Ash and Paul : The Wedding
Next up on our beautiful weddings feature is the wonderfully fitting celebration of Ash and Paul. With the ceremony held at The Garrison Church, Millers Point, and the reception venue The Sydney Dance Lounge, how could it be anything but? We had a chat with the couple to learn the in’s and out’s, and glean a few helpful tips too.
On the proposal:
“We got engaged on Christmas Day. We were exchanging gifts under the tree just the two of us, and Paul was acting super. He ran upstairs to grab a present he forgot to put under the tree. He came down and had a box that was playing music that he gave to me - it had a series of cards (almost ‘Love Actually’ style) that detailed how long we’d been together in months, weeks, days and that finally, he had a special question to ask me. He’d lit some candles and told me we had to wait to open presents until after we’d both had showers and gotten ready - I thought he was just finally really getting into the Christmas spirit. It was the perfect day as we were then able to go and share the news with our family and celebrate all day.”
Paul, a Service Engineer in Air Conditioning, and Ash, who works in Marketing, opted to have no theme for their wedding day, with well-thought out reasoning - “We wanted to be able to look back on the day in years to come and not cringe over having picked a certain theme that would date. We wanted things to be classy but relaxed and fun.” Sometimes the non-theme wins, and in this case, it worked perfectly.
The couple also struck the seemingly unachievable balance between DIY and ready-made. Cleverly, they did all the reception flowers themselves, after a visit to the markets and family working bee. Terrace Press was lucky enough to work with the couple on both their invitations and wedding signage, including the seating chart and a beautiful large framed quote.
On the meaning of marriage:
“We saw the wedding as a big excuse to join together all the people we love to have a massive party. We hope that our marriage is just the continuation of the relationship we’ve had to date. We have heaps of fun, get one another and are each other’s biggest fans. Marriage is loyalty and having admiration for one another. And of course a physical attraction.”
On the dress:
“I went to a number of places before going to Jennifer Regan. I had the most amazing experience. Jennifer is a super warm, empathetic lady. At one point I put on a dress that she responded something like “oh no that looks terrible” So I knew I could trust her when she said the one I chose was perfect. My bridesmaid was with me as my Mum was in hospital having just had a knee operation. Her tears signalled the dress was a good choice. I went back a couple of weeks later with my Mum as I wanted her involved in the experience and again, her tears made me pretty confident in my decision!”
With no Bridezilla in sight, it was left to the flower girl to take the famed throne, demanding red roses everywhere and flagging that the cake was “way too small”. It’s all these memorable moments and little details that make a wedding unique; a true culmination of the couple in question and those around them in support.
As for their advice to those planning a wedding:
“Pick out the things that really matter to the both of you and focus on that. Don’t just do stuff or have stuff because you think it’s expected.”
The couple chose to leave the cars and bonbonniere's to the wayside, in favour of good food and drink, and great photography to capture all the special moments, allowing them to have “the best possible wedding that we could imagine for ourselves.”
Vendors: Photography - Rope and Pulley // Bridal gown & veil - Jennifer Regan // Bouquets - Boutierre Girls // Rings - Linda & Co // Bride's bracelet - Bride La Boheme // Bridesmaid dresses - Zimmermann // Groom's & groomsmens' suits - Pepper's Formal Wear // Groom's shoes - Aquila // Ceremony - The Garrison Church, Miller's Point // Reception - The Sydney Dance Lounge // Cake topper - Grain & Co // Stationery - Terrace Press // Makeup - Kye Francis // Music - Personalised Wedding DJ's // Car - HF Wedding Car & Hire //
