Alisha + Julian by Madeline Kate - Together Journal

Before I knew it, Julian had walked over to me and kissed me – in the car park, rain and all!

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Alisha, I’m an Interior Designer for a national firm based in Adelaide, South Australia. I’m a creative mind who thrives on creating and designing—whether it be interiors, food, fashion (or, in this case, a wedding)! I like to find beauty in all things big and small and have a passion for history and travelling, particularly to places where history is prevalent and can be explored!

Julian – I’m a pharmacist by trade and part-owner of a pharmacy in South Australia. I read a significant amount of literature, history and philosophy and love to talk Alisha’s ear off about it. I love getting out and exercising, I used to play soccer but in recent years enjoy long runs along the beach. I love to cook, something both Alisha and I enjoy doing together. When I can find the time, I enjoy getting out on my dad’s boat and spending time with him fishing.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

Alisha – I was studying Interior Architecture at UniSA, working part-time in a pharmacy that Julian was managing. I remember coming back to my first shift at work after an overseas trip when a colleague ran up to me and said, “Guess what – we have a new Pharmacist manager!” I’m a pretty forward person, so I walked straight up to Julian and introduced myself. Julian, at the time, was focusing on some work and kindly looked at me and said, “Hello, I’m Julian”, but then soon after, made it apparent he was busy and had to get some work done. I, being a Uni student who thought work was about “having fun and making friends”, continued to pester Julian at work for the next 6 months. I guess he put up with me because I still managed to get work done quickly and efficiently! All in all, I remember thinking Julian was attractive, kind, and extremely smart. He had these piercing dark eyes that felt like he looked straight into my soul. However, it most certainly didn’t cross my mind that he could be a prospective love interest until much further down the track. In saying that, I remember myself and some of the other girls at work trying to brainstorm why he was still single considering how driven, switched on and good-looking he was – the whole package 😉

Julian – I remember Alisha coming directly up to me whilst at work as she’s mentioned above. She was bubbly, confident, and had a type of energy that made it really easy to talk to her. She piqued my interest from the start, but I was hesitant to think much further into it at the time since it was our workplace and I was technically her boss. We saw each other often at work and I remember her crossing my mind multiple times, and there was a definite attraction from the start. Her captivating eyes and vibrant smile made her hard to ignore!

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

Alisha – A few months after Julian and I met, I remember gradually thinking about Julian more and more. We were lucky we got to spend quite a bit of time getting to know each other week by week in the pharmacy. I think I officially knew that I was into him when he went on a trip to Scotland by himself. He was gone for 4 weeks, but it felt like years. Before he left on his trip, Julian would joke around, saying he would sneak me into his suitcase so that I could come with him. I remember whilst he was gone, just daydreaming about dropping everything and jumping on a plane to find him. Something changed when he came back – it’s like we both realised that we didn’t want to be apart. I remember one particular conversation about a book he was reading – I can pinpoint the moment my mind flipped from “crush” mode into “wow – I could literally spend every waking moment with him and never get sick of him”.

Over the next month, the tension kept growing and growing. We’d started texting, and the flirting from both sides had become much more courageous. Typically, at the end of a workday, it would be me, a retail employee, and Julian, who were left to close the pharmacy up. One day, the retail employee had to leave early, and there we were – left alone for the first time by ourselves. It had started raining, so we quickly closed the pharmacy and rushed over to our cars parked next to each other. When I turned to say goodbye, we made eye contact and just stared at each other for a good 5 seconds. Before I knew it, Julian had walked over to me and kissed me – in the car park, rain and all! (plus one homeless guy pushing a trolley). Julian went home, terrified that he’d assaulted a coworker, meanwhile I went home extremely excited to tell my sister.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

Alisha – There was! Julian and I talked about everything together, and being my “designer” self, we had already gone to a ring designer to make my engagement ring. I knew the proposal was coming, but I didn’t know when Julian would receive the ring or when and how he would propose.

It was COVID times, and we were in the midst of building our house, but both really wanted to get away for a weekend. We ended up going to Kangaroo Island and hiring the most beautiful accommodation in the wilderness called the Stowaway. Even though it was February, it was cold and raining, which I found out later was interfering with Julian’s proposal strategies. On our second to last night, after a nice bottle of red, we decided to get the cheese fondue platter out. About 5 minutes in, we’d given up on using the little fondue forks and were dipping pickles into the cheese with our hands (messy business!) Julian kept disappearing into the bedroom, and I remember yelling, “Come back already, or I’ll eat it all myself”. Little did I know he was trying to figure out how to hide the humungous ring box in his jeans pocket. Just as I’d dipped another pickle into the cheese, Julian got down on one knee and pulled the ring box out. A little bit tipsy at that stage, we both just started giggling (mainly at my greasy fingers and the little LED light in the box that shone onto the diamond, making it look enormous). Julian told me to be quiet because there was something he had to say, and soon enough, the giggles turned to tears. We spent the rest of the night drinking more wine and taking photos of the ring on my finger, as well as Julian with his “I bought a her a diamond ring and all I get is this stubby holder” stubby holder.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

Alisha – we struggled A LOT with drawing a line on pretty much everything and anything – we didn’t hold back many things, but the three main items we weren’t compromising on were the music, flowers and the catering. Weddings are about celebrating one of the biggest days in your life, as well as taking care of your guests and making sure everyone has the best time possible.

The music was faultless – Chelsea at Him & Her Music helped us curate the most perfect lineup of talented artists all day long. The 7-piece band elevated our night to a whole other level. Flowers, to me, are one of the more important decorative features of a wedding day – I could not help myself when it came to leaning into the “spring soiree” vibe that the gorgeous Maison de Moon surroundings already exude, and Lydia from Stemhaus met this brief perfectly. Good food (and plenty of it) was extremely important to us, but the drinks did not disappoint either, with particular praise from guests on our vast wine supply and Canape’s cocktail recipe, “Ruby Tuesday” Gin Strawberry Spritz! Both Kitchen Catering by Sam and Are You Being Served staff were fantastic all day and night.

I also can’t miss how we spent a little more on photography to fly over the coolest photographer ever from Melbourne – spending the day with Madeline Kate was a dream! Her vibrant touch was exactly what we wanted, and boy, did she deliver!

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

Alisha — Because of the fantastic team we had around us, not a THING went wrong on the day. Kelly and the team at Found Collective and Irene at Maison de Moon were working tirelessly behind the scenes to make it the dream day that we could only ever hope for. I also had the most perfect start to my morning with my 7 bridesmaids (and my sister’s boyfriend – the MVP Fil, who took care of us with coffees, bagels, and anything we needed)

Julian’s morning was slightly different. Unfortunately, the hot water system broke at his parents’ house the night before the wedding, so Julian had a bit of an unexpected trip to his aunties to shower in the morning. In the scheme of things, it was nothing, but luckily it was the boys’ house and not the girl’s house! I was none the wiser.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

Alisha – Once we’d picked Maison de Moon as our venue, and our wedding date was in spring, I knew I wanted the remainder of our wedding design to suit the French Chateau aesthetic. We had also previously been throwing around the idea of getting married in Italy, so the thought of bringing classic Italian elements into the overall aesthetic resonated with us, and we felt it honoured our heritage. I had been looking at wedding dresses for years and found that it was so hard to narrow down just one style, although found that I kept coming back to vintage Italian lace with a modern twist. I knew I wanted something custom-designed, so I went to Caleche with some example images to see what magic they could work. The dress designer came out with this gorgeous 3D lace and hand-drew the dress exactly how I imagined it. Over multiple dress fittings, the flowers from the 3D lace were meticulously hand-picked and resown into the exact positions to suit my body. I wanted a level of transparency through the legs, as well as through the boning of the corset. The 3D lace was the only solid element, so getting the density, size, formation, and scale right was critical. My veil was also custom-made, with the same 3D lace hand-sewn around the edges. I had a detachable tulle skirt also, which I wore for the ceremony for the perfect touch of tradition and class. The dress and veil were pieces of art, and I could not have been happier with the end result.

Julian would like to say something about his attire also…. La Milago was fantastic and created the perfect classic tuxedo. They also supplied my patent leather shoes, which were handmade in Spain. The ultimate compliment to Alisha’s insanely detailed work of art!