Being in the wedding industry myself, I was quite overwhelmed at the start. No one tells you that it’s so much harder planning your own wedding than it is planning a client’s! But I knew I wanted something light and colourful despite our wedding being booked for Autumn.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
I’m a graphic designer and I run my own stationery company, Petite Paper Co. My husband Billy, is a mechanic by trade and has always been into cars—Oh! And Batman! He’s a real comic nerd.
We have a dog and a cat that we love dearly (Conner & Cassie). During our spare time, we enjoy being a foodie in our own city, visiting art markets, doing our Costco runs but most of all, we love just getting time to spend quality time at home which we newly build about a little over a year ago now.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
Demie – It’s nothing special, but I met Billy when I was newly 18 and was finally allowed to go out clubbing. I met him vaguely at a club called Alumbra (RIP), then a couple of days after again at a bar with some mutual friends. My initial thoughts were that he was nice and that he looked good in a suit, haha! He had just come from work. But we talked pretty much the whole night and he was the ultimate gentleman sending me home at the end of the night. I made sure to ask for his number before the night ended.
Billy – I thought she talked too much, haha. But she had a bubbly personality that you could see shining through.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Demie — We had been together for 9 years when he proposed, it all happened in Oct 2021, and in true Billy style, he did it very privately and very casually. We were just coming out of Covid lockdowns and I was travelling to his house from mine while also being stressed out about a leaking roof in my apartment that morning. I get to his house, his dad is calling us out for dinner, so in the moments of me being flustered, I go into his room to put my stuff down and see the ring accompanied by a framed drawing of the ring (which I instantly knew was from the designer I like – as it’s one of her trademarks). I remember being in shock and not registering if it was an actual proposal because the engagement ring is really unique and doesn’t look like a traditional engagement ring at all, so I was a little confused at first.
So we go out to join his dad for dinner, and after, we’re back in his room and we’re sitting on the bed and he casually goes “So, is that a yes?”. We had called my entire family who apparently knew of the whole thing going down. In fact, Billy had asked for my dad’s permission earlier in the year.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
Demie — Being in the wedding industry myself, I was quite overwhelmed at the start. No one tells you that it’s so much harder planning your own wedding than it is planning a client’s! But I knew I wanted something light and colourful despite our wedding being booked for Autumn. There were also very few vendors I knew I wanted to have curated my wedding from the get-go, so I relied quite a bit on them. I just had colours in my head—baby blue being the highlight colour. Why blue? I took on a play of the ‘something blue’, but also because it’s a colour I don’t experiment with often and I wanted something others (especially in my friend circle group) hadn’t done before.
I’ve worked with Kath from Bow Creative on numerous weddings at that point, and I love her work as much as I love her as a person, so I knew I had to have her! She led me in a few directions based on my colour scheme and we went from there. We landed on a theme I liked to call ‘pearls & roses’ – a spin-off from ‘guns & roses’. Pearls because my engagement ring has a pearl in it and it’s a symbol of class and sophistication. Flowers in general were a huge theme as Billy’s late mother’s name was Rose and my engagement ring was designed as an open ring that looked like a flower wrapping around my finger.
We decided that we were going to incorporate a romantic, fun, modern yet spring-esque vibe! As much as I loved the look of an editorial wedding, it definitely wasn’t ‘us’ nor was it practical for my guests. We were also working with a smaller budget. So we thought of other ways to incorporate a little something different where we could—like in the stationery.
I knew what I didn’t want though, which was anything too red or pink.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Definitely had to be our photographer – Jess. These photos are going to last a lifetime! But the stationery was closed after being on the list. Being the stationery designer at my own wedding, I felt imperative to make sure that there were stationery elements that showed my skills, like the custom camera sleeves or the 1.6m seating chart I had, hehe!
VENUE: The Panama, @thepanamadiningroom / PHOTOGRAPHER: Fern and Stone Photography, @fernandstonephotography_ / CELEBRANT: Christine Civil Celebrant, @christinecivilcelebrant / ENTERTAINMENT: Melbourne Entertainment Co, @melbentco / SOLOIST: KRSTIN, @krstnmusic / DJ: DJ Frnkiie, @frnkiie / STYLING: Bow Creative, @_bowcreative / HIRE: The Small Things Co, @thesmallthingsco; The Hire Co, @thehireco; Bow Creative, @_bowcreative / FLORA: Tremella Botanicals, @tremellabotanicals / CAKE: Torte by Mirjana, @torte_by_mirjana / STATIONERY: Petite Paper Co, @petitepaper.co / WISHING WELL: Designed by Bride, produced by Cut to Size Acrylic Online, @cuttosizeacrylicaus / LINEN: Table Art, @tablearteventhire / SUIT: Dyonsu, @dyonsu / DRESS: Elysian Bridal, @elysianbridal.australia purchased from Raffaele Ciuca, @raffaeleciucabridal / ENGAGEMENT RING: Faith Jewels, @faithjewelsmaison / WEDDING BANDS & BRACELET: Janai, @janaijewellery / BRIDAL SHOES: Lana Wilkinson, @bylanawilkinson / PEARL NECKLACE: Heirloom / FRESHWATER PEARL DROP EARRINGS: Lynns Crafty Wonders / VEIL: Kim Alpha Bridal / HAIR: Pearly Hair Stylist, @pearly.hairstylist / MAKEUP: Jeniferin, @jeniferin_ / BRIDESMAID DRESSES: Petal and Pup, @petalandpup; Hello Molly, @hellomolly / BRIDESMAIDS’ ROBES: All Things Nice Store AU / GROOMSMENS’ SUITS: Dyonsu, @dyonsu
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