do whatever they want, but if you ever did, Cat should be your go-to 'Makeup Magician'... seriously ! She not only delivered, but went above and beyond.
Leading up to the wedding all the stress and sleepless nights started showing on my skin... and let's be real, the last thing any bride wants is to break out leading up to her special day. Cat went over and above to prep my skin with more masks, moisturisers, and primers than you can count on one hand. And boy it made a difference ! I felt like myself ... I wasn't hiding behind a mask of makeup. It was very important to me that my husband Dylan see's me as I am when saying his vows. Choosing to take the 'real' me ... only a slightly enhanced (with better looking skin and longer lashes) than me.
For my hair I chose to go for a classic soft curl which the girls from
The Pretty Parlour executed beautifully.
So here's a confession... Although I claim to love all things bridal, my one philosophy for my own wedding was 'A non-weddingy-wedding'. Yes that makes no sense, and yes 'weddingy' isn't really a word but it is now for the purpose of this explanation. After we got engaged, my husband and I decided that we would have a small wedding with a maximum of 50 people. The reason for this was we wanted to get married in a small intimate setting with family only. And that way we could save up a bit more money to have a good start in life together. Now, with almost all 50 guests being family, we somehow ended up with a 12 man (and woman) bridal party... which I have never regretted a day in my life.
But imagine 12 out of 50 people dressing the same. It would look like we were some sort of clan, or gang, and I didn't want that. I just imagined the stress of having to pick hairstyles that suited short, long, or curly hair. My solution to this was having my bridesmaids all pick their own hair and makeup, and it looked fantastic.
The reason I am mentioning this is because I know how much a bride can stress about the right, dress, colours, hairstyles and makeup. But ultimately, if you have a great team of creatives looking after you and your #bridetribe then you know everyone will look flawless. And so, they all got to be spoilt for a day choosing whatever their heart desired, and I got to have a bridal party that was unique, different and 'non-weddingy' as I would say.
Continuing to rant on about my love of organised disorganisation, brings me to the beautiful blooms by
Rose and Bud. Each bouquets was unique, with a combination of burgundy, deep pink, and cream florals. Rose and Bud had outdone themselves with the bridal flowers living up to high standards, especially being surrounded by the rose garden from the beautiful venue.
The bridal bouquet and groomsmen's buttonholes.
And here it is, the end of what was a short summary of my wedding day. I know it hardly seems short at all, but when you're writing about your own wedding, somehow hours fly by trying to choose the right photo only to find yourself looking through memories of your day and shedding a little tear in realisation that it is a now over. But it is the actual day that is over, not the experience. With marriage comes a whole new beginning. The next chapter in life of love, adventures, and many laughs together.
I hope you enjoyed getting an insight into my day and all the hard-working, insanely creative, people that made it possible. A truly romantic dream wedding, MY DREAM WEDDING.
It is genuinely true when people say a 'photo says a thousand words'. In writing this blog I got to re-live many of they beautiful, emotional, moments that I cherish so dearly.
And on a closing note I would like to mention the very talented photographer,
Bronnie Joel, who I had mentioned early on but would like to add to. I have worked with many photographer's in my time as a bridal model, but I have to say that Bronnie has a special ability to capture the rare, 'in-the-moment' experiences of the day that most tend to miss.
Here are a few more photo's as a showcase.
Mr and Mrs Bindczus
Walking into the sunset
Close-up of bridal details
A cheeky husband
True bliss
#bridetribe
The boys
Photobomb
I am looking forward to bringing YOUR day alive in our 'Real Bride's Blog' someday soon.
Until then, ciao for now
Venine xx
The name of this unique creation was definitely fitting to the occasion.The 'Be-Leaf' in me necklace was raved about all throughout the day with all my guest commenting on its unique nature. The rose gold fit perfectly with the rustic surrounds of the Estate. The necklace was accompanied by simple rose gold diamond studs and the Baby Jessica hair comb, made up of an array of small rose gold painted leaves, pink pearls, and crystals.
Choosing my dress was based around the desire to show off some back jewellery. This wasn't hard to find because I had put down a deposit for my dress after my first visit to Collezione Bridal. Yes ! it was that easy. I walked in, my sister pointed out the dress, I tried it on and fell in love. Who said falling in love isn't easy ?
