June, 2014

Victoria & Jeff’s Elegant Yarra Valley Wedding

Posted by on Jun 30, 2014 in Real Weddings | No Comments
Victoria & Jeff’s Elegant Yarra Valley Wedding

I went to school with Vic, so you can imagine how excited I was when she emailed me about a wedding dress. Over a couple of wines in Melbourne, we dreamed up a beautiful wedding gown and three individual bridesmaid designs.

The odds were against us, Vic is a pilot (yes, she flys BIG planes) living in Melbourne with a hectic schedule and of course, we’re located in Perth. Vic would fly into Perth for the day just to have a fitting with me, let’s just say, I’m pretty sure I’ll never have such a dedicated client again. Vic has always oozed energy and charisma so it was no surprise that everyone near and dear to her wanted to be involved in the wedding process. Our studio was often filled with her Mums, bridesmaids, sister-in-laws and friends. It was a very fun experience and you could tell that there was a lot of love for this gorgeous couple.

Vic and Jeff decided to wed at Chateau Yering in the Yarra Valley, their family and friends stayed at the beautiful property for the weekend of wedding festivities. Vic was very hands on with the wedding planning and I believe she spent many an afternoon crafting for the big day.

Take a look at these beautiful images captured by Candice Van Moolenbroek Photography and Vic’s reflections on their wedding day…

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What was your favourite moment on your big day?

I know we’re probably supposed to say, our first kiss or the ‘I do’s” but we both actually share a favourite moment that was a complete surprise. Our MC, a good friend, did an amazing job and whilst we were out having our final photos he really wound up the crowd. We had no idea they were practising their chants! When we were introduced into the reception room, these big double doors opened and we were hit with the most incredible energy. I have never ever in my life heard an applause like that. Everyone stood up chanting “Vic and Jeff” over and over. It was such a surprise to us that Jeff actually teared up. The photos of our surprised faces are priceless and I still get goosebumps thinking about it! We felt so loved.
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What was the most important thing to you on your wedding day?

The most important thing to us was that we wanted every single one of our guests to feel they were there for a reason. The guest list was by far the hardest part of the entire process and every individual meant something to us. We had 115 guests and making that personal is really tricky but I’m glad we took the extra time to add the personal touches. One of the things we did was instead of just names marking the seats, we had a photo of the individual with either Jeff or I, for those we had known for a long time we tried to find photos that showed our history or a funny moment that we shared. The photo was attached to a photo card and inside everyone was a personal message written by Jeff or I. It took hours, I mean hours but it was one of the most commented on things that we did and I’m glad we did do it! 

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How did your wedding dress make you feel?

I think the classic line is to say ‘like a princess’ but I didn’t feel like a princess, I felt like a queen! The dress fit so well and was exactly how I had imagined it. I loved swishing my skirt around and spent a lot of the afternoon twirling! Of course I would be remiss to not mention the 3 gorgeous bridesmaid dresses that captured the individual personalities of every girl. They looked incredible and I know they felt confident and beautiful.  

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Testimonial

It’s hard to put into words what it means to create your own wedding dress with Elvi Design. Sandra and Birgitta will read between the lines with every mismatched crazy sentence and idea you come up with to turn it into something with wow factor. How they managed to read my mind so perfectly, I’ll never know. Every fitting is part of a journey and the excitement that builds over time is an experience that I would recommend to everyone. Professional, talented, creative but above all invested in your dress as if it were their very own. There is no other way to make a wedding dress but with Elvi Design.

Suppliers

Dress: Elvi Design of course!!!

Shoes: Shoes of Prey

Hair: Kendal FX

Makeup: Makeup By Maggie Tamarua

Flowers: Jumping Jonquils

Photographer: Candice Van Moolenbroek Photography

Venue: Chateau Yering Historic Hotel, Yarra Valley, Victoria.

Hanny’s Lace Wedding Dress

Posted by on Jun 24, 2014 in Real Weddings | No Comments
Hanny’s Lace Wedding Dress

Hanny and Michael wed at the St Mary Star of the Sea Church in Cottesloe, their ceremony was followed by an intimate backyard reception at their home in Cottesloe.

Hanny selected an adapted version of our ‘Tia’ gown. We created a figure hugging lace wedding dress with a crystal embellished waistband and detailed scollop edging. The lace was enhanced by a creamy milk coloured silk dupion. Hanny completed her look with a lace edged finger tip veil which we also made.

Their big day was beautifully captured by Fiona Vail Photography.

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What was your favourite moment on your big day?

My favourite moment of the big day – it’s a tie between walking down the aisle and seeing all my closest friends and family there to support us getting married and when we had the photo done on the building site and it suddenly hit us that we just got married and how much love, deep affection and adoration I can see in my husband’s eyes.

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

The most important thing on our wedding day was for all of us to have fun and for guests to feel the love we have for each other! It was important that all of our guests to have a good time, feel relax and intimate and able to make new friends and be absolutely delighted with our choice of entertainment!

How did your wedding dress make you feel?

The dress makes me feel like a “Vogue” bride! I feel like a million dollar, unique and womanly. I also love the veil and when I put the veil on whilst walking down the church, I feel so delicately and prettily wrapped !

Suppliers

Flowers: Fox & Rabbit

Bridesmaid Dresses: Zimmerman

Tor & Kate’s Whitsunday Beach Wedding

Posted by on Jun 19, 2014 in Real Weddings | No Comments
Tor & Kate’s Whitsunday Beach Wedding

In my line of work, there really is nothing more special than creating a friends wedding gown. Not only have they trusted you to make them the most beautiful dress they will ever wear but you also get to spend a lot of quality time with them in the lead up to their wedding.

It’s always a little strange sitting down with a friend and chatting dress. It’s no longer banter between girlfriends, it’s a professional appointment, I have to put on my ‘designer’ hat and listen to their wants and needs like I would with any other potential client.

Kate is the most laid back bride I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. She came into my studio with a vague idea of what she was after and then after a bit of a chat, I sketched up her beach wedding dress. She couldn’t believe that I turned her words into a sketch that she loved!

Tor and Kate planned a relaxed, laid back wedding with their nearest and dearest at the beautiful Long Island Resort in the Whitsundays, Queensland. The location was idyllic and the weather was just superb, the perfect setting for these two lovebirds to tie the knot. I was lucky enough to be one of their guests (my husband had the role of Best Man) so I can vouch that it was a really fun wedding with a great bunch of people!

I had a chat with Kate after the wedding, here’s what she had to say about her experience as a bride, images by Total Weddings Whitsundays

1)   What was your favourite moment on your big day?

My favorite moment was just as I was about to walk down the aisle. All the nervousness went away and I suddenly felt very calm and ready. Seeing Tor’s smiling face at the end of the aisle waiting for me was the best feeling.

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2)   How did you find your venue?

We came across our ceremony location on the internet. We had a beach wedding in Hamilton Island which I have to admit, I was quiet nervous about having never been there before, however, we absolutely loved it! While a beach wedding is not for everyone, it was perfect for us. Everything about our wedding was very relaxed and stress-free which was exactly what we wanted.

3)   Who was your favourite supplier to work with?

Elvi Design! In all seriousness it really was. Sandra and Birgitta made the whole process so easy. When I had my first appointment, I had so many different ideas but didn’t really know how to explain/pull everything together. As I was talking, Sandra was sketching and at the end of our conversation she showed me her sketch and I couldn’t believe it – my dream dress! Throughout all the fittings, they listened to me, gave good advice and were extremely helpful and patient. Ever since I have been Elvi’s number one fan and very highly recommend Elvi to all Brides.

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4)   What kind of bride did you want to be?

I wanted to be a relaxed, no fuss bride. My initial thought when I first started to think about the wedding planning was to run off to Vegas and elope – that’s how simple I’m talking! But after some further thought, there were certain aspects that I did want a bit more traditional. And looking back on the memories, I knew I would be glad I did it. That’s why a beach wedding suited us so well, as it met somewhere in the middle of formal and non-formal.

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

We had a very small wedding with only close family and friends that travelled from Perth to Hamilton Island to attend, so what was most important to us was that everyone had a good time and felt included in their own special way.

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6)   Any special tips on how to plan a wedding?

Having a wedding planner really helped me. If you can find someone that’s in your budget, I would recommend having one because there are so many different things that you don’t think about that you could easily forget, so it’s comforting to have someone that knows what they are doing to guide you through.

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

I know it’s hard but try to switch off and not worry too much the night before – otherwise you will end up getting no sleep like I did!

8)   How did your wedding dress make you feel?

Amazing, I love my dress! I think most woman will agree that it’s probably the most important thing you need to get right. If you feel great in your dress then you are more confident and everything else follows because you’re feeling good about yourself.

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I just had to add these photos of Kate modelling her wedding gown at the recent Wedding Upmarket in April. Images by Lola Images.

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Short Wedding Dresses – A Tale of No Train

Posted by on Jun 16, 2014 in From the designer | No Comments
Short Wedding Dresses – A Tale of No Train

Now I’m all for a dramatic gown with a beautiful, long train but… here are a few reasons why short wedding dresses are becoming a popular choice for modern brides –

  • Short wedding dresses are PRACTICAL, there is no train to ‘fluff’ for photos and there is no chance of you tripping as you walk down the aisle.
  • You can MOVE! There is not a bustle in sight, you’ll be able to move freely and DANCE the night away.
  • From my experience, the area of a wedding gown to cop the most damage is the train, it’s only inevitable. With a short wedding dress, you have less fabric to clean and a better chance of keeping it CLEAN!
  • Ok, we live in Perth. The heat of a Summer’s day can reach over 40 degrees. Short wedding dresses are COOLER to wear in those sweltering Summer months.

Short wedding dresses are available in so many styles, take a look at some of the designs we’ve created…

Daphne Tea-Length Gown / Image by Still Love Photography

Shea’s Tea-Length Lace Gown / Image by Merge Photography

Image by Ted Murphy

Naomi’s Tea-Length Gown / Image by Ted Murphy.

Image by Julie Walsh

Davina’s Tea-Length Wedding Gown / Image by Julie Walsh

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Lucy’s Short Wedding Dress / Image by Emma Pointon

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Jaymie’s Tea-Length Gown / Image by Still Love Photography

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Jessica’s Tea-Length Gown / Image by Jason Tey

 

 

 

Jaymie & Joshua’s Balingup Country Wedding

Posted by on Jun 5, 2014 in Real Weddings | No Comments
Jaymie & Joshua’s Balingup Country Wedding

I still remember my first meeting with the lovely Jaymie. She had a really good idea of what she wanted. She was chasing a frock that would be suitable for their country wedding in the height of Summer. A tea-length wedding dress was ideal, great in the heat and also super practical! They are pretty much impossible to get dirty. Jaymie isn’t a frilly lass so she wasn’t keen on ‘lacy lace’, we had a play and went with the alternative look of textural 3D lace.

Jaymie initially wasn’t going to go with a veil but as the day got closer, she grew to like the idea of a ‘flyaway veil’. We made up the perfect little veil for her tea-length gown and I just adore this look, it just finished the dress!

I love hearing from each of my brides after their wedding, a big thank you to Jaymie for sharing some moments and photos from her special day.

What was your favourite moment on your big day?

That’s an easy one…most definitely the moment when we said our vows. We had written them ourselves, and had kept them secret from each other – the surprise element made it all the more special, and all the more teary! We wanted our wedding ceremony to be a very personal experience, and made sure we included lots of little quirks and jokes here and there – it was important for people to laugh with us, relax and take it all in.

 How did you find your venue?

We searched so many venues in Perth, but couldn’t settle on one that felt ‘like us’. We had visited and stayed at Jalbrook Cottages in Balingup many times to celebrate our birthdays and anniversaries, but it never crossed our minds to get married there until my best friend suggested it. Suddenly, we realised that it was the perfect place all along – a relaxed, casual atmosphere with stunning gardens and the most welcoming owners who’ve always treated us like family. We had always wanted a very inclusive wedding ‘experience’, and Jalbrook allowed us to get stuck into lots of DIY and have all hands on deck when it came to setting up the big day (Yes, we even had members of our bridal party climbing up trees to string festoon lights).

 How did your wedding dress make you feel?

I quickly discovered that my dress was made for dancing (and also for keeping cool on a 38 degree summer’s day!) – I felt so special wearing a gown that had been created just for me – I’d watched it come ‘alive’ from a little sketch on paper all those months ago, to become my gorgeous dress that captured the all vintage charm I’d imagined and put tears of joy in my husband’s eyes as he watched me walk towards him. When I look at my dress now (besides wanting to wear it all over again), I’m instantly transported back to the magical day where I got to flutter around in all that gorgeous that silk and lace, creating the happiest of memories with my loved ones – that’s a pretty great feeling!

Images by the clever folk at Still Love.

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