Liam + Lisa by Briars Atlas

My memory & first impression of Liam will always be “who is this dead chatty, dreamy blue-eyed English guy that made it almost impossible for me to ignore” and clearly a part of me didn’t want to.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
LR – So, where to start! My name is Liam and originally I’m from the UK. I’m one of those guys that came for 12 months on a working holiday visa and ended up still being here 12 years later! One of the last pieces of advice my mum gave me before I left was “Son, just please don’t fall in love and never come back.” Well that’s kind of exactly what happened!

I’m a physiotherapist, and had a keen interest in sport, so I took myself to the sporting capitol of the world and I thought I could give it a craic. Being a social person, a music lover and sports mad, I thought that the opportunity over here would be too good to turn down. Whilst work has always been the underpinning foundation of allowing me to do what I wanted, the outcome of being successful in those areas enabled me to share another love of mine with the woman I ended up marrying and that was the ability to travel. I have been to places I didn’t think I would go to, ate food I didn’t think I would eat and met people I didn’t think I would meet, all due to my coming together with the Aussie-Italian pocket rocket I met back in 2011 called Lisa Giordano.

LG – And I’m Lisa! I currently working as a legal assistant for a law firm which for me has been a career change & shift in the right direction. I have always had a huge passion & interest in self-discovery, natural health, healing, fitness & wellbeing. At uni, I studied Chinese & natural medicine which, although I no longer practice as a profession, has always been a practice I have kept within my own wellbeing & lifestyle. Things that I could not live without & truly give me joy are a decent solid cardio workout at the gym, looking after my body with natural therapies and spending time with my family, friends and most importantly my best friend – my husband!

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
LR – Well, this is an easy one for me. I don’t shut up, make friends with a wall, however you want to say it! Haha. Long story short, I went out on my own one night, ended up in a nightclub and made friends with some guys. Come to our place next week they said, pre-drinks prior to another club night! Perfect, said the 22 year old version of myself! In doing that, I had no idea that pre’s meant that Lisa (their neighbour) would be the taxi driver to the club…….and so it begins!!!! Whilst I don’t think I was actually meaning to chat her up, I certainly was talkative and intrigued about her during that taxi ride in! I remember thinking to myself this cool chick was our taxi driver, and that she liked the kind of music that we were going to –so I was totally into it. Obviously, I fancied her at the time, but I think the English charm came out and it fostered into something special, so much so that I hunted her down on social media with my Nokia flip phone and somehow managed to send her a Facebook message – as you do!

LG – My memory & first impression of Liam will always be “who is this dead chatty, dreamy blue-eyed English guy that made it almost impossible for me to ignore” and clearly a part of me didn’t want to. Our love for partying, music and fun blossomed. We went from casual nights out to getting our own place together moving in & the rest is history.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
There was! It was very delayed! We had an annual trip I would say, really really cool places (Europe: UK / Italy / France) into the Desert (Dubai) and up North of Australia (Port Douglas)……..but, I always had my head in Uni, work and trying to save some $ so that I could do things right! I eventually booked us into Jackalope on a cold June weekend and said we were going on a weekend away. Didn’t disclose the location, but knew it would be a hit!

I had planned all things the way I thought I was meant to; ring in hand, hotel room, dinner and brekki. We rocked up the drive and Lisa at that point realised where we were, but didn’t know the occasion. After scoping out the hotel, the amazing rooms and the surroundings, we went for a walk to the infinity pool where, lucky for me it was dead! It was cold, but sunny, and quiet….perfect I thought. I started taking some photos, set my phone up, and upon her turning around I dropped to one knee. Very belated, and I apologised for that, but that was that. June 2018. It was a YES!!! We spent the next hours in elation, took ourselves off to some wineries and made the relevant phone calls – Lisa to her parents on Aussie time, and a few hours later, my parents in the UK. Waking them up with the news!

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
BOTH: We both come from big loud families, so we wanted to create a day that would encapsulate this energy and be an experience for all to remember and enjoy.

The style/mood of the wedding was Industrial, rustic modern Italian. We choose shared plates of true, traditional Italian cuisine with an Italian band (siesta Cartel) as well as Dj that created a vibe that was truly indescribable – they got everyone up dancing, laughing and coming together. Their energy fitted our industrial, modern Italian cuisine and overall rustic warehouse feel for the venue and space.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
LR: Abs the photographer. This was a non-negotiable for us. Even in the lead up to our wedding (pre covid) we had decided that given the geographical challenges some of my family (UK) would have, and in knowing that some would not be able to come all this way, we wanted to fully capture each moment of the wedding so that we could share it across the globe with our wonderful friends and family! This certainly was one of the main things we both aligned so much on and that’s what led us down the path of choosing a style and a creative mind such as Briars Atlas and Oli. What a legend. We were after an edge in
the photos, not super staged, natural, candid and capturing the moments that really mattered to us.

In addition, and a close second, to be honest, was the videographer option, as initially we were probably naive and thought why do we need video if we had photo of the quality that we knew we were going to get. That was until we ended up speaking to others and gaining some real insight into how it’s totally different. We started watching some videographers we liked, and then we got hooked on a style we wanted; A mix of fun, love and laughter and something everlasting. After becoming hooked on that want, it became a hunt. The ultimate result of what we got in both the creativity of Oli (photos) and Luka (Video) ended up in a seriously good outcome for us!

LG: The Dress. I wanted something that would not only create a wow factor but be something that would always be classic, something I could look back at in years to come & still love or would wear again. Jason gave me exactly this, a piece of art that I will one day show my children with pure joy.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
LR – Well, after the rescheduling of the wedding multiple times and getting to the point where we knew that my best man couldn’t attend, I decided that I only needed to get 1 suit and I would royally treat myself!! I decided to scope out some bespoke tailors and treat myself to the experience of individual tailoring and found myself nestled up at Hugo Boss in the CBD with an all time Tailor. From measurement to fitting, from the champagne to the shirt selections and the tailoring of the suit to be aligned to my wonderful shoes, it was all bliss!!! What I settled for was a clean, smart look, 2 piece tux with jet black, bow tie to complete the look and styled it with a Gucci pin bar as a gift from my best man, a sparkling fresh wedding ring, bright white pocket square and my fave IWC watch piece which was a previous gift from my marvelous wife.

LG – I skewered Melbourne as well as the world of social media to try and find an idea, design & a designer that could bring my dream dress to fruition, I couldn’t find either and had got to a point of almost giving up until I met Jason Grech.

Jason not only designed me the dress of my dreams but I felt an instant connection & knew he was the right person to make my vision come to life the minute I met him. What started out as monthly visits turned into weekly, Jason soon became more than just my wedding dress designer. From measurements, design changes, assisting me in choosing the right shoes & earrings, to Jason sending his assistant out the day before our day to purchase fabric spray paint to create a bow for my wedding cake that would match the bow on the back of my dress. My dress & day just wouldn’t have been the same without him, he truly went above and beyond & created me not only the dress of my dreams but a memory of the experience that I will cherish forever.

Ceremony location: Newman College – University of Melbourne, @unimelb / Reception location: Oliva Social, @olivasocial / Photographer: Briars Atlas – Oli Sansom, @briarsatlas / Videographer: Luca Zarik Films, @luca.zarik (Amazing Short Video) / Celebrant: Priest at Newman College, Melbourne Uni – Father Steven Curtin Steve Curtin / Entertainment: Siesta Cartel (1 x set pre-dinner drinks & 1 x set after dinner), @siestacartel / DJ (Pm Evening): Rutherford Entertainment, @rutherfordentertainment / Styling + Stationery: State of Reverie, @stateofreveriestudio / Hire: Napkins & Cutlery from Simply Seated, @simply.seated; Table Cloths from Table Art, @tablearteventhire; Tealights from Georgie Boy, @georgie.boy__ / Flora: Georgie Boy, @georgie.boy__ / Catering + Beverages: All food, drinks & cocktails provided by venue – Oliva Social, @olivasocial / Cake: Val Bakes Melbourne, @val__bakes / Gifting: We had a Wishing Well / Live stream to UK: Bottlebrush Films, @bottlebrushfilms / Groom’s Attire: Hugo Boss, @boss / Bride’s Attire: Jason Grech, @jasongrech / Ring/s: Diamond Exchange, @diamondexchange / Groom’s Shoes: Carmina Shoemaker from Harrolds Melbourne, @harroldsaus / Bride’s Shoes: Steve Madden Australia, @stevemaddenau / Bride’s Earrings: Linneys White Pearl Studs, @linneys_jewellery / Groom’s Watch: IWC, @iwcwatches / Makeup: It’s All About Makeup – Danni, @itsallaboutmakeupstudio / Groom’s Hair: John from Dome, @domehairandbeauty / Bride’s Hair: Gabrielle from Salon Gabrielle, @salongabrielle_ / Fragrance: Burberry, @burberry / Maid of Honour’s Attire: House of CB, @houseofcb