Real Weddings... Briana and Matt

Real Weddings… Briana and Matt

After initially meeting in their teens through Briana’s sister, a school mate of Matt’s, the couple bumped into each other at a number of social events but it was the engagement party of a friend that saw the sparks ignite between the pair.

And the romance blossomed into a proposal that saw Matt present Briana with a beautiful diamond while they were in the car stationary at a set of traffic lights, catching Briana completely off guard. After the proposal the pair spent the day celebratory shopping followed by a delicious dinner at Tetsuya's with Briana’s best friend and her husband.

Fast forward to Sunday the 16^th of May and there you have the beautiful wedding day, ‘the perfect autumn day’ as Briana described it in fact '22 degrees, not too hot and not too cold’.

The ceremony took place at St Stephens Anglican Church in Newtown, after attending a friend’s wedding there the couple fell in love with the beautiful interiors and the contrasting graveyard surrounding. A beautiful reception followed at WatersEdge in Walsh Bay, with the 220 guests being able to take in the amazing harbourside views.

Briana and Matt wanted to keep their wedding their own, keeping the mix of old and new with their own signatures on the day. The colours used in the theme were kept simple – black, white, ivory and champagne kept the palette neutral and classic.

Briana’s dress is the Karen Willis Holmes ready-to-wear ‘Athena’ gown – a beautifully draped, strapless gown with a bustier base and silk georgette overlay. After having seen other brides in KWH gowns, Briana was drawn to visit the ready to wear store in Paddington with her mum, in search of a simple, elegant gown with as little sequins, beading and glitz as possible. After trying on a few the ‘Athena’ was the one that Briana fell in love with. “I loved that it was simple yet very elegant and feminine,” said Briana. “The soft floaty fabric, ruching across the bust, coupled with the long train and veil made the dress just so romantic and incredibly stunning.”

Briana also wore a Karen Willis Holmes veil to finish her look, and this photo shows just how fabulous a veil can look in photographs, adding a touch a drama.

While Briana looked absolutely amazing for the big day, mention must also go to Matt who also looked fantastic, wearing his Prada suit well.

The groomsmen all scrubbed up nicely in David Jones suits, while the bridesmaids looked elegant in dresses from Sam & Sita in Paddington.

Speaking of, the bridal party was filled with fun and laughter, consisting of plenty of friends, along with Bri’s sister and cousin, with one of the groomsmen also acting as the MC – keeping the group close to share in the magic of the day.

The music kept the party going late into the night with live band ‘Ben Ackland’ playing, who is actually a friend of the couple, plays with a talented group of musicians around Sydney and at weddings. ‘They were fabulous and had people dancing most of the night.’

The couple also danced the night away, but shared their intimate first dance to Ben Harper’s ‘Forever’.

The finer points of the big day cannot go unnoticed here. Briana put in hours of research, trawling the Internet drawing inspiration from other people’s weddings, examining photos, and ploughing through various bridal sites, such as theknot.com.au, Amy Atlas and Martha Stewart. Briana also credits Matt as a ‘creative genius’ who often offered his share of inspiration in the planning process too. ‘We designed and printed all stationary ourselves! With Matt being an artist, we couldn’t leave it to anyone else!’

Briana went to Inbud at Cronulla for her flowers and could not speak highly enough of them. ‘Beth is an absolute pleasure to deal with – nothing is too hard for her.  The bouquets and arrangements were above and beyond what we had imagined and were commented on all day.’

Briana selected ‘Sydney Classic’ to video the days events for them after working with them and experiencing great results, while the photographer, 'Simon Wilde', provided the couple with beautiful photos that truly captured the most wonderful of memories for them to indulge in, in years to come.

WatersEdge offered the recommendation of ‘Doys Cakes’ to Briana and Matt and they were thrilled with the results, ‘…her cake was delicious! Rich, smooth chocolate mud….YUM!  People loved it.’

The bombonieres were extra special for the couple, who turned to the experts at 'Sweet Celebrations' – Helen provided them with fantastic service, which one would hope seeing as she is actually Matt’s mother! Briana offered a rave review about her mother-in-law’s business, ‘She has an incredibly fun and well run business doing lolly buffets and bombonieres for weddings and corporate clients.  Of course, our small mini buckets with hand made coconut ice were a real hit!’

  

Briana’s hair and makeup were just gorgeous and were completed by professional, Sarah Laidlaw who is represented by agency, DLM. Again, Briana had worked with Sarah previously and knew she would be dealing with the cream of the crop if she had Sarah on her wedding day. 

It is so obvious in these photos that Briana and Matt had a wonderful day, shared with their family and friends. Briana was so grateful that she got the dream wedding, ‘Matt and I had an incredible day with all our family and friends.  We couldn’t be more thankful to all those who helped make it just so special,’ she said. ‘There were times where we laughed, cried and just had childish fun that made the day so memorable.’

We would like to thank Briana and Matt for sharing their beautiful photos with us and wish them a long and happy marriage together.