This wedding is awesome on so many levels. A good location, and a very inspiring, fun theme and team! And of course we have this set of very beautiful images from Jonathan Ong. Sometimes we feel as though all of heaven rejoices whenever there’s a couple who celebrates with a wedding that is true to themselves.
We know it’s not fair; the bride had a team of wedding designers. Which got us thinking, maybe sometimes we just don’t trust our event planners enough when they give us crazy, conceptual ideas, because we think no one has done it before. Maybe sometimes we just need to dive in with a leap of faith if we feel that it’s right, because honestly, even the event planners can’t fully imagine it too.
Kirstyn: “We booked The Substation not long after getting engaged. The space is amazing and suited us perfectly. The whole look and feel of the day started with inspiration from The Substation. As for the ceremony location, Adam and I didn’t really want a garden or beach or anywhere typical, but we wanted a venue that could facilitate the carnival. The old Newport Rail Workshops were perfect, plus it was just three minutes’ drive away from our reception venue!
“The whole wedding was vintage carnival-inspired. We chose the 1930s and 1940s in particular so that there was a distinct era and continuity throughout the whole day. Adam and I both love theatre – I love the performance side and Adam loves the actual spaces. So we wanted the ceremony to have a dramatic feel about it. Our celebrant, Jon Von Goes, was hilarious and really set the tone for the rest of the day. We even had a few guests say that it felt like ‘the show had begun.’
“Adam and I love things with an earthy, rustic, organic feeling so we tried to have that throughout. The centrepieces ran the whole length of the tables with many different elements so that they were not only eye-catching as you walked in, but when you sat down there were lots of details to admire. There were large gold candlestick holders, moss, flowers in jars and bottles, pinwheels, carnival terrariums with merry-go-rounds and elephants, and lots of candles. Then we had a huge ceiling installation that had large balls of flowers, wire balls, moss balls and pendant lights. It looked like something out of a movie.
“Adam is a chef so it was really important to him that the food be outstanding. Quite often meals made en masse lack the personality that restaurant food has, but our food was fabulous and full of character.
“All of the details throughout the whole day made our day special and enhanced the experience for our guests; we had so many people comment that everything about the day was so typically us, which is what it’s about at the end of the day – us.
“Adam and I had the greatest night. We didn’t feel rushed or as though we spent the whole night hosting, we simply enjoyed the party we had worked so hard to put together and it was magical.”
Tips from the bride: “As a wedding planner, this is what I do for other brides all the time, but after experiencing it firsthand, I cannot stress enough how critical having a coordinator was to the enjoyable day we all had.”
KIRSTYN & ADAM {Australia}
Photography by Jonathan Ong / Ceremony Venue The Old Newport Rail Workshops / Reception Venue The Substation, Newport / Number of Guests 150 / Wedding Planning and Styling by IGBY Productions / Bride’s Shoes by Wittner / Bride’s Veil and Hair Accessories by Alannah Hill / Groom’s Attire by Hugo Boss / Groom’s Shoes by ASOS / Groomsmen’s Attire by ASOS, MYER and ZARA / Hair by Mary Posterino – Salon Symmetry and Adam DiBiase – Salon Jenaire On the Waterfront / Makeup by Sadie Tate / Wedding Party Flowers by Connie Fedele / Reception Flowers by IGBY Productions / Catering by Melbourne Catering Company / Favours by Lajari Design House / Invitations and Stationery by Bride and Bdesignsinvitations on Etsy / Entertainment by Austin Busch and Anthony Murray and Mamakusa
{Read more about this in the magazine}