Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
Amy is co-founder and Creative Director of a Digital Agency in London. Ken works in Building Design for a global consulting engineering firm.
Both creative, we have a shared appreciation of design, great food and wine, music and LOVE to travel. London has been Amy’s home for the last 11 years and Ken’s for 5 years. It’s been an amazing base to explore Europe from at every chance.
We met at work in Brisbane back in October 2005. We were both in other relationships at the time so never thought anything much of it, but there was a mutual attraction, though never discussed until many years later. Amy moved to London in 2007, and we kept in touch and caught up whenever Ken was in town with work. Fate intervened in August 2012 when we were both single and it was finally our time. It was then that we made a commitment to have a long distance relationship, which was challenging, but taught us to communicate completely. Even though it didn’t seem logistically possible for us to be together, we had a will and found a way. Ken moved to London 8 months later. Looking back, this time apart had created a strong foundation to build on once we were physically in the same city again. Since that moment over 6 years ago it’s been a wildly unexpected flurry of laughter, depth, risk and endless adventure.
Life without Ken isn’t so colourful or bright. He is my best friend, confidant and greatest challenge. It’s the little things we do together that add up to the most. Loving him is easy and my respect and appreciation for him continues to grow daily. I’m so glad we are around at the same time to love each other the way we do.
We planned our wedding from London, only visiting Australia once to view venues etc about 18 months out from our date. Ken’s UK visa expired 3 months prior to our wedding so he had to return back to Aus at that point and we spent the final 3 months apart which was tough, but kind of romantic. Ken’s theory was that he’d ‘be on the ground, able to take care of things in the timezone’… I’m not so sure about that…!
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…
Seeing as we live in London, Amy’s family in NZ, Ken’s in Aus and we have friends scattered all over the globe, we were always going to have to hold a destination wedding. Noosa holds a special place in our hearts. Amy’s family holiday there from NZ most years and Ken’s family live on the Sunshine Coast. It is also a beautiful part of the world for international guests to travel to so it seemed an obvious choice. We encouraged our guests to extend their stay as May truly is a beautiful time of year to be there and we organised pre and post wedding events to make sure we maximised our time with everyone.
The theme was contemporary minimalist chic. A monochrome palette with gold touches. As a creative (and perfectionist) planning from the other side of the world it was important that we found creatives/vendors that shared our vision and were excited to be involved in our day. It meant I could trust that they would show up and give their all on the day…and they all outdid themselves! I woke up on the morning of the wedding the most relaxed I’d felt all year…my bridesmaids were so surprised and actually more nervous than me! I knew every unique detail that was about to unfold and resolved to just enjoy and let all the hard work from the lead up pay-off.
The ceremony venue (Laguna Lookout) in the Noosa National Park didn’t need much help, it is so naturally beautiful up there and the views over Noosa beach/river/hinterland are breathtaking. It was a ‘wow’ moment for the guests as they arrived. I remember when we first visited Laguna Lookout we literally gasped. It is one of Noosa’s best kept secrets. My brief to Ella from Yukari Botanicals was to create a striking floral structure that didn’t obstruct or take away from the vista. She worked her magic layering all sorts of stunning textural materials and blooms including white and gold spray painted leaves which was amazing and framed us perfectly. It was then able to be broken down and re-purposed at the reception. While we’re on the subject of florals… I loved my asymmetrical bouquet, those orchids(!) and the white and gold textures were just divine. It worked so wonderfully with my dress.
Our celebrant Jay was fun and relaxed.
We wanted to make the most of the beautiful setting and show off Noosa to guests that were from out of town by putting on a surprise sunset cruise between the ceremony and reception. More about that in the unique moments section…
Our cake was by the talented team at Tome. 3 layers of GF Red Velvet, Dark Chocolate Brownie and Vanilla Bean topped with macarons, white meringues and gold leaf. We were too busy dancing to get any on the night, but thankfully our guests saved a little taster for the next day. It was delicious!
Reception: Ricky’s is a waterfront venue so we loved that we could all arrive via boat to their private jetty. The space itself has fresh modern finishes which was one of the reasons we actually chose it in the first place, it really didn’t need any dressing up so we kept the styling quite minimal. I wanted romantic candlelight everywhere. 240 white pillar candles in clear glass cylinder vases of varying heights fluttered on the tables throughout the evening. It was pretty magical seeing the candlelight twinkle, from our boat, as we approached the venue. The food was amazing, everyone commented that they loved how much choice (4 options for each course) they had and how delicious it was.
Tell us about your main outfits:
My dress: I’m not one to try on loads of dresses, or trail through wedding boutiques. I had an unconventional/Avant Garde look in mind, and knew I’d know when I found the one. I came across my dress on Maticevski’s website and loved it instantly. The asymmetric style, statement shoulder and exposed zipper down the left side were such unique details, unlike anything I’d seen done in a bridal context before. I’ve always admired Maticevski’s work; his structural styles, interesting statement details and materials make for stunning artforms.
Unfortunately the dress was out of stock in London, but thankfully just launching in Aus with the seasonal difference. I got a friend to purchase it on my behalf without ever having tried it on, or even knowing my size. It really was quite a risk! Then came the next challenge of getting it to London. Amazingly one of my friend’s friends was flying to London for a wedding (for one night only) and offered to transport the dress as carry-on luggage. The plan fell together seamlessly. I was so nervous when we met to do the handover, there was a lot riding on this transaction! My bridesmaid that lives in London came over and we dialled in the other that lives in Aus to try the dress on. It fitted like a glove. We all loved it and knew it was the one. This purchase was actually one of the easiest items ticked off the list!
I didn’t want a veil so instead opted for editorial hair and makeup with a red lip and statement earrings. I had my shoes custom made by Gianvito Rossi – gold leather, clear plexi and black suede – my real life glass slippers that I will wear again. You never see the full look together until the day, but I was so happy with how it all turned out and felt so glamorous.
Ken wore a black Italian wool dinner suit with silk peak lapel by Tagliatore. He’s more of a tie guy so paired a versace tie with a pleated white shirt and Mont Blanc cufflinks.
The bridal party were also dressed in monochrome; the groomsmen wore matching black suits and ties. The bridesmaids wore black Elle Zeitoune fitted fishtail dresses which had sleeve details that nodded to my statement shoulder. Paired with gold shoes and really uniquely structured black Cos earrings.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
Having Boyd from Boatkeeper play at our ceremony was a special treat. We weren’t really into the conventional wedding musicians on offer so I searched further afield and contacted Boatkeeper, thinking that there’d be a slim chance they’d even reply. Boatkeeper are a super talented Aus folk pop band destined for big things. Without delay, Boyd got back to me and was honoured to be asked to play for us. We chose one of Boyd’s original songs ‘So Much More’ (which was unreleased at the time (or very newly)) as our aisle song. It was pretty special having him sing those words for us with such conviction, and it will forever be ‘our song’ now.
As a surprise we had arranged a sunset river cruise for our guests between the ceremony and reception while we had our portrait session. We wanted to show off Noosa especially to the out of town guests and make the most of our waterfront reception venue by having them arrive via Ricky’s jetty.
We loved our portrait session with the amazing Katie Harmsworth and her partner Eric… we had quite the adventure trekking through the Noosa National Park in search of the perfect light. The contrast of our outfits against the forest backdrop was incredible and was worth getting a little off-track for. They were super enthusiastic and grateful for the time we allowed for the session. As you can see we have the most beautiful gallery to treasure forever.
We also loved our private Italian Riviera boat charter. We took some last portraits as we cruised to the reception. it was such a lovely chance for Ken and I to have a few moments to ourselves and breathe the day in. We relaxed with a glass of bubbles and stole a few kisses over sunset.
Overall we were so humbled to have all of our wonderful friends and family together in one place, for us, and were overwhelmed by the love they showered us in.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Create a wedding that reflects and is authentic to you as a couple. Decide what is important to you both and invest in those things. There really is no end to how far you can go with the planning!
Weddings are a stressful time where tensions are high. Be a team. Don’t lose sight of the bigger picture and the reason you are organising this event in the first place. If you have put effort into finding vendors that you can trust and are enthusiastic about your day, then you will be able to relax knowing that everything will come off without a hitch.
Above all, have fun, soak in the love from all of your guests and enjoy the day that you’ve worked so hard for. Try to sneak a few moments together to take it all in, as it really does just fly by!
Photography- Katie Harmsworth Bridesmaids and groomsmen outfits- Elle Zeitoune, Grooms outfit- Tagliatore, Versace, Aquila, Mont Blanc, Arne Jacobson, Styling and flowers- Yukari Botanicals, Stationary- @doublenoire, Rings and earrings- J.Katz Antwerp, Le Gramme, Brides Shoes- Gianvito Rossi, Bridesmaids jewellery- Cos , Venue- Laguna Lookout Noosa National Park, Robe- Intimissimi, Brides Hair and MUP, bridesmaids MUP Hannah Mills, Bridesmaids hair- Jooles Purchase, Cake- Tome.
