NIKI + ANDREW by Lulu and Lime

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship:

We met 10 years ago (on Andrew’s birthday 10/10/10) and just hit it off. We were both in similar stages of our professional careers and shared a lot of things in common. Loved the same music and both had the same amount of silly.

Over the years we have grown both closer together and grown up together.

I am not sure if there is anything that makes us “unique” –  like a lot of couples we both like to travel, we both enjoy good food and wine and we are both in love with each other. If anything – it is the little things that make us unique, like how we spend our downtime at home and the silly games and inside jokes we have.

Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details:

The year 2020 presented a lot of challenges to everyone. With family overseas and Melbourne going into different forms of lockdown from February – planning a wedding was near impossible. The 14th November was a date we wanted to celebrate. We just got out of the strict stage 4 lockdown to the point 10 people could celebrate a wedding – It left approximately 10 days for us (Niki) to organize a wedding.

The day though could not be more perfect. We knew two things
1. We were getting registered at the Old Treasury building

2. We wanted to support local business around Ripponlea where we live

Our local florist was able to arrange flowers for us. Quat Quatta was open to the public for the first time in their 130 year history. We got lucky on the day and the weather was perfect.

Favourite moments of the day were:-

Niki’s outfit – she looked amazing

Picnic in the Park – the weather could not have been better for a picnic and Posh Palais did an amazing setup for it

Having Anna from LuLu and Lime there to capture it all was icing on the wedding cake!

Tell us about your main outfits:

Andrew and I were living in London a few years ago and took a train to Paris for the weekend (as you do). We were roaming the streets in awe of all the beautiful buildings and walked past Rime Arodaky’s store and saw the outfit on display. Fast forward 3 years, when we got engaged and I started wedding dress shopping, nothing blew me away as much as this jumpsuit I saw on our trip to Paris, so it was pretty simple, I had to have it. During the pandemic, I did some research and they did not have a seller in Australia! I got in touch with the staff at Rime Arodaky in Paris, sent in my measurements and had the outfit within a month! My final fitting was here in Melbourne at Eternal Bridal in Camberwell, their first appointment since the lockdown # 2! Could not be more happy.

Andrew: I had looked at a couple of suits before lockdown happened but things moved quickly and “I will go in next week” turned into “Retail is closed until further notice”. We got the green light for our wedding and 10 days out from the day I got my suit. Omar and the team at Calibre Emporium were amazing and they fitted me head to toe. The finishing touch was my Dad’s cufflinks that he wore on my parents wedding day.

What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day:

We did not follow the traditional route of seeing each at the altar. We wanted to spend as much time with our near and dear ones post ceremony so we decided to do the ‘first look’ pre ceremony. On the drive into the city, I was very quiet and nervous. Normally a very confident person, so this was an unusual feeling. But as soon as I saw him, all the nervousness disappeared.

Seeing Niki for the first time in her dress / jumpsuit. I had no idea what to expect other than it was not traditional. I was blown away with how amazing Niki looked and how she just “owned” it.

Exchanging our personal vows was a special moment, neither of us knew what we were going to say but when we exchanged them they ended up being so similar. It really showed that we both are on the same page in what we want for us and in life. Having a drink in the park with the sun setting was a special moment too – Melbourne is really pretty city and it was on full display that day.

Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together:

The advice we have is to always support each other – teamwork makes the dreamwork. There will always be things that come up in life like family, friends and work – but the important thing is to always support your partner first and everything else second.

The advice above also only works with honesty – you need to be able to call each other out when they are in the wrong too.

Photography: @lulu_and_lime | Ceremony location: @vicmarriageregistry | Reception location: @theposhpalais | Bride’s gown: @rimearodaky | Groom’s attire: @calibreaustralia | Rings: @cerronejewellers | Bride’s shoes: @louboutinworld | Groom’s shoes: @calibreaustralia | Makeup: @k_hopkins_ | Bride’s hair: @preenhair | Groom’s hair: @celtic_tiger_barbers | Bride’s fragrance: @marcjacobs | Groom’s fragrance: @dolcegabbana | Flora: Unreal Flowers | Catering and Beverages: @theposhpalais and @quatquatta