Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…
We both love the outdoors, being in nature, bushwalks, rock and deep sea fishing, water skiing/board, skiing/snowboard the slopes, beach, sun and sand. We pick up hobbies we can do all year round.
We are both very similar in many ways, but oh so different in many others ways. And it works for us, complimenting each other’s ‘missing links’.
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…
I guess you could say our main theme was country industrial bohemian (if that’s even a thing). We both have very different styles and so our wedding was a unique combination of both our styles. We incorporated aspects of our favourite places/settings we’ve experienced together throughout our five year relationship.
For example we had a giant tipi marquee (bohemian style) coming off an industrial shed (country industrial style) on our property as part of our reception. Our arbour was a simple tipi (bohemian), nothing too fancy that would take away from the day itself, set along the river’s edge (being by the water was important to us).
During the cocktail hour we had lawn games, snacks and drinks that we all created/made ourselves. We wanted to spend some time with our guests in a setting that’s fun and relaxing, so the lawn games created a nice way to create laughs and relaxation.
Our favourite details was the small details we put in for our day. We had a handfasting/binding during the ceremony to celebrate the groom’s father’s celtic heritage, and had Mediterranean drums performers, guiding us (the bride and groom) our entrance into reception to celebrate the Maltese heritage of the bride. Every one of our uncle and aunties was included in one way or another. Our mothers lead the handfasting together (as queens of each family) they tied the ribbon with our hands and made a blessing for our marriage.
Chris did his own entrance/precession to the ceremony (as a bride would), because for us it was OUR wedding and we both deserved an entrance to our ceremony. All kids who attended were our flower girls and boys, they stood half way down the isle waiting for the bride and give her a flower each, as Geraldine walked down the isle the remaining guests handed the bride flowers and by the time she got to the arbour, she had a beautiful unique bouquet that represented everyone’s love for her. Many of these flowers which have been dried and are displayed around our home.
Geraldine and her uncle did a dance together as part of the reception dinner show (and our version of the father-daughter dance). Being close to my uncle and sharing memories going out and dancing the night away. The fact that Geraldine had danced professionally for a majority of her life and my uncle’s passion for dance, we teamed up and performed a ‘swinging 20’s’ style dance. It was a fun way to share and keep these favourite experiences together on a special day.
The most relaxing and fun part of our wedding was spending the day after with our favourite photographer (Kings & Thieves) bushwalking an hour to a cliff edge waterfall (a waterfall that falls into the ocean) which is also one of our favourite spots to hang out together and creating some memorable moments, which turned into amazing photos. We did this because we wanted to spend our wedding day with our guests as much as possible, rather than away from guests taking photos. It also meant on of our favourite spots became even more special and unique to us, as we both wore our wedding outfits and spent the day together in that moment. We couldn’t have captured this without our amazing photographer who came along the walk, shared the experience and captured the moment.
I think the most amazing thing for us was the fact we overcome many setbacks, 3 months to our date we had no venue at all, and had to start from scratch 3 months to our date. And so begun the creation of organising the ceremony locally by the river and reception at our home.
Tell us about your main outfits:
We subconsciously decided that we’d each shop to our individual style; meaning our individual styles was celebrated, and we shopped together for both our outfits. Again not worrying too much about tradition it was unique to share the experience of dress & suit shopping together. It made our day feel like it was about us and away from the ‘pressures’ often set on wedding days.
Day After Shoot…
Bride: This dress stood out to me at the shop for its beautiful colour. It’s a gold, blush nude type tone. The lace pattern is mystical and creates this dropping look from lace on body that has drops of lace at the bottom. A low back with lace details. I wasn’t expecting to end up in a tutu/princess style dress, but to me it’s more sophisticated bohemian and you could tell I was more comfortable in this dress than other’s I’d tried on. It’s a mix of sexy with a tight body with straps that I wore either off the shoulder of as normal straps, and freeing fun style with the tutu bottom. It actually remind me a lot of my very first tutu I wore for my very first ballet solo. So it also held meaning for me, as ballet/dance was/is a big part of my day. No one expected me in a non-white princess dress, as I usually wear more tight clothes.
I also wore a black leather jacket with ‘Mrs Lansdowne’ on the back as part of our official entrance as Mr & Mrs Lansdowne into our reception.
Groom: The burgundy details (tie and pocket square) and dark grey coloured suit went back to traditional gentlemen era. And touches of personal details, rose gold watch and rose gold cuff links that my sisters got me a few years back. These cuff links are actually made from old watch parts.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
Most memorable was getting married to our best friend (each other’s best friends). I guess for us a lot of our wedding was most memorable because we did a lot of things outside the ‘norm’ wedding day, and it was unique to us and our ‘couple style’. Our wedding had many raw moments.
Moments that still make us smile or laugh:
Bride’s most memorable moments:
– During the ceremony, as I put on Chris’s ring he took a moment out loud to admire his ring. This made me laugh so hard, because in what most would consider a serious moment, his reaction was raw and it was definitely a typical ‘funny’ moment for me as the bride. We don’t take ourselves too seriously.
– Seeing all our special family and friend’s share the day with us in a more interactive way.
Groom’s most memorable moments:
-Seeing my future bride collect flowers from the kids isle and when she collected flowers from the other guests. The idea of sharing personal day and acknowledge people’s presence. And how much fun I saw my future bride have sharing this day with loved ones.
-When we walked/danced alongside the drums into the reception where it was empty for weeks on end being in construction (as mentioned before we created an entire wedding venue from scratch out of an industrial residential sized shed) to then be decked out with our decor and guest.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Probably our most favourite is that it’s okay to go outside the ‘norm’ in whatever it is you want to do with your lives together, wedding included. And if what is true to you is to do what is considered normal than that’s unique to you and your lives. There’s too much pressure on many couples to perform as society deems they should, staying true to what makes you both YOU is what you should be doing.
Photographer: Benny Valentine | Ceremony location: Cumberland Reach Rd Reserve, Cumberland Reach | Reception location: Private residence | Celebrant: Kelly Salas | Entertainment: Matt McLaren | Styling, flora, and planner: Geraldine Agnes Events | Marquee: Matkata Tipi Hire | Catering: Al Aseel Catering | Wedding dress: Brides of Sydney (“Allure Romance”) | Groom’s attire: Zanetti | Bride’s shoes: Novo | Bride’s ring: Michael Hill Jewellers | Groom’s ring: David Parmus
