Real Wedding – Allira & Andrew, VIC
Private property weddings are not easy, especially when you’re organising it from the other side of the world! Luckily for Allira and Andrew they had Tribe planning stars, Will&Jac by their side to help any wedding planning woes.
What resulted was a wedding day full of bright and bold florals, love and laughter and a sentimental air. Creating a day unique to them and their personalities, Allira and Andrew’s perfect party was beautifully captured by Kim Cartmell.
In Allira’s words…
The meeting.
We have been together for over eight years. We met whilst backpacking Europe in 2008 and haven’t looked back! Even though Andrew believes otherwise, it was not love at first sight. I had a terrible chest infection and because of the severe lack of privacy in any hostel, I kept them up with my coughing all night!
The one.
We kept meeting up in different cities whilst traveling and once we both got back home, it quickly turned to love. We love and laugh together, always.
The proposal.
Knowing me as well as Andrew does, he knew that my ideal proposal would be just the two of us. The night before we were flying over to Europe to meet all of our close family & friends to celebrate our 30th birthdays, he told me I had to be home by 5.30pm to ‘sign some legal documents’. Even though I complained at how annoying this was, I walked in the door to find candles and rose petals lining our hallway. It was completely unexpected, totally romantic and perfectly us. He knelt down on one knee and proposed with our puppy at his feet. It was the perfect way to start our holiday and made it quite the celebration!
Style inspiration.
We always knew we didn’t want to have an overly traditional wedding in terms of colour palette and styling. We loved the idea of bold, bright flowers contrasting against black and white with warm hints of gold. From the beginning, we wanted our family and friends to leave our wedding thinking it was unique yet classic as well as feeling loved and happy.
The dress.
Due to us deciding to move overseas, I wasn’t left with much time to navigate the world of wedding dress shops with only a couple of days to decide on what to do! Ultimately, I chose to get it made with some references to a few dresses I had tried on. I knew I didn’t want a traditional lace, but something a bit different. We found a 3D textured lace with a scalloped edge for the top and two layers of skirt so you could see my silhouette through so as not to have that ‘A-line, princess’ cut. Catherine made two of my friend’s wedding dresses, so I knew I was in safe hands. She is amazingly passionate and could translate my babble into something wonderful.
Favourite moments.
Oh my goodness, choosing only one seems impossible! There were a few. I spent the morning of our wedding with my mum and sister and it was heavenly. We talked, laughed, cried and hugged. My Dad and I are rather the same, and we were both quite nervous about walking down the aisle. Just before we walked out the door, he took this incredibly deep breath in and looked at me and then we started laughing. It was all we could do! Seeing Andrew at the end of the aisle is another favourite. I truly don’t remember hearing the music or seeing anyone’s faces. It was incredibly surreal yet beautiful. Also, dancing under the tree littered with fairy lights; we wanted it feel like you were dancing under the stars and it certainly did.
The meaning of marriage.
Marriage to us means to have a best friend that you can laugh with every day! Hopefully it’s mostly laughing together, but more often than not, it’s one of us laughing at the other. It’s someone that has to deal with the other’s funny quirks, random thoughts and crazy life dreams
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Marry Me by Train
Signing: Wonderful You by Bob Evans and Skinny Love by Bon Iver
Bridal Party Entrance: You Make My Dreams by Hall & Oates
Funny stories/near disasters.
Andrew’s brother’s speech started with a very upset letter from our dog, Harper, about why we left her in London and didn’t invite her to the wedding. It was delivered so genuinely and without hesitation, that the whole room was laughing uncontrollably!
Planning surprises.
We are so happy that we changed things up and took a bit of a risk with the bolder styling. It really made all the difference on the day and had such impact. There isn’t anything we wish we didn’t do, it all came together on the day.
Words of wisdom.
Don’t choose to move overseas whilst planning a wedding in your home country, at your in-laws’ home! Try not to feel bombarded by all of the possibilities and options. It can be incredibly hard, but try to stick with what makes you both happy, not anyone else.
Last words.
Being fortunate enough to have such a beautiful and unique property in the family meant that we didn’t even need to consider anywhere else for our celebrations. It meant so much to us on the day knowing the history surrounding us and that it is such a special place for everyone.
With having planned our life out so well (not!) and choosing to move to the other side of the world yet still keep our wedding at Andrew’s parents property, it led to much stress but ultimately a Block meets Backyard Blitz style finale! The last week was spectacularly mayhem with people appearing from everywhere to help finish the property and the garden. In the moment, it was crazy but looking back on it, we can only laugh as to what was achieved!
Private property weddings don’t get much better than Montana and Mitch’s boho/festival wedding day.
ALLIRA AND ANDREW’S TRIBE
Photographer: Kim Cartmell
Cinematographer: Weekend Films
Event planner / Stylist: Will & Jac
Florist: Botanics of Melbourne
Stationery and Printing (invites, place cards, favour tags etc): Bec Havana of xb.design
Ceremony and Reception venue: Groom’s family property, country Victoria.
Catering: Firecracker
Cake (and what kind): 2-tiered Raspberry & Vanilla, Salted Caramel & Chocolate, made by a family friend, with flowers by Botanics of Melbourne
Ceremony Furniture (benches) hire: Pepper Sprout
Ceremony Arbour frame: Made by the Bride and Groom
Reception Furniture hire: Amica Event Hire
Reception Linen: Linen Hire from Di Simmons
Reception Cutlery: Di Simmons
Reception Tealights: The Hire Co
Marquee : The Marquee People
Lighting : LX Productions
Celebrant: Rebecca Mayo
Ceremony Guitarist : James Leroy
DJ : Make Believe Music, DJ Sammy Sturgess
Cars: Hughes Limousines
Invitation Calligraphy: Zizi Calligraphy
Engagement ring: Custom made by Burlington Antiques
Brides wedding band: Burlington Antiques
Grooms wedding band: Ernest Jones
BRIDES DETAILS
Bridal gown designer: Catherine R Couture
Hair piece: Mimco
Lingerie: Calvin Klein
Shoes: Carvela
Earrings: Carat London
Hair and Makeup: The Makeup Maid
Bridesmaid dresses: Rodeo Show
Bridesmaid shoes: Ted Baker
Bridesmaid gifts: Samantha Wills Earrings
GROOMS DETAILS
Suit, Jacket, Shirt, Pants: MJ Bale
Tie / Bow tie: Mrs Bow Tie
Cufflinks: Montblanc
Shoes: Aquila
Socks: Ted Baker
Watch: Baume & Mercier
Groomsmen suits: MJ Bale