We knew we wanted a bright and vibrant wedding.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love?
We are Ben and Alissa. We live in Newcastle, NSW with our two gorgeous border collies Goose and Ernie. We have moved around the central coast and Sydney for uni and work for the last 10 years and are now settled in Newy for the next few years for Alissa’s training. We met in university and are now both doctors working in Emergency Medicine (Ben) and Obstetrics and Gynaecology (Alissa). We love good food, travel, cold beers and slow beach days spent with Goose and Ernie.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We met in medical school and our relationship started during a rural year at Lismore hospital while living as housemates in Byron Bay. We have so many happy memories from that beautiful year so this is why we chose to get married in the Northen Rivers region.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).
We knew we wanted a bright and vibrant wedding with lots of fun interactive features for our guests. I (Alissa) have spent a lot of time living and travelling in South and Central America and have collected a lot of art and styling from these regions so it naturally was influenced by these themes. I knew from the beginning I wanted to incorporate large cacti into the ceremony moment also so the rest of the styling flowed from there. We met with our stylist Jess from Boujeehaus early on in the process and she took my ideas and ran with them and delivered everything we wanted and more
What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).
We loved our ceremony Cacti and all the florals were absolutely perfect. Jess from Boujee blooms absolutely nailed the floral brief. My favourites were the wedding cake, the bridesmaids dresses and their matching noodle gerberas as well as the giant tassel chandeliers that I made, from hula hoops!! Ben loved the way the handmade shelf he built to display our custom wedding favour ceramic shot glasses turned out.
What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?
We loved working with our stylist to make all our ideas turn into reality. We also both love a project so loved being able to DIY some of the elements.
Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?
Our stylist Jess as mentioned was amazing. Literally no idea was too hard and she was such a fun hype girl. She executed every styling moment and all the florals exactly how we wanted them.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?
The wedding dress I ultimately went with was actually one I found after I had already picked a dress. The first dress I had found was very romantic and floaty which as the styling of the wedding was evolving into something a bit more modern and unique and funky I felt it didn’t really fit anymore. And I also just had a really lovely positive experience at Karen Willis Holmes every time I went there so decided to go with the Shelby dress there. I felt it tied in well with our wedding venue and styling, my personal style with a unique fun twist of the puffy sleeves. For the bridesmaids dresses I knew I wanted a mix of textures and warm sunset hues. My experience with Lidee was so positive, they make each dress to order and deliver to quickly. They had sold out of the orange set I really wanted to compete the colours and when I contacted them they custom made us a new one in my sister’s size! We found two of the bridesmaids dresses second hand on depop which was also a great cost saver. Due to how great Lidee had been to deal with I opted to go with them for my party dress also. We knew we wanted a black tie wedding so a simple black tux for the guys is what we went with. We tied them into the fun bright theme of the day by lining each one with a different coloured silk lining.
Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.
Sarah Gardner splice ring with opal for my birthstone and various coloured sapphires for Ben’s birth stone. The bands we went with Natalie Marie and Ben got our birth stones embedded in the inside of his band.
What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).
Florals, styling and photography were our main ones! We couldn’t have been happier with our photographer Beck Rocchi she nailed the brief and everything photo is exactly what we wanted. And she was such a fun hype girl to spend the day with also!
Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?
Performing a silly wedding dance we choreographed to Madonna and eating leftover wedding cake in bed the morning the next day just chatting about all the different great moments of the day
BRIDE Alissa, @gingerellabee GROOM Benjamin, @benmil42 LOCATION & CATERING Summergrove Estate, @summergroveestate RECOVERY VENUE Hillside Carool, @hillside.carool PHOTOGRAPHER Beck Rocchi, @beckrocchiphotography VIDEOGRAPHER Glenn Mossop, @mosandco_weddings STYLIST & FLORIST Jessica Droste, @boujeehaus_ CELEBRANT Robyn Brodie-Reed (family friend) ENTERTAINMENT Maurice Webb (guitar / DJ) and Aisha Piech (Pianist and singer) from Stellaire, @stellaire.ent HIRE Cacti Hire- Monique Rigby from Crazy Cactus Lady, @crazycactusladyy CAKE Rebellyous Cake Co, @rebellyouscakeco STATIONERY & SIGNAGE Ying from Studio Y Creative, @studioycreative WEDDING RINGS Organic Wedding ring 6mm and Ren Wedding ring from Natalie Marie Jewellery, @nataliemariejewellery ENGAGEMENT RING Opal and sapphire Splice ring from Sarah Gardner, @sarahgardnerjewellery OTHER SIGNIFICANT JEWELLERY Ceremony Earrings- Lina earrings from Agapée, @agapee_official; Reception Earrings- Mimi earrings from Mountain and Moon, @mountainandmoon BRIDE’S MAIN OUTFIT Shelby dress with Bubble sleeves from Karen Willis Holmes @kwhbridal BRIDE’S SHOES Camellia Knot Mules with ankle strap from Loeffler Randall, @loefflerrandall BRIDE’S RECEPTION OUTFIT Lidée Woman, @lidee_woman BRIDE’S MAKEUP Natalie Lucas, @natalielucasmua BRIDE’S HAIR Petula Jade, @petulajadehairstylist GROOM’S MAIN OUTFIT Peak Lapel Tuxedo from Institchu Tailors, @institchu GROOM’S SHOES Comfort Craftsman boot from RM Williams, @rmwilliams BRIDESMAID DRESSES Lidée Woman, @lidee_woman GROOMSMEN SUITS Institchu Tailors, @institchu WEDDING FAVORS Custom shot glasses handmade from Mexico- Azul Latin Market, @azullatinmarket BASHUS AXE 160 year old family heirloom ceremonial axe for cutting cakes FRINGE CHANDELIERS handmade from the bride SHOT GLASS SHELF handmade from the groom
