This beautifully themed wedding mixed elements of fantasy, feathers, gaming, cars and some musical brilliance in a day long epic at Lauriston House
THE PROPOSAL: “I took Lily out for a day in Sydney City. We begun at a video game arcade, went to an irish pub for lunch (Lily has irish heritage) went to an art museum and then went to the Royal Botanical Gardens, where I popped the question. I had my brother setup a picnic spot with champagne and wait hidden nearby in the bush with a camera to capture the moment. We wandered around the gardens and took some photographs, before going to the top of Centre Point tower for a romantic dinner as the sunset.”
FUNNY STORIES: “When discussing what kind of music we would like our Live band to play at the reception, our friend the leader told to simply send him a playlist of 10 songs we absolutely did not like, and 10 songs we did. This exercise of sifting though the likes and dislikes of our tastes in music revealed a sense of agreement as we discovered we shared similar thoughts. However, finding the songs we absolutely did not had us howling at the thought of them being in a wedding. We laughed lots and lots and attempted to sway the other when we clashed on some songs. All in all, it was like a fun game which we laugh still today.”
THE INSPIRATION: “Our wedding theme was a pastiche of our favourite things inspired by Lily’s creativity. She put forward three words “Classical. Celtic. Elvish” which described the highly elegant aesthetics of the elvish kingdom from Lord of the Rings (LOTR). We both loved films such as LOTR, and video games such as The Legend of Zelda. These were key themes in our Wedding shown in the music, the dress, and groom attire. However, one thing in particular became an unspoken theme which tied everything so beautifully. That was the theme of birds and feathers. We both love birds and it felt natural to have chosen the design of invites, bouquets, boutonnieres and cake to go with our fantasy inspired wedding themes.”
THE VENUE: “We looked at many venues together, only a few with just one of us while the other was at work. The number of venues we saw were around 6 in person, 4 online. What was important to us was finding a location that suited our vision of aesthetic and number of guests. We both agreed that some venues had nice receptions but not as nice ceremony spots. We were open to hav[ing] two locations that were near each other, and thats how we settled on Barker College Chapel and Lauriston House Function Centre as they exuded the elegance and facilities we were hoping for. Barker College Chapel had special sentiment as Jonathan’s former high-school.”
DIY: “Yes, Jonathan’s car, the black MR2 was completely repainted and refurbished before the wedding. This involved a complete strip back, taking the car back completely, and then about a month of painting the various pieces, repairing rust and fixing various things on the 33 year old car then slowly putting it back together. It was a considerable effort.”
“The designing of the Menus and Ceremony pamphlets were made by Lily herself. Making sure all the details were there in perfect arrangement and decorated with the right image took incredible focus and countless of test prints.”
“Lily’s veil wings were altered by a dear friend and seamstress. She had sewn extra lace from the bridal dress onto the edges of the wings to emphasise a romantic heart-like shape.”
“Lily’s bouquet was originally completely ivory. It was her creativity to carefully add light blue feathers into the bouquet as they are her favourite colour.”
“The cake feather decorations were also make by Lily and her Maid of Honour. Meticulously gluing feathers, jewels, pearls and butterflies made for a beautiful cake decor.”
“Lily also spent three weeks working multiple hours to write a 5 minute composition for the Signing of the Register. She wrote it specifically for each of the live musicians who would be playing for the Processional (Helaine Liew – Piano, Hana Tan – Violin, Francis Yoon – Violoncello, Dr Greg Cunningham – Organ).”
Ceremony: Barker College Chapel
Reception: Lauriston House
Bride Dress: Brides of Beecroft, Kim Alpha Bridal, Elf Paradise
Makeup: MUP City
Hair: Raheleh Haircraft
Groom Attire: Galluzzo Tailors
Ceremony Music: V2R Music
Lauriston House
With its romantic charm, lush gardens, and exceptional service, Lauriston House is the best wedding venue in Sydney.