Aleks has supported me through some pretty heavy times in my life and he’s always reminded me of the person I am.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
About us: Aleks is building his dream pizza empire with his family-owned and run restaurant and pizza trucks, Antico woodfired pizza, and I’m a florist by trade but currently enjoying being a stay-at-home mum to our sweet and crazy daughter Goldie. We live in Clovelly, NSW. We’re pretty chill, we love our morning coffees, walks with our doggo and golden girl, swimming and paddleboarding. Aleks has recently taken up body boarding, which has become a family favourite daily ritual of us girls hanging on the beach with hot chippies at Bronte or in the bougie hole while daddies are out in the surf. Aleks and I are also HUGE foodies and love a special dinner date at Huberts in the city, hence why when it came to catering, it played a key role in our wedding. Aplenty Food is a powerhouse of women leading the way in the industry, which we love, too. We’re suckers for love, and our families and friends are a huge part of who we are. We’re just super excited for our big beautiful future we’re building together and sharing it with our loved ones.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
I wish I could give this grand story of first impressions, but we met in uni, and all of my girlfriends had actually worked at Aleks’ family restaurant, so we’d known of one another. One of my best girlfriends’ phones died at a music festival we were both at, so I popped my number into Aleks phone so he could reach her. He ended up using the number to message me to hang out on campus, where I was living at the time, and he was studying. A few more bump-ins and the rest was kind of history. UNTIL. We had a whirlwind romance for 6 months at 18. Aleks had already put his name down to move abroad and study in Sweden before we met, and I decided uni wasn’t for me, so I was moving to Hamilton Island to live and work and ended up moving up there a month before Aleks headed to Sweden. I always knew Aleks was going to be someone I wanted in my life, everything was just easy with him, no wondering if I should message, and he would call me to hang out, I mean, sorry, what guy does this… so we decided to leave our love where it was and do our own thing. When Aleks moved back to Australia and if I was ever in Sydney, we’d make an effort to catch up with one another regardless of our relationship status,” just as friends”. There was always something there, though. Aleks came and visited me on Hamilton Island twice, once even to celebrate his birthday. We quickly realised it was more than friends, and we were just super smitten. I ended up moving back for the guy, and here we are! Told you, suckers for love.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
Honestly, it was when I was leaving him the first time. Aleks was going to study abroad in Sweden, and I was moving to Hamilton Island to work as a ‘ break ‘ from uni. I didn’t want to do the long-distance thing; he insisted we become official, but I didn’t want anything to come between us. We’d said I love you to each other after 6 short months of dating, but life was pulling us in different directions, quite literally to opposite sides of the world. I knew he was always going to be someone special in my life, and I wanted him to be, so we both needed to do our own thing. We always kept in contact though in our time apart. A random phone call here and there, he’d be my date to a wedding if I was attending one, we always had this pull back to one another. He also said that for every girl he dated after me, I was the comparison, which is cheeky, but I guess when you know, you know. He also always was really big on family, and so am i so our core values have always really aligned. Aleks has supported me through some pretty heavy times in my life and he’s always reminded me of the person I am. How could you not love this guy?
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
The proposal was at sunrise; we went for dinner at ‘our special dinner spot’ Huberts in Sydney the night before. The day before, out on our usual walk around Clovelly and Gordons Bay with our doggo, Harvey Aleks, suggested we get up to watch the sunrise the next morning. I laughed it off as, let’s just say, though I’m that person who springs out of bed in the morning, Aleks is a night owl. Dinner was delicious as usual, we polished off a bottle of red and ended on a cocktail so it was a goodnight out. It was 5 am, and Aleks was waking me up the following morning for this said ‘sunrise’ we were going to watch. I suggested we just watch it from the balcony, or I go in my bathrobe; Aleks prompted me to throw on some clothes at least. We headed down to the handlands over Gordons Bay, our beloved stand-up paddle boarding spot we spent all summer in. The sun starts to rise, and Aleks starts to babble off a few sweet nothings. And well, I said yes. Little known to me, his siblings were hiding behind a few cars watching the whole thing unfold with a photographer who was ‘capturing the sunrise’ actually there to get shots of the proposal. It didn’t hit me until 5-10 minutes later what had happened, and I fell into his arms in tears of happiness. We went for breakfast, made all the phone calls you do, got back to our apartment, and in our little courtyard were both sides of our families with a table filled with tuga pastries to celebrate. We all went out for the day, followed by a night back in our apartment, dancing to the record player, our family and our best friends. It was special.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Aleks would say I splurged on all of it… Catering was a big deal for us, we weren’t the bride and groom that didn’t eat on our wedding day. In fact, I ate a large plate of lasagne and plenty of Food especially prepared for us. Michaela and her powerhouse women’s team really have an eye for detail and food that tastes delicious. People still talk about how amazing the food was, which was something we really wanted people to enjoy. We really wanted it to feel like we were having a big dinner party with our loved ones. Also Videography. We wanted to have raw footage and a lengthy video to look back on, show our kids and be able to play back what was going through our heads in the moments throughout the day that we might otherwise forget. The team at Morelife are able to capture all of it! In fact, our photographer and videography crew just knew how to make us feel ourselves and comfortable whilst having a film crew following you around for a day! I know, I know 1 element to splurge on but come on, you only get married once!
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
Our daughter Goldie ended up having a dip in the pool on a hot day. It came to the moment for family photos, and alas, we had to pull the flower girl romper from our goddaughter onto Goldie so we could get a few family snaps with her. While having a marriage celebrant, we also wanted to incorporate Aleks Macedonian culture and had a priest incorporate a bit of that into our ceremony along with our celebrant Anniella; his part was meant to go for 15 minutes and went for about 45…
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
Well, I’d set out to ‘just try on’ dresses with my mum after looking with my girlfriends and sister-in-law a few times. I had in mind a simple slip dress, very understated, modern but timeless. Jess from the ivory room helped me pull a few dresses, and I gave my mum the chance to choose two for me ( we have very different tastes). Mum pulled the bolshi dress (that I wore on our wedding day), and I looked at it and thought, Mum, I’m going to look like a big bird, not to insult the designer… I put it on, and it was the only dress I picked up that was then our 4-month-old and wanted to envision me holding her on our day would be like. Every other dress just felt like something that I would usually wear. I honestly felt like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City every time I tried on my dress. We made some intense changes to the top of the dress. I was obsessed with how the dress looked from the back as I walked too. I will say to future brides that once you find your dress, it’s normal to have moments when you’re unsure if it’s the right one, but don’t keep looking. Because when the big day finally comes, you’ll put it on and remember that first feeling you felt in it. That or you’ll ask to throw it over your shoulder and run down the hallway with it because you love it so much.
A special note from Aleks and I to our parents
Our beautiful parents, thank you for raising us, loving us, and helping us create such a special day to remember for the rest of our lives. WHAT A PARTY! We love you.
LOCATION Somerley House, Sutton Forest, NSW Australia PHOTOGRAPHER Pearce Brennan, @pearcebrennanweddings VIDEOGRAPHER Morelife Films, @morelifefilms FLORIST Hermetica Flowers, @hermeticaflowers PLANNING Viv from Fola Styling, @folastyling CELEBRANT Aniella Batten, @aniellabatten_celebrant ENTERTAINMENT Edgar George, @edgargeorge.au; Macedonian Band – Peter Jovanov CATERING Aplenty Food, @aplentyfood BAR Jackson Littlewood, @jacksonlittlewood CAKE By Gigi, @by.gigi HIRE Simply Seated, @simply.seated; South Coast Party Hire, @southcoastpartyhire STATIONERY La Robe Clubby Bella, @larobe.club GROOM’S WEDDING BAND Cartier, @cartier BRIDE’S WEDDING BAND Laura Miers, @lauramiersjewellery BRIDAL DRESS Custom Bolshoi – Marquise Bridal, @marquisebridal BRIDAL SHOP The Ivory Room, @theivoryroombridal BRIDE’S SHOE DIOR, @dior ACCESSORIES Earrings – Gifted by my bridesmaids – DIOR, @dior; Bracelet – borrowed from a best friend – DIOR, @dior BRIDE’S FRAGRANCE NOMAD – Who is Elijah, @whoiselijahparfum MAKEUP Samantha Lee, @samanthaleemua; Rochelle Spotswood HAIR Natalie Anne Bridal, @natalieannebridal RECEPTION DRESS Nash Mini – Rachel Gilbert, @rachelgilbertau SUIT, SHIRT & PANTS Woolcott Street Tailor Made, @woolcottsofficial GROOM’S SHOE Leather Oxford Shoe – Hugo Boss, @boss ACCESSORIES Bow Tie – Hugo Boss, @boss; Onyk Cufflinks – Gifted by Aleks’ sister – Calibre, @calibreaustralia GROOMSMEN SUIT Woolcott Street, @woolcottsofficial BRIDESMAID DRESSES SIR THE LABEL, @sir__; Alémais, @alemais.official; Leo Lin, @leolin_official; Bec + Bridge; @becandbridge; Aje, @_aje_ BRIDESMAN OUTFIT MJ Bale, @mjbale FLOWER GIRLS OUTFIT Chloé and Amélie, @chloe_and_amelie HAND MADE BOW By V, @byv____
