Real Engagement - Alice & Piers, Geelong VIC

September 3, 2015 In Uncategorized By Natalie Drum

Real Engagement – Alice & Piers, Geelong VIC

Knowing that planning a wedding can take some time, Geelong couple Alice and Piers did not want to miss out on marking their engagement with a celebration that would leave them feeling excited by their impending marriage.

Choosing an inner-city venue with an industrial vibe, they beautifully styled their party with metallic accents, light-up signs, and an incredible statement-making cake – designed and baked by the bride-to-be herself.

With a focus on beautiful food and wonderful company, Alice and Piers invited Hails & Shine to capture the many treasured memories they will hold onto forever.

IN ALICE’S WORDS…

The meeting.

Piers and I met when he came to an event at my work – just so happened that he was really good friends with my best friends brother, who ended up introducing us.

By coincidence, the next night, my best friend and her brother were going out for a few drinks in Geelong and Piers and I went along. After that, the rest is history. We locked lips that night and never looked back.

The proposal.

Piers popped the question in Samoa on our little getaway in May this year. We were staying in a gorgeous bungalow on the beach which overlooked a gazebo on the water. One night after a few fun cocktails at the pool bar we had dinner on the porch of our bungalow. After dinner we took a stroll out to the gazebo, and on a full moon Piers got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I was so shocked and excited that I forgot to say ‘Yes’. Poor Piers had to remind me that I hadn’t answered his question.

Party planning.

As we are not planning on getting married for at least another 12 months, it was very important for us to be able to celebrate our engagement with our family and friends with a party.

It was also really important for us to have a night of celebration in a relaxed setting with less formalities than a wedding day.

We really enjoyed our engagement party and it was so special to have all of our loved ones gathered together to celebrate our engagement.

The details.

The most important thing for Piers and I when choosing a location for our engagement party was atmosphere. Rock O’Cashel was perfect, it’s a charming venue with exposed brick walls, industrial ceilings and hanging pendant lights. The management are also very relaxed which really suited us.

One of the other factors when choosing our venue was the ability for us to use our own caterer. We really wanted to use Steam Packet for the catering as their food is exceptional and they have a real passion for what they do. They served amazing finger food all night, including a substantial meal, in addition to a cheese station. The cheese station looked that good that people thought it was decoration only.

The rest of our amazing team that helped make our night such a success came about via recommendations, in addition to seeing all of their amazing work displayed on the Ivory Tribe Files.

We couldn’t be happier and more grateful with the local talent we used for our night.

Style inspiration.

My styling inspiration was a yardage print that was created for me from Dot Textiles by Krystal Barrett-Jones. It is a beautiful black-based design with a rich floral pattern. I used the print as the background for my engagement party invitation and on one of the tiers of my cake. I was also really lucky to have my floral arrangements prepared by She’s a Wildflower – Alice did such a great job tying the floral design into the flowers she provided for the cake.

In addition to the floral print, gold was the other theme. I love the luxe feel of metallics, so I used incorporated the gold in the cake, sweet treats, and in my dress.

Favourite moments.

My favorite moment was receiving my engagement ring on the day of our party. I had the pleasure of my sister Annie (of Annie Broadway Jewellery Design Studio), make my ring for me. It felt really special designing my rings with my sister and then having her hand-make them all. It was an experience I will treasure forever.

Because I received the rings on the day of our engagement party, it really made me feel as if I was getting engaged all over again – It was so exciting. I loved being able to show my family and friends for the first time and love the way Hails and Shine photography captured the moment when my mum saw the rings for the first time too.