A Real DIY Sydney Wedding

Welcome to the wonderful Wedding of Jules and Andrew who recently got married in Sydney, Australia. They are perhaps the most relaxed bride and groom I have ever met. Their Wedding Day was everything they wanted it to be, with their closest friends and family around them for an intimate ceremony and amazing party! Jules wanted her Wedding to be a true 'labour of love', creating each and every element herself, I think you will agree she succeeded in making it a beautiful success. Now it is over to Jules for her to tell you her Wedding tale...

Andrew and I met at festival in Sydney, there was a big group of us and we all hit a house party afterwards and had a great time. Post festival he ‘friend-ed’ me on Face Book, lots of email banter ensued and a week later we met up for dinner. We got married in Sydney as we both live here and as we were keen to be outdoors in the sunshine, the plan was to get married in the park, a two min walk from my parent's house overlooking the water, and then get on a bus to the reception to be hosted in a small warehouse, a thirty minute drive away.

I was never really 'that girl who imagined her wedding day' so I never really wanted a huge traditional wedding, in fact I initially suggested eloping! Given we weren’t getting married in the UK we decided we could venture away from the marquee, church route (I would have got married in a church had we been in the UK) and just do our own thing. We also made the call early on not to invite people over from the UK and make it a ‘destination wedding’ – so we managed to cut numbers down and make it more low key.  It also allowed me to focus my energy (and our money) on our Honeymoon, which was key for me!  Initially we really struggled to find somewhere suitable as the only thing that I wanted was amazing food (canapes) and something a bit different. 

Most of the venue’s in Sydney, whilst they have amazing views or backdrops, have set menus and I wanted a more relaxed stand up, cocktail affair.  We actually ended up getting married in my parents living room, a decision made on the day as it poured with rain, and I really wanted to get on the bus and travel with everyone to the reception rather than have the ceremony at the reception venue which was the original rainy day plan. 

My Wedding Dress shopping experience was great fun experience but I am not much of a shopper and I didn’t try the dress on and think this is the ‘one’.  Getting married in Sydney in summer always meant I was limited with regards to the style of my dress (not wanting to be too hot) so that helped narrow it down to silk.  I went to two shops, tried on eight dresses, and found the one I loved!

Our invitations were the start of my 'DIY Bridal journey' and were great fun to make. We had help from friends who are graphic designers and then Andrew and I cut, folded and created all of our invitations by hand.  We created 3D ‘fortune tellers’ with all the details of the day under the flaps and delivered them all in hand made cardboard boxes.  I loved all the DIY action, getting into the detail and finding my creative self.  I made everything for our Wedding Day; from the save the dates, the invitations, RSVP/dance request cards, flower pom poms, bunting, fan programs for the ceremony, hanging jam jars, stuffed hanging hearts… you name it!  I stole all the ideas for various blogs – including Bride De Force!

I didn't really have a theme, colour or motif in mind for our Wedding, I just wanted something fun to reflect the mood we wanted to create. So no white card, nothing to formal or too serious. I made our save the dates by printing a photo of us at the festival we met at (in fancy dress)! 

The well-wishing, smiling faces when I looked out at all our friends and family during the ceremony was my most memorable moment from our Wedding Day.  I remember thinking "wow, they are all here for us". It was quite overwhelming, especially because it was so intimate. I did also enjoy all of the comments on my dress – I won’t lie!

Jule's Three Real Bride Top Tips:
1) Sit down before you start planning and each write a 'wish list' of things that mean something to you that you want to happen on the day and really care about.
2) Work backwards. Think about invoices, final payments, deposits and when you have to confirm what. Before you know it a 'to do list' will take shape.
3) Stay strong.  Stick to your plan and ideas. Don’t be persuaded into this and that and lose sight of the bigger picture. It is easy to get caught up in the detail and agonize over every little thing - honestly people don’t notice!

Suppliers: Dress: Caleche Bridal House, Veil -  Caleche Bridal House, Vintage Hair Clip - Viktoria Novak, Shoes - Floreat Floral, Flowers - Jane Lampe, Floral Retreat,  Make-up - Emma Bartlik,  Bridesmaid Dresses - Asos & Alana Hill, Cake - Myself, Photographer - Brent Winstone, Venue - Warehouse