Wedding date: 31 August 2018 // Number of guests: 100
This travel-loving couple enjoyed an elegant celebration amongst the lavender fields in the beautiful Scenic Rim region of Queensland – and we’re in love with everything about their day (especially Sian’s dress – check out her two bodice-overlays!).
QB: All good love stories start somewhere; tell us how and when you met …
S&A: We met in high school, although neither of us can remember exactly how and when. We became good friends after high school when we started to hang out regularly in the same circle of friends. Andy took several years to work up the courage to make a move, but after one fateful New Year’s Eve in Byron Bay, the rest became history.
QB: Tell us about your lives together …
S&A: We have settled down with two cats and a dog and often spend our weekends listening to jazz and drinking wine on our balcony with the pets. As a couple, we love travelling, trying new foods and restaurants, wine, martinis, and eating cheese. Lots of cheese!
But perhaps our most significant achievement as a couple and the truest test of any relationship; a trip to Ikea! We not only managed to pick furniture together but also assembled it that afternoon without murdering one another. Andy even managed it without using the instructions though there were a few parts left over at the end!
QB: What does marriage mean to you?
S&A: Marriage is finding someone you want to spend the rest of your life with and not just the beautiful moments but the difficult ones too; the bed hair, morning breath and irrational fights. But it’s also having someone who looks past that, who makes you feel loved despite your flaws. It’s making each other better people than you ever were apart. It’s finding the best martini in Brisbane and trying all the cheese and champagne in France. It’s seeing the world for the first time together and being awed. It’s an adventure, one that we’ve already started but it’s only just begun!
QB: Make us laugh, make us cry: who proposed to who, and how?
S&A: Andy proposed! We were travelling through France, on a self-guided wine and cheese tour when he popped the question. According to Andy, he had been carrying around the ring for a whole week just waiting for the right moment to arise. He even had it in his pocket and set off the metal detector at the entrance to Musée d’Orsay! Lucky for him, I never noticed his nervousness and the security guard assumed Andy had left his phone in his pocket. After a week of carting around the ring, Andy decided to take matters into his own hands and create a perfect moment by booking dinner in Reims. After dinner, we bought a bottle of champagne and retired to our apartment, where Andy was so nervous he proceeded to clean the apartment. But then he got down on one knee and didn’t even get through his whole speech before I yelled YES!
QB: How and why did you choose your venues?
S&A: We wanted a venue that could offer us the whole package – a place for the ceremony and reception that also provided a beautiful background for our photos. My (Sian’s) mother suggested Kooroomba Vineyards and Lavender Farm. We visited Kooroomba and instantly fell in love!
QB: What was the inspiration behind your wedding style?
S&A: It took a long time before we figured out our wedding style. Every enquiry we made for the wedding always had the question – what is the wedding theme? And every time we were stumped. It wasn’t until we found our save the date invitations – which featured a beautiful greenery-style border – that we decided our theme would incorporate botanicals and that our wedding style was classic with a modern twist. After that, everything else fell into place.
QB: Did you incorporate any traditions or perhaps do something a little different?
S&A: I am half Chinese, so we had a wedding tea ceremony. Usually, this is done between the ceremony and the reception but since my grandmother wasn’t able to leave her nursing home to attend the wedding, we brought the tea ceremony to her a few days before our big day. The nursing home was happy to help us out by providing a private room for us and decorating it with Cantonese wedding decorations.
A wedding tea ceremony is a Chinese tradition. The couple serves tea to their parents, and then to their grandparents, followed by other relatives. As the couple serves tea, the relative usually blesses the couple with the hope that they will have many children, and then offer a gift to the couple in return for the tea. I wore a traditional cheongsam red wedding dress that belongs to my aunt, which has been lent to all the women in her family over the last 25 years.
QB: Were there any standout suppliers?
S&A: We had several standout suppliers!
Photographer – Stories by Ash
Videographer – Gold Bear Weddings
Both the teams managed to provide us with the most wonderful photos and videos without being intrusive on the day.
Dressmaker – Paddington Weddings/Bertossi Brides
The dress was beautiful and fit like a glove! Anne and her team at Paddington Weddings/Bertossi Brides did a fabulous job.
Venue – Kooroomba Vineyard and Lavender Farm
Particularly their event coordinator, Sam. She went above and beyond what we would expect from an event coordinator and even organised for us to have our entrees privately in the chapel, so we could have our first moment alone as a couple.
Makeup – Bespoke Faces
Elle from Bespoke Faces knows her stuff when it comes to wedding makeup! And she has some great stories to tell to help pass the time while the girls were getting ready.
Celebrant – Erin Woodhall
Erin put together a wonderful ceremony that was perfectly tailored to us. She really gets to know each couple to ensure that she can do this – and she also has amazing Ninja-like skills to ensure she escapes her being in the first-kiss-photo!
QB: Do you have any words of wisdom to offer other couples?
S&A: Wedding advice: We followed a suggestion from Andy’s sister and husband and decided to have our entrees privately away from our weddings guests. On a day when everyone wants to talk and get a photo with the newlyweds, having a private moment together was really worth doing.
Life advice: Never go to bed angry; there’s always common ground to find. Remember the good times when things aren’t perfect and always be honest with one another.
QB: Did you (or will you) enjoy a honeymoon? If so, how and why did you choose your destination?
S&A: We chose Italy for our honeymoon because of our love of good food and wine, and it was terrific. We loved our time in Capri and Tuscany. Capri held all the luxury of an exclusive island getaway with views to match, while Tuscany gave us the authentic Italian experience. Truffle hunting, cooking classes, opera in the rolling Tuscan hills and of course delicious wine.
LITTLE BLACK BOOK
Photography: Stories by Ash // Venue: Kooroomba Vineyard and Lavender Farm // Dress & veil: Paddington Weddings/Bertossi Brides //Bridesmaids: Review // Suits: MJ Bale // Groomsmen suits: Rented from Tony Barlow Brisbane // Rings: PW Fine Jewellery // Florals: Flower Lovers // Cake: Cakes by Olivia V // Videography: Gold Bear Weddings // Celebrant: Erin Woodhall // Makeup: Makeup by Bespoke Faces // Hair: Hair by Joe Beck
