Chrysa + James by Salt Atelier - Together Journal

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Almost 10 years ago, it was about 2am and I was on the way home from a night out with a friend. We stopped at the traffic lights in the city, before getting on the freeway, I was driving. A car pulled up next to us and wound down their window to ask how our night was. Our conversation was cut short as a car drove in the lane between us and then the light turned green.

A week later my friends convince me to go out clubbing last minute at ‘Spice Market’ in the Melbourne CBD. We arrive, get a drink and head straight for the dance floor. Suddenly, it’s almost as if the crowded room separates, as a tall stranger walks straight towards me, like he’s on a mission. He puts out his hand to shake mine and says “Hi I’m James, nice to meet you”. No-one had ever shaken my hand in a club before… haha. He then continues to say “You don’t remember me, do you?”. I shake my head. James continues “Last week, at the traffic lights! I remember you had the same braids in your hair”. I am in shock but smile at the serendipitous situation. He then asks me “Would you like to go for dinner sometime”? I say “yes”, we exchange numbers and not even 12 hours later he calls me to organise our first date.

Our first date is the very next day – Woodstock Italian Restaurant, Brunswick. The food is amazing and the conversation is flowing. We realise we have multiple mutual friends and have been at all of the same parties, but for some reason never crossed paths. We lose track of time talking so much that the restaurant has to ask us to leave, as it’s been hours and they are now closing. So we say our goodbye’s and then go out for dinner together every single night after that, for the next three weeks straight!

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Yes! It was our last day in Paris on our eurotrip in 2019. We decided to go for a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower as it was a beautiful sunny day. James organised a white tablecloth, cutlery, glasswear and then we picked out beautiful fresh produce from the local market and deli together.

Next, we arrive at our grassy spot right in front of the tower, set up our picnic spread and then James starts to look a little nervous. He points to the bottom of the tower and suggests I take a cool photo from that angle for my Instagram haha. I agree and walk over to get ‘the shot’. As I walk back James grasps my hands and kneels down on one knee. A crowd starts to gather around us (so embarrassing, but also cute). James smiles anxiously and says “I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?” I smile, cry and giggle saying “Yes!” as the crowd of strangers starts cheering, clapping and taking photos of us embracing each other in elated joy.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
The vision for the getting ready was definitely ‘Old Hollywood’ style. I wanted to embody the feeling of getting ready backstage before a live show or the dressing room before filming a scene for a film. Finding a location that was quirky and vintage was tricky, but as soon as I came across the “Crystalbrook Albion in Surrey Hills” I knew I had discovered the perfect backdrop. This was made complete when my bridesmaids and I got into our classic 1959 Cadillacs, to get to the beautifully grand St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Marrickville.

We wanted the church to be very traditional, so we didn’t decorate the church pews. However our best man and his wife (our ‘koumbara’ – future Godparents of our first child) organised the opaque green chiffon ribbons for the orthodox ‘lambathes’ (candles), the historic ‘wedding tray’, our bonbonniere and our beautifully handmade ‘stefana’ (bride & groom orthodox crowns) all the way from Greece.

The concept for the reception was “The Secret Garden”, as we got married in ‘The Garden Room’ outdoor space at The Grounds. With the set up already having greenery surrounding us from every angle, I wanted to add light, spring hue florals to complement the green pigments; almost as if stepping into a scene from the TV series “Bridgerton”. We specifically chose special ‘vintage key’ wedding bonbonniere (which are actually bottle openers!) to be the key to our Secret Garden Wedding. To add the traditional element, we also organised a Greek bouzouki and bongo player to perform for the dancing part of the night as well.

As I am a singer-songwriter, instead of saying a small speech, after James had said his piece, he then ushered everyone to the dancefloor to listen and dance to a song that I wrote and performed all about how we first met. The track “Serendipity” will be released on all platforms sometime next year. Oh and I should probably mention, that I am very much the queen of doing everything last minute (terrible I know) so the entire wedding was organised in only 4 months. #MeetTheZervous

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
The limo collecting myself and my bridesmaids happened to arrive early on the day, so when we pulled up to the church all the guests were still outside! So of course everyone starts taking photos of my mother and I in the convertible, kind of ruining the surprise element. But then the priest and the limo driver quickly ushered everyone inside so we could resume the scheduled program.

Also the week before the wedding, I was so stressed out that I cried 3 times in one day! James was like “That’s it, bed now. You need a break!” haha everything was alright after that – when I actually got some much needed sleep.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
We are originally from Melbourne and were expected to be married in the Summer of 2021. So I began designing my dress with Vasiliki Couture in August of that year. My vision for the wedding dress was light, whimsical and off the shoulder with pleated tulle and a structured corset. However, due to Covid and the long Melbourne lockdowns, we feared our wedding would not go ahead so we made the big move to Bondi Beach, Sydney for a fresh start in December.

Each couple of months, James and I would either drive or fly down to Melbourne to visit our families and have fittings with Vasiliki. The week before the wedding I flew down to pick up the dress. I was driving on my way to my last fitting and my car decided to stop in the middle of the road. So I left it in a side street and got in an Uber to get my dress! After my appointment, my brother-in-law arrived to help fix the car and all was fine again. Until, I drove about 200 metres from where the car had stopped and then I was involved in a minor car accident on the same day! I was physically fine, just very shaken up, plus the car needed a whole new side door and mirror. After my extremely eventful day, I finally got home and was convinced I had been given the evil eye, to which multiple friends and family confirmed I definitely had. I stopped posting on all social media from then until the wedding day, just to avoid anymore bad luck! Thankfully everything went to plan from that moment forward.

With James’s suit, he was very laid back about the whole situation and only started looking for it one month before the big day. We both knew he wanted something light and modern, with that “Greek Village Wedding” vibe. James had a very pleasant experience with at Ferrari Formalwear, trying on multiple suits before selecting the perfect 100% linen 3 piece ensemble.