May, 2015

Claire’s Elegant Silk Wedding Gown

Posted by on May 28, 2015 in Real Weddings | No Comments
Claire’s Elegant Silk Wedding Gown

We created a stunning lace and silk wedding gown for Claire’s wedding. The gown relied on the sheer beauty of the silk dupion fabric. It provided such a lovely fitted silhouette and then plenty of drama at the hem. The illusion lace neckline finished the elegant look. And wow, just look at those buttons down the back!!

I just adore their venue, Victoria Hall in Fremantle. Definitely worth a look if you are seeking a beautiful old building for your wedding!

Images: Melissa Mills Photography

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Claire & Brendan’s Wedding Venue // Victoria Hall, Fremantle

We had three key needs for our wedding location – that we could have both the ceremony and reception in it, that it was a nice and open space, and that it was in Fremantle. We knew Victoria Hall’s beautiful old façade, and after Googling discovered the City of Fremantle were now in charge of it. We made a time to go check it out, and it was love at first sight. It really set the tone for the whole wedding, and we both couldn’t imagine our wedding taking place anywhere else.

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Claire & Brendan’s Dream Team // Wedding Vendors

I never set foot into a bridal store, I just found the whole idea of sales assistants telling me what suited me and just generally being sales-y, entirely overwhelming. After stumbling across one of Elvi Design’s beautiful dresses online, I knew exactly where I wanted to go. The process of having a dress made that not only did I get an input in, but that I was able to ‘visit’ throughout its creation, just completely set my mind at ease. And of course, Sandra and Birgitta are so lovely and welcoming!

Next up, Melissa Mills Photography. As two people who don’t love having their photo taken, and didn’t want to spend half a day pulling cheesey grins into the camera, Melissa was a gem of a find. Melissa relaxed us immediately, and the proof is in the pudding.

Our DJ was our good friend Nate Nisbet aka Blind Tiger Blues Box. I need to stress here that he does not do weddings, we were just incredibly lucky. His record collection is incredible, and there wasn’t a moment where someone wasn’t on the dance floor. The 40s – 60s music he played really fit with the hall. Go and see him play sometime!

Last but not least Prohibited Bar Management. Victoria Hall has an amazing bar, and we could also BYO our alcohol, which was great. But we needed someone to serve it up, and we found these guys through a friend. They were absolute pros and our guests raved about them (I’m guessing part of the raving was because they were serving them alcohol!). We didn’t need to worry about a thing with them at the helm of the bar.

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Claire’s Favourite Wedding Day Moment

It’s hard to pick just one, but if I had to choose it would have to be our first dance. In the tradition of old dance halls in the 1960s we had everyone throw cornflakes onto the dance floor while we danced (the cornflakes were meant to make the surface better for jiving)! Our guests had a lot of fun with it (how often do you get to throw cereal on the floor?!), and it was great to crunch around on the dance floor for the rest of the night.

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Emily’s Lace and Tulle Tea Length Wedding Dress

Posted by on May 22, 2015 in Real Weddings | No Comments
Emily’s Lace and Tulle Tea Length Wedding Dress

Emily and Josh planned their vintage wedding in the gorgeous South West town of Pemberton all the way from Melbourne. I’m always a little surprised when a bride is willing to travel so far for fittings!

We worked with Emily to create a beautiful tea length wedding dress for their vintage styled wedding. Emily’s gown featured a fitted hand lace applique bodice with an illusion neckline and lace sleeves. The skirt was made from layers of soft tulle and finished with a waistband.

Emily completed her vintage bridal look with a birdcage veil and a bright pair of shoes. A tea length wedding dress is a great opportunity to show off a fabulous pair of shoes!!

Emily’s suppliers –

Photography: Studio Sidekick Photography // Veil: Fiona Dixon // Venue: Lakeside Garden Retreat Pemberton // Styling & Coordination: The Style Est. // Floral Design: Paula McKennay Freelance Floristry // Furniture hire: Maisey Collections //Hair and Makeup: Headquarters for Hair & The Makeup Room

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What was your favourite moment on your big day?

Waking up early the morning of the wedding and looking out over the garden to watch the sunrise knowing that in a few hours I’d be marrying my best friend! (not a great quality picture but just wanted to share! hehe)

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What was the most important thing to you on your wedding day?

Josh and I knew we wanted to be genuine & true to ourselves. We never compromised on our vision and I think everyone was surprised (in a good way!) at how everything turned out. Our wedding was bright and fun and maybe a little nontraditional – but it was perfect!

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How did you find your venue?

We always knew we would get married in Pemberton, such a beautiful area full of forrest, family and a great community! We decided to steer away from the standard church route and after my parents found Lakeside Garden Retreat – a gorgeous garden sanctuary set amongst the trees – we were all set! The local Mill Hall which is over 100 years old served as the perfect backdrop to our retro meets Melbourne pub inspired reception.

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Who was your favourite supplier to work with?

Our day would have never been the same without the styling & coordination by Lauren of The Style Est. It was such a fun experience as we clicked instantly and started enthusiastically planning every little detail that goes into a wedding. It’s not an easy process to plan a wedding from the other side of the country but she worked tirelessly to make all my ideas come to life!

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Any special tips on how to plan a wedding?

Do your research & go into things with clear ideas and inspiration! Don’t be afraid to make decisions – or to stand up for those decisions! Surround yourself with people who support your vision!

Thanks for sharing your beautiful wedding with us Emily xx

Wedding Upmarket May 2015

Posted by on May 15, 2015 in Bridal Fair | No Comments
Wedding Upmarket May 2015

We’ve been doing Wedding Upmarket since the very beginning in 2011. We just love meeting bride-to-be’s in the relaxed environment this alternative bridal fair provides.

This time we worked with Pretty Willow to create our stand. We opted for pretty pastels and vintage props, it worked perfectly with our gowns!

We had two real brides model their wedding gowns, Gaenor and Lisa. A big thank you to Greasepaint Artistry for their make-up, Kirra’s Hair for their hair and Botanica Naturalis for providing their stunning bouquets!

Images by Jason Tey Photography

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And some snaps from our Instagram account, for more follow @elvidesign !!

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Chantelle’s Vintage Lace Tea Length Wedding Dress

Posted by on May 9, 2015 in Real Weddings | No Comments
Chantelle’s Vintage Lace Tea Length Wedding Dress

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How did your wedding dress make you feel?

I hadn’t dreamt for years about the ‘perfect’ dress and to be honest I was struggling to picture it all coming together whilst the girls were making it.  I knew I wanted something a bit quirky, with a vintage type feel so the tea length was really the only option for me.   I trusted that Elvi Design would make something impeccable but I was so overwhelmed with all the little details that I didn’t really notice that my dress was turning out to be a truly amazing creation that really made me feel ‘like me’.  Wearing my dress ‘for reals’ on the day was very emotional, it almost caught me by surprise. I felt Sandra & Birgitta captured my rambling ideas about what I wanted without me even knowing it.  I felt really beautiful, very myself and importantly very comfortable.  I could dance and pee without assistants which was a bonus!

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What was your favourite moment on your big day?

Exchanging vows was my favourite moment.   In fact the vows were probably the aspect I enjoyed most about the planning and the actual big day.  The ceremony itself was a total sensory overload for me.  I couldn’t even remember walking down the aisle.  I knew I was moving but I couldn’t really see much, or even hear anything.  But when I got to the alter and I held Mickey’s hands I calmed down and started to be in the moment (god that’s corny but its true).  We wrote our own vows and that gave us a chance amidst all the chaos of organising things to sit back and reflect on who we are as a couple and why we were choosing to make these promises to each other.  Standing there are promising to make sure that every day we both knew we were loved was what the whole day was about.  Mickey then promised to make me study snacks so I can focus on my uni homework and I promised to protect Mick from germs (he’s a bit of a germaphobe).   I felt the love and support from our friends and family and I remember laughing and being confident that no matter what happened for the rest of the night it was all perfect.  Mickey’s grandparents have been married for over 60 years so they performed a ring blessing before we exchanged rings, which was also a very special moment for the both of us too.

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Do you have any advice you’d like to pass on to other brides?

Stay off pinterest! It will ruin your life!! In all seriousness though, whilst there is a lot of great inspiration around, that ‘rustic barn wedding’ that you have been drooling over is styled within an inch of its life, which is fantastic if you have the budget to make all that happen but most people don’t, we certainly didn’t.  Pinterest, stylists, vendors, blogs, family, friends, fairs and expos…during the planning stage you get bombarded with a lot of information, inspiration and very well intended opinions from others.  You need some kind of reference point to help make decisions and to keep your day feeling ‘like you’.  The very first thing that Mickey and I did when planning our wedding was write down a few dot points of what we wanted our day to be like, what things we valued the most and what we wanted to be feeling.  12 months later we were often referring back to that list when we were faced with endless decisions about expensive car hire or the merits of 360 vs 390gsm cardstock… Knowing what matters the most to you will help navigate the planning stage, allow you to filter out the distractions, keep your expectations realistic and make the right decisions for you and your day. PS…we went with the 390gsm coaster board in natural off white.

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What ‘style/theme’ did you choose for your wedding and why?

Theme: Our relationship was built on breakfast. Actually, with briner (breakfast for dinner) to be exact.  We’d eat stacks of pancakes with chantilly cream at 1am when Mick had finished long shifts in the kitchen or enjoy midnight muesli just because, well, it’s pretty great.  So we wanted the theme of our wedding to reflect these memories and be something really unique for our guests.

We worked closely with Heyder and Shears Exclusive caterers to design the menu which was served in a relaxed cocktail party style.  Examples of the brinner canapés served are Mini Eggs Florentine, quails egg, spinach, brioche, hollandaise, Smoked Salmon, Dill & Crème Fraiche, Buckwheat Blinis and Smoked Crispy Bacon & Maple Stacked Pancakes.  Arrival cocktails included espresso martinis and kiwi and honeydew melon bellinis.  There was also a make your own bloody mary cocktail bar, because what brinner is complete without some kind of kicky tomato elixir?  Desserts were also breakfast themed, our wedding cake was a sensational layered crepe cake.  There were 200 crepes and the filling was a vanilla bean Italian meringue buttercream and a Lemon curd.  We also had candied bacon cupcakes which were amazing and really popular with guests. We included the favors in the brinner theme as well.  Handmade by Mick’s mum they were individual serves of granola (the favour tags read; “Off to a good start granola”).

Styling: We wanted our wedding to be very personal, meaningful and a unique reflection of us as a couple.  Mickey and I love old stuff, anything rich in history with a good story to tell so we chose a vintage/shabby chic style.  This style allowed us to incorporate a lot of decorative pieces that have been in our families for generations, or that we have collected over the years, as we love antique shopping together.  It also allowed us to keep our wedding informal and relaxed, a bit quirky and uniquely us.

For more photos click here to see Nouba’s blogpost on Chantelle & Mickey.

Suppliers

Photography: CJ Williams Photography // Bride’s dress: Elvi Design // Bride’s shoes: Shoes of Prey| Bridesmaids dresses: Coast // Bridesmaids shoes: Tony Bianco // Groom’s suit: MJ Bale // Groom’s shoes: Florsheim // Rings: George Debelich // Accessories: Kirahley Kreations shoe clips, Brass Boheme hair clip, Willie Creek Pearls earrings, Tux and Tulle tie and pocket square // Hair: Jamie Victoria // Makeup: Alana Santos from Mila Makeup // Ceremony venue: Woodloes Homestead and Chapel // Celebrant: Danicia Dutry Ceremonies // Reception venue: bride’s parents’ private property // Flowers: Puzzles Floral Design // Catering: Heyder and Shears Exclusive Catering // Cake: Red Bird Cake Company // Entertainment: Systematic Visuals // Stationery/invitations: Whiteman Park Print Shop and The Articulate // Transport: Black London Cabs

Thanks for sharing your special day with us Chantelle. We really enjoyed working with you xx

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