Surrounded by pristine gardens, magical trees, lavender fields and water features, they designed a gorgeous Al Fresco dining experience under the stars for their guests.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Born and raised in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, John Murray Jnr is the son of champion sailor John Murray Snr and grandson of Australian rally car racing legend and hall of famer “Gelignite Jack” (Jack Murray). John is an ex-rally racer himself, in his tender 20s, having raced his way up the ranks to the Australian Championship and World Rally, earning sponsorships from the likes of Subaru, Michelin and BP. A lover of sports, John was also a junior tennis champion playing for Australia internationally. Born and raised in a lineage of motorsport, John is an avid collector of vintage cars and vespas, featured throughout the wedding. His love of Italy and all things vintage also extends to the world of boats, owning one of the few original and pristine timber Italian Rivas in Australia. No stranger to Sydney harbour and heir to a heritage marine family business, John spent much of his life on the water in a variety of boats over the years, sailing, exploring and, over various years, holding directorship positions on Australia’s most prestigious power boating club, the Royal Motor Yacht Club, Point Piper.
Born in Egypt to an Egyptian father and a New Zealand mother, Danya is a seasoned travel enthusiast, having visited over 60 countries for work and pleasure. Beginning her career internationally, she worked in cities across North America, Europe and the Middle East. She moved to business development for elite real estate and luxury brands, including Tiffany & Co. and Fifth Avenue. Shifting her business development directorship to the rigours of oil and gas media, she began winning awards in legacy markets Qatar and Nigeria. Danya’s flair in fine arts brought her back to the Middle East to steer a luxury Arabian Gulf film boutique to commercial success with her passion for creativity. Continuing her creative flair, she delved into the study of interior design in Australia, which was the beginning of a new journey. With multiple languages and skills under her belt, Danya is not one to shy away from new challenges! Danya and John have settled in their Vaucluse home and look forward to starting a family.
Danya and Jonny’s love story began in 2018 through their shared love for travel and flourished in Italy on the banks of Lake Como, where John proposed a year later. Inspired by the colours and flavours of Italy, they decided to bring Italy to Sydney at one of Australia’s top wedding venues, a pastel, floral Tuscan dream villa nestled in the Hunter Valley. Surrounded by pristine gardens, magical trees, lavender fields and water features, they designed a gorgeous Al Fresco dining experience under the stars for their guests.
Determined to bring her design ideas to life, Danya onboarded stylist Brooke, of Paloma Events, to execute the dream concept. Together they joined forces and no detail went unaddressed.
Keen to fuse her Egyptian heritage into this Italian soirée, Danya reached out to her contacts back home to custom-make feature elements for the day. Danya printed stunning custom watercolour-designed tablecloths adorned with Italian motifs, a checkered trim, and sentimental nods to their coastal holidays. These were layered over oatmeal-coloured linen tablecloths draped to the ground. She had crisp Egyptian linen napkins made with trim in the same pink salmon colour as the villa and even had custom checkered pottery napkin rings hand painted in a desert oasis outside of Cairo by the potters there. Furthering the Italian elements included curious Sicilian ceramic vases peering through colourful florals and exotic fruit set-ups across tables, accompanying the seating chart and bar features. Bamboo cutlery, names printed on white seashells and matching bamboo chairs curving around the circular tables allowed for a sculptural and textural flow throughout the reception.
Adamant to include an element from her half New Zealand background, Danya included checkered and striped pottery flown in from Hauraki, Auckland by artist Susan Christie of Formantics.
Using John’s personal Vespa collection, they featured three of his vintage Vespas throughout the wedding, including a gorgeous cream 1956 showpiece, a playful red Apé carrying the welcome drinks in striped straws, and John coming down the aisle on his 1960s vintage Faro Basso.
In addition the Vespas, Danya chose the stunning 1950’s Mercedes 190sl from John’s car collection to arrive to the ceremony in, driven by her father.
An abundance of florals (by florist Ellebore) were complimented by edible flowers appearing amidst the decadent Italian menu. From a pasta wheel to passionfruit martinis, the mood was set, finishing with a citrus themed cake designed to match villa‘s pastel palette.
As the sun set and the twinkling festoon lights lit the sky, the guests moved to the dancefloor marquee, which featured a saxophonist weaving throughout the guests. As the energy continued to lift, they brought colourful LED fans to the dance floor, creating a buzzing visual of sweeping lights.
As detail oriented as the styling was, Danya and John chose their outfits for the day in a similar fashion. Danya chose a Berta gown featuring stunning 3D floral appliqué detailing to match the floral garden setting, floral Pearl drop earrings and YSL heels. Her dress featured a dramatic, full A-line skirt, a deep plunge front, capped sleeves and a deep open back. A trifecta of classic, quirky and sexy.
John chose a custom-tailored cream tuxedo suit by Loro Piana, along with Dior patent leather shoes.
Join us on this vibrant and colourful journey through the lens of Teresa Brincat of Muse Photography!
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Initially, our wedding was meant to happen in Lake Como, Italy, where Jonny had proposed. This was a perfect compromise of a location and quite central as I had international guests coming from Egypt (my home!), Dubai, London, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Bali, Australia and New Zealand. We had to postpone our wedding due to COVID-19, and by the time an opportunity came for us to plan again, unfortunately, due to Jonny’s father suffering from Parkinson’s disease, it was decided that he was unable to travel. We postponed a second time to catch the Sydney summer season. Postponing twice and changing our location to Australia sadly made it difficult for many of my Egyptian guests to attend due to holiday conflicts, however a local wedding in Sydney did help the creative process. Firstly, planning in the same time zone and eliminating any errors lost in translation was less stressful. This also allowed me to have full control over custom details and gave me access to Jonny’s fleet of cars and Vespas. It also allowed me to splurge on the styling, which was something very important to me, as I have an interior design background. A budget overseas wouldn’t have allowed the same attention to detail. The sensory elements of the day, together with the florals, flavours, textures, outdoors, and acoustic music, were vital to the experience. For this reason it was also important for me to splurge on the photo/video coverage of our big day! I had two videographers, two photographers, and a content creator, and all did a fabulous job. Visuals to keep as memories are the only thing you walk away with from your wedding to look back at, so I think investing in the best team is key.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
Upon return from our couples shoot on the property, we were about to enter the reception dinner, and our coordinator and head chef came to break the news that a dark cloud was approaching overhead, and the forecast showed a huge burst of rain. We decided to go ahead with our outdoor Al Fresco dining regardless and to speed up the speeches, however, in a stroke of luck the cloud moved away from us and not over us. We felt SO lucky and relieved our guests and their food didn’t get soaked!
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
I bought my dress a year in advance. It was the first thing I did. Upon researching floral appliqué dresses online, I landed upon an image of a dress and fell in love – it was my dream dress! I figured one can’t possibly just go with the first dress one likes, so I went into a deep dive of more brand research, visiting six different bridal boutiques and trying on possibly at least 75 dresses! This was time-consuming (and I caught COVID at one boutique), only to come full circle back to my initial love: my beautiful Berta gown!
To work with the colourful floral theme, I wanted the bridesmaids to be unique, each with her own colour to wear. Standing on either side of my white floral applique dress, it framed it perfectly. Our florist was given the dress colours in advance to create complimentary colour bouquets to go with a corresponding dress.
LOCATION Redleaf, Wollombi, NSW, @redleafwollombi STYLING Paloma Events, @paloma.eventco PLANNING & COORDINATION Angie Marie Events, @angiemarie.events PHOTOGRAPHY Muse Photography, @musephotography_thelifeofamuse VIDEOGRAPHY Dear Vincent, @dear.vincent CONTENT CREATOR Your Wed Woman, @yourwedwoman FLORIST ELLEBORE, @_ellebore CELEBRANT Tamara Celebrant, @tamaracelebrant ENTERTAINMENT DJ – Silent Shout Entertainment, @silentshoutent; Saxophonist – Dave Jackson: Saxtapes, @saxtapes CATERING Fennel & Co. Catering, @fennelandco.catering WINES Krinklewood Estate, @krinklewood CAKE Spodeli, @spodelinewcastle ILLUSTRATIONS & STATIONERY Sprinky, @sprinkystudio DECALS Mirror, Placecard Shells & Bar – Paper Leisure, @paperleisure HIRE Simply Seated, @simplyseated CAR/VESPA RENTAL JMJ Classics, @jmjclassics BRIDAL DRESS Berta, @berta BRIDE’S SHOE Saint Laurent, @ysl MAKEUP Alex Polverino, @alexpolverinomua HAIR Cameron Carr Hair, @cameroncarrhair SUIT Loro Piana, @loropiana GROOM’S SHOE Dior, @dior
