ROBYN + SEAN by Chris Turner Photography

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

We are polar opposites but we think that’s why we work. Sean is very direct and a black and white, logical thinker (engineer). Robyn is a more emotional, uses-20-sentences-to-say-one-thing, kind of person (works in philanthropy).

We met close to 4 years ago on a disastrous first date where Robyn forgot and was 45 minutes late. Somehow we still managed to form a connection and have been pretty much inseparable ever since. We moved in together after 6 months and then bought a house together. After an epic proposal on top of a sand dune last year we were all set to get married in early May this year. And then well- Covid.

Postponing the wedding turned out to be a huge silver lining. The extra time to prepare meant we got much closer to what we actually wanted for our wedding- we even ended up changing the venue! We also decided we wouldn’t spend all lockdown sad about the wedding and did something we had always wanted to do but travel plans had prevented- got a puppy.

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:

Sean is from Japan originally and due to Covid-19 many of his relatives couldn’t attend. We tried to thread through a bit of Japan into our wedding to honour those that couldn’t be there and to represent Sean’s background. We did this through a sake drinking ceremony during the ceremony- led by Sean’s Mum Yumi, red and white Japanese lanterns hanging from the trees, cherry blossoms on the signage and menus and paper cranes as the name holders for the dinner table.

Our wedding was at Glasshouse Morningside which is exactly what it sounds like- a giant glasshouse filled with greenery. We tried to have our decorations simply compliment the existing beauty of the space as it already looked so great. We added multiple lines of lighting down the centre of the venue (by lighting company la Lumiere) and a greenery partition to divide the space into the ceremony/dancefloor and dinner areas. Glasshouse were amazing to work with, made everything so easy and gave us lots of good ideas.

When we went to our florist Sue (Floral Stylist Co) with the colour of Robyn’s dress we’d assumed we could only go with soft pastels to match the pale blue. Sue immediately said ‘you know what would look really great- red.’ Everything kind of clicked into place then (we’d already ordered red lanterns) so we said to Sue we trust you just go for it. Sue was absolutely amazing and we really loved what she did with the flowers.

Tell us about your main outfits:

Robyn: I went against tradition and wore a pale blue dress but it was never initially my intention to wear a colour. A friend had heard of Judy Gao and a wedding dress she designed so we booked in to go to her studio and I just loved her tulle gowns. I tried a pale blue one on and my family with me said ‘that’s it that’s the colour’ and suddenly I was ordering a pale blue dress. Sean was only told that my dress was blue, I think he was a bit nervous and had imagined a deep blue until he saw me on the day. Judy was so sweet and is such a talented designer.

Sean and the groomsmen went with black and white suits from Rembrandt with pops of red in the buttonholes and pocket squares. Glen from Rembrandt was very helpful, especially with Sean who is a slow decision maker and went into the store about 12 times to make sure his suit was exactly right.

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

Having an 8 month old puppy attend our ceremony was definitely a risk, but we just had to have her there. At the rehearsal she had barked a lot, which in a Glasshouse really echoes so we were very nervous for the day. On the day she was perfect. She slept very solidly through the ceremony much to everyone’s amusement. She only barked once, as if on cue, when the celebrant said “and then they got their puppy Nala.” No one could quite believe it, it was as if she knew it was an important day for us.

Robyn: Another memorable moment was how much emotion Sean showed when I walked down the aisle. Sean is not one to typically get so emotional so it was pretty heart warming to watch. The ceremony was quite emotional too and really special, thanks to our amazing friend/celebrant Bex.

Finally our photographer Chris let us have 15 minutes to chill and have drinks and nibbles with the bridal party before we started photos and that was so nice. The first time Sean and I had a moment to actually stop and properly talk to people and think ‘omg we just got married’ amongst all the madness of the day.

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

Getting married during Covid-19 is really hard. The uncertainty of everything on top of the already stressful event planning can be overwhelming at times. Our advice would be to discuss contingency plans with all vendors from the outset and to keep reminding yourselves why you are doing this- to celebrate love! And how lucky are you to have so much love in scary times like these. Everyone kept saying to us when we had to reschedule “its not cancelled its postponed” and that really helped- it was all so worth the wait.

Photography: Chris Turner Photography | Ceremony: Glasshouse Morningside | Celebrant: Married By Bex | Robyn’s Dress: Judy Gao Couture | Groom’s suit: Rembrandt | Rings: Robyn’s Engagement Ring- Cushla Whiting Jewellery | Rings: Robyn & Sean Wedding Bands- Zöe & Morgan | Robyn’s shoes: Nicole Rebstock | Makeup Bride & Bridesmaids: Beauty by Alexandra | Hair Robyn & Bridesmaids: Hair by Jade | Bridesmaid Dresses: Blak | Lighting: La Lumiere | Floral: Floral Stylist Co. | Catering and Beverages: Jess’ Underground Kitchen | Photobooth: Kiwi Booth Co.