Western Australia wedding by Jemma Keech

Good morning! How was your weekend? It was a beautiful one here but oh so very cold!! Especially as we spent most of the day yesterday outside in the freshness! We managed to sort out a few solutions for puppy Charlie to hopefully make both of our lives a little better :-) So we're pretty happy about that and I look forward to getting back to more of a work routine soon!! 

I was thrilled to stumble upon the work of Jemma Keech recently... it's utterly gorgeous!! And none more so than this classically pretty wedding of Antonette & Dinko from Western Australia. These two have known each other since they were 1 year old when they grew up on the same street... how cool is that? The gorgeous bride shares some of favorite memories of the day with us...

I have known my now husband ever since I was one year old, we grew up on the same street together so it was a surprise to me that we got together 30 years later, where our parents to this day still live on the same street. He proposed to me on my 33rd birthday...I went out with my girlfriends for birthday celebrations and cocktails the night before my birthday and got home at the wonderful hour of 5am! I had only had 2 hours sleep when Dinko roused me from my sleep at 7am pestering me to give me my “birthday” gift....after 10 minutes of pestering and one eye open I gave up the struggle to sleep and woke up weary eyed to see Dinko knelled down in bed next to me with a ring hanging on his pinkie. At this stage my second eye was struggling to open with the morning sun, when I realised what was happening....he asked me to marry him, as having asked my father’s permission prior. I was in such a state of shock and disbelief that I forgot to say yes, so he had to ask me again for an answer, to which I replied yes! After accepting his proposal I kindly thanked him for a lovely birthday surprise and then proceeded to ask him for another hours sleep before I was to take on the rest of the day!

I own my own Bookkeeping Firm so it was quite hard for me to organise a 300 people invite wedding in 10 months on my own. So using my business brain, I did what came naturally and was more than happy to delegate! My sisters, mother, girlfriends were all in from the get go in helping me access information, samples, opinions and deadlines to get things done. By far the smartest thing I did was get the experts in their fields to give an opinion. My dressmaker was fabulous in coming up with dress design chosen only from magazine clippings of styles I liked, so that was one less decision I had to make, not to mention I didn’t have to spend time trampling all over Perth with my bridesmaids every Saturday looking for dresses, as he designed them also. I was the same with choosing flowers; my florist had wonderful taste and chose stunning flowers in season. But the main job of designing and organising the reception was left in the most capable hands of Tilopa from Bride and Groom. She came up with all the designs and styles for the reception; I was, as were my guests, blown away at how beautiful it all was on the night. All I had to do was approve of any ideas and it was as simple as that! So my advice to any bride that is really busy and doesn’t have allot of time to sit on the internet at work or organise their wedding, is to pay experts in their own fields to do all the leg work for you, having yourself over see the final outcome, not to mention wonderful family and friends that you can rely on and always seemed more than happy to help for whatever it was I needed!

I was fortunate enough to have my wedding day go off without a hitch. I spent the morning with my bridesmaids, flowers girls and family getting ready, drinking champagne, mojitos and eating canapés. I arrived at the church on time so I spent the next few minutes circling the block until I was fashionably late. The church was filled with 300 of our guests and I remember how fondly everyone was looking upon me whilst walking down the aisle and I remember thinking how fortunate I was to have so many family and friends in my life to share the day with. Watching Dinko see me for the first time walking down the aisle was a picture that I will always remember in my thoughts. Not to mention when my father took a little extra time in allowing my arm go when we had reached the alter to give my hand in marriage, so that feeling is always one that I will fondly laugh but cherish! It was a beautiful warm sunny Perth day, so the photos taken was just gorgeous and the bridal party all had a lovely afternoon together. Our guests enjoyed drinks and canapés at Kings Park for sunset. It was to be a very long day as we had our wedding extended till 1am, but definitely one that turned out quite perfect for us, and one that I would not to this day change a single thing. The food was exquisite; the view of Kings Park overlooking Perth and the swan river was breathtaking as I know all of our guests enjoyed. It was such a wonderful night talking and dancing with dear family and friends that we don’t get to see very often, and there was allot of them!!!! So that has to be one of my most thankful things about the day, being I got to see and speak to them all! Most people told me to try to enjoy our day and make sure we made it all about Dinko and myself, but I didn’t feel that way – I was so glad to have spent the whole afternoon and night paying attention to others, talking and laughing together and not making a fuss about us, as we truly felt that the day was about ALL of us together, not just the two of us getting married. It was definitely a day that I will treasure always. But if I was asked what I remember most of the day it would be seeing my mother’s tears when I walked out in my dress, my father’s tears when I walked down the aisle and seeing my husband’s face walking down the aisle are the most memorable, cherished and loved memories that I will fondly hold close to my heart forever.
And lastly, I will never forget the one thing that seemed to make all the time and stress worthwhile – the honeymoon!! Six gorgeous days spent at Nalahdu Resort in the Maldives, romance, tranquilly and for better of a description – total utter bliss!

Photography | Jemma Keech Photography, Videographer | Inception Video, Reception Styling | Bride & Groom, Food | Fraser’s and Dalma Foods, Bridal gown, Bridesmaid and Flower girls | Kevin Raphael from Galleria Couture, Shoes | Valentino, Hair | Wendy Naumovski, Make-up | Vicky Priolo from Makiyiaz, Flowers | Jasmina Biagioni