After three whole months of being married, I can finally sit back and start to share the wisdom of a good married life…okay, maybe that’s a bit premature. But I’ve been carefully collecting all your lovely Bridal and Wedding related questions and have compiled them into The Ultimate Wedding Q&A! So grab a coffee, sit back and enjoy the ride of all you need to know about preparing, planning and having a wedding!
All of these questions came via our IG story Q&A’s. Enjoy!
The Planning
“I am engaged as well but I am so nervous about planning a wedding! Where did you start?”
Planning a wedding is such an enormous task when you look at it as a whole, so the first thing that I did was to break it up into smaller tasks. Being a task oriented person myself, I work best off a ‘To-Do’ list and structure, otherwise I’m a complete stress head and mess.
I created a spreadsheet for my wedding that listed everything we needed to do / have ready for the wedding. Some big things were obviously more important than others to figure out first. Tasks like guest list (rough numbers), ceremony and reception venue and wedding dress were the big tasks that needed to be completed or started first – as everything else flowed from that.
“What’s been your favourite/least favourite part of the planning process?”
Favourite: Seeing the vision of both Nile and myself personified into a wedding come to life.
Least favourite: Realising that it’s not just my wedding, but our wedding. That there are two visions and ideas that need to be incorporated. It was challenging to let go of some of the things I’ve always wanted, but it was worth it! What we ended up with was so perfect.
“What costs can you save on for your own weddings and what is the most that you have to spend?”
Put your finances into the areas you really care about. If you don’t care for fancy menus and table settings, there is no point investing your money into it. But if you love to dance, invest into a good band or DJ!
There is no minimum or maximum you can spend on a wedding, it’s really couple and guest dependant. Obviously the more guests you have, the more it’s going to cost.
“What are some of your best tips to planning a wedding on a budget?”
List your top 3 ‘most important’ elements with your parter and invest your finances into that. For Nile and I it was ‘Family & Friends, Food and the ‘Feeling’ so we didn’t skimp on the amount of food we had or the quality, and made sure the venue *aka* feeling of our wedding was exactly what we wanted.
The Outfits
“Did Marissa have two dresses for the wedding?”
Yes! I had a custom made One Day Bridal gown for my ceremony and most of my reception, however changed into a beautiful custom silk dress made by Effie Kats. Super comfortable and lightweight for dancing the night away.
“How did you decide on the style of dress you wanted?”
I just thought about what dresses/outfit styles I feel the most ‘me’ and comfortable in. I knew that I wanted something with a higher neckline as I’ve always felt the most comfortable that way, but wanted to add some drama/sexiness with the thigh-high split. Essentially think about your favourite dress ever, what did it look like? I just went off elements of my favourite dresses and made the perfect one!
“What did you wear before you got into your wedding dress?”
I wore an amazing linen PJ + robe set from Billie Mae the Label. Wore it on my honeymoon too because it was absolutely perfect and comfortable to wear.
“Who did your make up for your wedding?”
The amazing Cassandra Lusi!
“Where were your bridesmaids outfits from? They were gorgeous!”
Harmony from Hexie Clothing helped design and make all three bridesmaids dresses.
“Wha was the idea behind the all white bridesmaids dresses?”
Honestly, I just knew that it would look really beautiful in our photos. There wasn’t anything fancy behind the idea, I just wanted my bridesmaids to feel super comfortable in their dresses, and as they were all different styles I wanted the colour to be uniform between them. Plus, having a super-awesome multicultural bridal party I knew it would look really striking if we were all wearing white and black!
The Suppliers
“Did you have a wedding planner or co-ordinator?”
We didn’t have someone who organised everything, as I handled most of it myself. However we had an amazing team at Atlantic Group (Gardens House Reception venue) who really co-ordinated and orchestrated all of the set-up and pack-down on the day.
‘Who did your invites?”
My talented friend Liella Snooks!
“Who was your DJ? Would you recommend them?”
We had Christos from Ei8ht Entertainment DJ at our wedding and I couldn’t recommend him enough! He was so professional, thorough and helpful throughout the process and was seriously a great DJ. There is nothing like crappy music at a wedding to be a complete downer and I can admit to you that there was not ONE SINGLE moment that our dance floor was empty throughout the whole night.
Christos had the task of blending Greek, Pakistani, Disco and RnB into the night and he did it so perfectly. Would recommend 10/10 to anyone.
“How did you know your wedding venue was the one?”
It just reflected our personality the most. It captured our outdoorsiness (we both love nature), but it also was classy and elegant enough for us. It wouldn’t have made sense if we got married at a winery or country estate as that wouldn’t have been elegant or modern enough for us. Having our reception at Gardens House in the Botanical Gardens was the perfect medium for us to really reflect our personality.
“Where did you get all your place settings/wedding stationary from?”
The talented team from Sketch & Etch were responsible for creating the amazing #SOHWED Neon Sign (which is currently hanging up in my home), the Menu + place cards, Welcome sign, Seating Chart and Wishing Well. It really brought such an elevated sense of style and elegance that I know if we didn’t have our wedding would have been lacking. The gold name place settings caught the afternoon sunshine and reflected the beautiful pinks and champagne flowers so well. It was totally stunning.
The Day
“Did you enjoy the wedding day? What were some stressful things you did not expect?”
I loved every minute of the wedding day! The only thing that was stressful was ensuring that we took all the images we needed to before it got too dark. Slightly annoying on the day when you want to be enjoying yourself, but now that I have my images I don’t regret it one bit.
“Where did you get ready/stay the night of the wedding?”
It’s pretty traditional for Greek weddings to get ready at home and have a ‘unveiling’ process to your family. So that’s what we did on the day. Nile and I stayed the evening at Crown Towers in the city and it was stunning!
“Anything you wish you had done on the day or anything you wish you hadn’t?”
I wish I went to go pee more often then I did – haha. But a part from that, it was such a perfect day!
“What menu did you go with & why?”
Atlantic Group who own my venue Gardens House are probably one of the best catering groups in Melbourne for weddings and they didn’t disappoint. Our menu consisted of:
- Entree
- Spinach, basic and ricotta cannelloni with tomato passata, wild truffled mushroom
- Wagyu beef bresaola, Meredith goat’s cheese, balsamic, horseradish & caramalised fig
- Main
- Barramundi fillet, kipfler potatoes, slow cooked baby romas, fennel, capers and green olive salsa
- Slow roasted sumac lamb, cumin crusted kipfler potatoes, chermoula, green beans and tahini
- Dessert
- “Chocolate & Smoke” dark chocolate cremeux, whisky panna cotta, smoked meringue, butterscotch
- Lemon creme, burne noisette, raspberry gel, lemon marshmellow, lemon blam
Awesome blog! I like it a lot! Thanks and keep up the great work!