Real Wedding – Lydia & Adam, Coburg VIC
Lydia and Adam vowed to make their wedding day something unique. With colour, fun and a colourful and a ‘disco oriental’ theme, it was definitely that!
This celebration is a feast for the senses, from the hand-made origami back-drop, to Lydia’s gorgeous statement outfit, it’s hard to know where to look.
Though it certainly wasn’t just about sassy styling, their day had all the heart you can imagine of two people in love and celebrating with their favourite people.
Behind the lens was Kyra Boyer, and it’s worth taking a sneak peek and getting inspired to play your day, your way.
In Lydia’s words..
The meeting.
We met through mutual friends at a picnic in Edinburgh Gardens four years ago. We were both feeling a bit under the weather from some pretty big nights, but perked up once we started chatting to each other. It still took us a little while to get to a first date, including tickets to see The National and a lot of witty banter by email and text. Eventually I asked him out because I got impatient!
The ‘One’.
Adam says he knew on our first date but it took me a little longer, we’d already moved in together and I realised that I could really see myself spending the rest of my life with him.
The proposal.
It happened at home, Adam orchestrated it so that I would go upstairs to find a beautiful bunch of flowers along with a drawing he’d done. When I returned downstairs he was playing our favourite song and was really emotional, popped a knee and then asked me to marry him. Pretty romantic right? It probably would have been more so if I hadn’t refused to budge from the couch (I’d had a long day!). The proposal that Adam had planned to wrap up in half an hour took nearly two hours, he had to ask his best friend to text me and convince me to go upstairs! Telling this story still horrifies me but Adam think it’s hilarious…
The process.
There was lots of ‘Insta-gramming’ to find different suppliers, it’s such a great way to get a sense of different styles. I’m very organised so there were spreadsheets and we did a budget pretty early on. Nobody ever tells you how all-consuming it can be to plan a wedding!
Style inspiration.
We wanted something unique, colourful and fun: ‘disco oriental’ was definitely that! The disco era is so amazing both visually and musically, and we wanted the dancefloor to be the focus of the reception. The oriental element was also important for us to be able to represent me and my family culture-wise (I’m Chinese-Malaysian) – I had to convince Adam that the lucky cats were going to work though! We decided very early on that we wanted it to feel more like a chilled-out party than a wedding and we were so happy that it turned out exactly like that.
The dress.
A red custom-made silk cami and red and pink silk floor length skirt designed and made by Kara Baker. I tried on a few different dresses but nothing felt quite right and it all seemed too ‘bridal’. After making a lot of Pinterest boards (!) I found an image of a beautiful red and pale pink dress by Reem Acra which acted as a very loose inspiration for my outfit (the original design had full sunray pleating which didn’t suit me at all). Once I met Kara and we talked about what would work, I knew I was in good hands. It was also important for me to be able to wear my outfit again which is why I went for a two-piece outfit.
Favourite moments.
Ohh there were so many, it’s hard to choose. I think it has to be when my friend Liyen was doing a speech and her husband Sam joined her on the ukulele and she sang us a version of Fred Sinatra’s ‘I Could Write a Book’ that she’d changed the words to. I was already getting a bit teary and then a group of my close girlfriends who’d been standing near her stepped forward and started singing along too. At that point I was completely overcome with emotion and we both had a hard time keeping it together.
Meaning of marriage.
We wanted the wedding to be a public expression of our love and commitment for our friends and family. It was also a chance to throw an awesome party!
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle – Funny Little Frog by Belle & Sebastian
Adam’s friends/bandmates played Emmylou by First Aid Kit following our signing and Such Great Heights by The Postal Service for our entry into the reception, it was so special having our friends perform our favourite songs plus it was a nice surprise for each other (Adam knew about Emmylou but not about Such Great Heights and vice versa for me)
Funny stories (or near disasters).
Adam folded most of the paper cranes for our ceremony backdrop (with some help from friends) and when he was putting it all together, he managed to dramatically knock a bowl of curry I was eating all over our couch and living room including quite a few of the cranes! We had to do a big clean up but luckily we salvaged most of the cranes.
Planning surprises.
I’m not sure that we were surprised but more incredibly touched by how much care and effort our friends and family had taken to help pull our day together.
Words of wisdom.
Don’t be afraid to really make it your day and not just what people expect of it. Also try to work with suppliers that you genuinely like: it makes such a difference because you have to put a lot of trust into them and it can be quite stressful in the lead-up. Plus if you get along with them it makes it a whole lot more fun. Lastly, don’t sweat the small stuff, you can’t control everything so just focus on the important things if you can.
Last words.
It was honestly the best day of our lives, full of love and fun.
For another fun-filled affair – here is Anna and Tom’s creative Collingwood wedding.
ADAM & LYDIA’S TRIBE
Ceremony venue / location: The Post Office Hotel in Coburg. This pub is our local and an incredible venue – the most organised, flexible and absolutely lovely events manager Jen and her equally great crew.
Reception venue / location: The Post Office Hotel
Celebrant/Officiant: Wendy Does Weddings our photographer Kyra recommended Wendy and we can understand why, she truly made our day. Wendy totally got our style and is one of the loveliest people we have ever met! She had all our friends and family in laughter and then tears, we still love reading the ceremony she wrote for us.
Photography: Kyra Boyer Photography we still can’t get over how amazing the photos are, Kyra is super chilled and professional, she was so patient with us when we were goofing around and we didn’t feel awkward even though we’re not used to being in front of the camera. So happy that we get to relive our day through Kyra’s beautiful images, they truly captured the many feelings of our day.
Styling: Melt Styling Em is the ultimate girlboss, she has an impeccable sense of taste, is seriously organised, and a genuinely amazing human. Nothing was ever too much for her. We gave her a pretty eclectic brief with a lot of different elements that needed to be pulled together on the day of the wedding and she absolutely nailed it all. She helped make the lead up to the day feel so easy too.
Florist: Pomp & Splendour These ladies are floral superstars. They created the most beautiful dancefloor installation and bar arrangement with the perfect ‘disco oriental’ vibes. Also the bouquet of my dreams!
Hair: Heather Woll Hair & Make Up A total gem of a lady, she did the best hair and make-up I’ve ever had. Heather did a fantastic job on my girlfriends too, we all felt like a million bucks. Would book her again in a heartbeat!
Make Up: Heather Woll Hair & Make Up
The Dress(es): Kara Baker Couture Kara is an absolute master at what she does. Her work is of the highest quality plus she’s one of the most stylish people I’ve ever met.
Shoes: Mimco
Rings: Megan Webb Jeweller A super humble and super talented maker.
Bow ties / ties: ASOS
Catering: The Post Office Hotel Everyone raved about the quality and variety of the food, they even accommodated our requests for a more Asian style menu. We also put on some hot chips towards the end of the night which were a big hit!
Favors: We made donations to the Lung Foundation and The Song Room on behalf of our guests
Cake / Cake topper: Cake by Katie Lou’s Cakes What a talent, I’m confident Kaitlyn will go far with her business.
Cake topper by FromUrsTruly
Stationery / Signage: Our lovely friend Tess created our invites and welcome sign which we printed via Vistaprint
Entertainment: Astound DJs – WattsLove Everybody loved Alex’s music, all of our guests old and young had a great time on the dance floor.
Décor: Where to begin! We sourced a lot of stuff from Ebay, and even got some baskets from a random roadside shop in Bali, we also used some Chinese family heirlooms to add to the cultural element. Our crafty friend Mit made us an EL sign of our names for the dance floor which was such an incredible gift.
Hire: The Small Things Co for candle holders and the bar cart
Honeymoon: We’re going to London and Italy in September, cannot wait!
Other: Photobooth by Heartbreak Hotel SO MUCH FUN! Still laughing at the pics…
