Brisbane Wedding
Rain, hail nor Covid were going to stop these high school sweethearts from saying “I do”… so their wedding plans moved full steam ahead with very little change…
Thankfully Gemma and Angus’s wedding venue Riverlife, had a Covid-safe plan in place so their wedding could move forward and allow them to celebrate their marriage just as they wished (with just a few minor adjustments). The adjustments didn’t take away from their incredible day though, in many ways, it made their day all the more epic!!!
After the big day, Gemma posted about her day on a local FB group… sharing her new wisdom with fellow brides – here is what she said…
From Gemma…
My husband and I tied the knot on our ten year anniversary on 27 August 2020.
I wanted to share our sneak peek photos with some of our details to shout out to our suppliers because they were all so AMAZING!
DETAILS:
Venue: Riverlife Weddings & Events (Brisbane)
Transport: Uber premierCelebrant: Natasha Hill (@hillscelebrant)
Photographer: Romana Saeheng (@romanasaeheng)
Videographer: Amy, Times Flies By Videography (@timefliesbyvideography)
Hair & make up: Kendall Jayde HMUA (@kendalljaydehmua)Beauty therapist: Jamie-Lea, Aglo beauty
Cake: Meagan, @mmcakesandcreations
Getting ready and mini moon: Air BnB
Bride’s dress: Alfred Angelo Bridal from FB Marketplace, hoop underneath from an op shop
Bride’s veil: a cape veil from eBay
Bride’s shoes: shoes of prey closing down sale
Bridesmaid’s dresses: the Iconic
Bridesmaid’s robes: eBay
Jewelry: Lovisa
Bouquets: DIY by my mum with a combination of flowers and greenery purchased from kmart, op shops and FB marketplace
Groom’s bow tie and suspenders: Eden, @LilyPinGroom’s suit: POLITIX
Groom’s shirt: Trenery
Groomsmen’s suit pants, shirt and suspenders: no idea??
ADVICE:
First, I felt a lot of pressure to lose weight and be the thinnest I’ve ever been, along with having the nicest skin and hair. I ended up gaining weight, and my skin broke out. I started with a pixie cut and struggled to get enough length for the Hollywood glam curls I wanted. But none of that mattered on the day. I felt absolutely amazing and beautiful. Once I put my dress on, I didn’t think about my weight once! As a curvy girl, my best advice would be to find a dress that you love. If you are insecure about a particular part of your body, there will be a style which flatters it. Also, wait until closer to the day if you can (otherwise set aside some money for alterations). I got mine way too early and my extra weight made it very, very close to not fitting when I tried it on the week before. Second, don’t let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do. It’s your wedding! If you don’t do what you and hubby want, you’ll regret it. We were on the fence about writing our own vows, first dances and speeches and received a lot of conflicting advice. In the end, these were the most memorable parts of our wedding and I am sooo happy we did them! According to their guest book, our guests loved those parts and apparently nearly everyone was crying during our personal vows.
Third, drink as much water as you can early in the day! I didn’t have the chance to drink any from 1pm onwards and really felt it the next day. And make sure you eat a proper lunch to carry you through.
COVID-19:
Despite the restrictions, we honestly had the best day ever. Yes, there were adjustments and differences to what we initially wanted and imagined. But life as we know it might be different for a long time to come, so we didn’t want to postpone and wait for a change which might not come. If you are debating whether or not to go ahead in Queensland right now with no dancing except for first dance and parent dance, everyone must be seated, social distancing and limits on numbers etc, my advice would be to just do it.
Budget/DIY:
Our all inclusive wedding and mini moon budget was $7.5k, and I haven’t done the final figures yet but I think we went just slightly over. We DIY’d everything we could (with the help of my family), and if we couldn’t, we shopped around and got it second hand or on sale. We got soo many ideas and advice from this group and others on FB. We went over budget because we decided to spend extra on food and alcohol (which was all a hit, props to Riverlife), a more expensive celebrant and a few extra hours with our photographer (which we don’t regret as Romana was sooo amazing). My biggest budget advice would be to find suppliers who are just starting out in the industry, look into second-hand dresses, and condense your guest list as much as possible (we had 28 including us). Most importantly, START EARLY. First, it gives you time to digest soo many quotes and emails from suppliers and dig beyond Easy Weddings/the biggest hits on Google to find people new to the industry who are actually amazing. Second, we had organised probably 80% in two months after getting engaged. So when COVID-19 hit us hard, it wasn’t a massive shock to the planning or financial timeline. So thank you everyone on this group for sharing everything and giving so much advice!
