Okay, get this...
A garden soirée in Sydney's Darling Point (Swifts) to play host to an inspired, Alice in Wonderland celebration of celebrations. Gothic Revival architecture met with bold florals adorned by colourful glassware - yet still as informal and unbounded as to allow all attendees to feel carefree and ready to let their hair down.
In Vogue's interview with our ever-lovely bride, Nadia, her styling specifics,
"It was a harmonious mix of colour on neutral backdrops. It was about scalloped edges, muted tones and pops of contemporary hues. We used Maison Balzac mis-matching coloured glasses and carafes. Our entrees were all served on Dinosaur Design platters, and the artist who did our invite art, menus [and] place cards also made each of the inconsistent vases across the tables. We were very fortunate to loan the dramatic umbrellas from Somerleys—a venue we looked at for our engagement celebration but was sadly not possible due to Covid restrictions at the time.”
And the dress?
An easy pick for Nadia, having previously worked as brand manager for Aje - and in interview she recommended brides working with a designer they commonly wear, instead of moving too far from their norms.
“Unlike me, who lives for colour and crazy texture I wanted something relatively classic, but still staying true to my audacious personal style. They executed it perfectly. The ruching at the front made me feel like I was a big wildflower, and gave me an element to play with while waltzing around the venue. The extended corset kept it refined and elegant. Eddi and Adrian know me so well, they made the mini version of my dress without even asking.”
With features like Chanel earrings, Jimmy Choo shoes, Nadia unsurprisingly chose Olive Bond - her bridesmaid - to create the engagement ring and additionally, a tennis necklace, diamond studs, bracelets as well as her signet ring.
Nadia's advice for newly-fiancéed couples?
Keeping the moment with each other as once you share the news you'll be inundated with calls and messages which can take away from what is really happening.
We can't publish this film without also crediting Sydney's finest vendors who worked on this incredible celebration - Dani Dean from The Make Haus for their floral arrangements, Chanel Tobler for the invitations, Kate White from Katering for - you guessed it - the catering, and she even had star bartender Jimmy drop in from Surry Hills' own Eileen's Bar to make quite a few mean martinis. Additionally, the ceremony had the assistance of Ally Considine of MG Events. We also ran into our pal, Joanna Luhrs, whose work you'd recognise from the Lane's bridal week in South Australia.
And to top it off, we were so fortunate to collaborate again, in the visual documentary of this life-event, with photographer Alice Mahran who is based between Sydney and the Netherlands.
