The newlyweds: Katie and Jamen

Ceremony: Blues Point Reserve, McMahons Point, NSW.

“We chose Blues Point Reserve because we wanted the ceremony to be in a park somewhere on the water. We live in Cammeray, so McMahons Point was nice and close and has some spectacular views across Sydney Harbour. We managed to find a lovely little secluded park, which is above the main reserve, so we didn’t have to share the space with anyone!”

Reception: Simmer On the Bay, Walsh Bay, NSW

“We chose Simmer on the Bay firstly for its enormous dance floor! It is also a beautiful space with polished concrete floors and exposed brick walls, and is right on the water at Walsh Bay. They also serve amazing food and were incredibly flexible with all our requests. Marta and Julia, the managers at Simmer, were incredible and really made sure our day was perfect.”

Photography: At Dusk Photography. “Chris from At Dusk was wonderful to work with and we loved all the photos he took of the day. They were natural and elegant and really captured the joy of the day. We were lucky to have a beautiful sunset on the day, which Chris captured perfectly!”

The Dress: “A friend recommended Karen Willis Holmes after she had a great experience there. I loved that my gown was simple, elegant and classic, and the lace was beautiful. It was so comfortable to wear – I didn’t want anything with a huge train or boning as I wanted to dance all night long! The lace sleeves and the little train was perfect! My Mum, mother-in-law and my bridesmaids all helped me choose it.”

Veil: “I wore a Cathedral Length veil with a lace trim, which my mum made by hand.”

Accessories: “I wore crystal earrings from Samantha Wills, a crystal bangle that my mum gave me and a thin gold bracelet that had little sapphire turtle charms, which belonged to my mum. This was my something old, something borrowed and something blue. The bridesmaids wore earrings with a pearl and lapis lazuli drop and pearl bracelets, which were custom made by Josephine Pearls. The bracelets each had a small silver charm on them with the girls’ initials.”

Shoes: Nine West.

Groom and groomsmen’s suits: “These were custom-made in Thailand.”

Bridal Party:“I had three friends as bridesmaids and my cousin’s daughter was our flower girl.”

Groomsmen: “Jay had his two brothers and his good friend from high school as groomsmen.”

Theme: “We wanted a relaxed, fun wedding that really reflected us, our families and our backgrounds. Jay comes from a Jewish family and my mum is Filipino, so we incorporated elements of both cultures into our day, particularly into the ceremony. We wrote our own vows, which were a surprise on the day. We also incorporated a lot of handmade elements. My mum made the cake, all the desserts, my veil and my flower girl’s dress. We also handmade the invitations, the Chuppah, the place cards, the chalkboard signs and the favours.” 

Flowers: “Debbi from Dragonfly Floral Design did an incredible job and I can’t recommend her highly enough. She really understood the look I was going for and everything looked just like I imagined it.” 

Wedding Inspiration: “I couldn’t have planned this wedding without Pinterest and Etsy. Pinterest was particularly helpful for saving images from blogs that I liked. I found that it really helped when suppliers asked me what my wedding theme was – instead of trying to explain it in words, I could just show them my Pinterest page and let the pictures do the talking. I loved blogs like Style Me Pretty, Polka Dot Bride and Green Wedding Shoes. I also read a lot of magazines.”

Favours: “I bought little muslin bags from EBay and we stamped “J K” on the front, then filled them with lollies.”

Stationery: “I made the invitations using custom made stamps I bought on Etsy. Jay’s mum handwrote all the place cards. We had a chalkboard ‘program’ sign at the ceremony, which I made, instead of printing paper programs.”

Menu: “The food was amazing. Simmer had so many options to choose from! My mum also made mini pecan tarts, mini banoffee pies and little mango floats, which were served canapé style after dinner instead of a sit down dessert.”

Cake: “My mum made the cake. It was chocolate mud with buttercream icing.”

“As we walked into the reception venue for the first time, the band started up and we all went straight into the horah, which is a traditional Jewish dance. The girls and I were on one side of the room and Jay and the boys were on the other side of the room, and it involved glitter filled balloons, a maypole, some energetic spinning and Jay being thrown around by his groomsmen. It ended with Jay and I on chairs holding hands (with me holding onto the side of the chair for dear life)! Everyone was up dancing and it was the perfect way to start a celebration. After dinner and speeches, we hit the dance floor again. Jay’s cousins had brought in tambourines and maracas for the dance floor which really added to the party atmosphere!”

Suppliers

Photographer: At Dusk Photography.

Dress: Karen Willis Holmes.

Florist: Dragonfly Floral Design.

Videographer: Black & White Colour. “These guys were such fun to work with!”

Music: Baker Boys Band. “The Baker Boys were fantastic and had everyone dancing all night long! Our First Dance was ‘One and Only’ by Adele.”

Celebrant: Irit Davis. “Irit is a family friend of Jay’s and has known his family for years so it was lovely to have a friend officiate our wedding.”

Transport: Australia in Style.

Hair: EllaBella Hair and Makeup. “Elle was so lovely to work with and made us all feel beautiful.”

Make-up: Beth Porter. “Beth was wonderful and did such an amazing job.”