Photography by:
QUICK FIRE:
Wedding date: 17 February 2024
Spouses name: Alex Fox
If you could sum up your day in 3 words with no explanation: Dream come true.
Okay now the juicy stuff…
What was the most unexpected thing that happened on your wedding day?
It's hard to pinpoint an unexpected moment for me, as I did spend so much time planning the wedding down to every detail! For my guests it would have been the synchronised swimmers - we kept that one under wraps, so it was a bit of a moment seeing the surprise on the guests faces when 3 stunning girls made an entrance poolside for their routine! Although actually, the Portuguese violinist blew me away! I expected her to be amazing, however I got Alex's mum to organise the Portuguese music and I was truly taken aback by how insanely talented she was!
What was your favourite moment or memory from the day?
There is one specific moment from the day that I keep replaying in my mind, and it was towards the end of the night when all formalities were done and it was essentially the afterparty to the reception dinner. The live band had started and the dance floor had properly commenced. I was right up at the front when I turned around to look back at the guests and literally every single guest was on the dance floor dancing. I remember thinking, 'oh good, it's not just me!'. It just made me really happy that everyone looked like they were having the best day as well, and it filled me with so much joy - as obviously for me it was the best day, but to see everyone else also enjoying themselves really made it that much more special for me!
What was your bridal beauty inspiration?
I really wanted a classic and timeless look. From my outfit down to my makeup. I generally am quite pulled back with my makeup looks, so I stayed true to that on the day. Although, Sofia Richie Grainge, need I say more?
What was your ultimate wedding inspiration during the planning?
The brief to my wedding stylist was Summer European Garden Party. Somerley House is such a beautiful venue that it was an inspiration itself. I drew a lot of my inspiration from previous weddings at the venue, and seeing how the space was utilised, however my wedding stylist and I really wanted to create something unique and special whilst leaning in to some trends and beautiful colour themes that work with the venue, such as the blue hues we used in the florals.
What was the most memorable thing a guest did or said at your wedding?
I think it was my dad's speech for me. He made an effort to memorise it or do it without referring to notes and made some really special references to memories with Alex, adding in a personal joke between us at the end - "Alex is not good...he is excellent!" (in a thick Serbian accent). You can only imagine how my heart stopped when he said Alex was "not good" to all our guests. He really added a pause for dramatic effect! But it was really cute in the end, as this is something he taught Alex to say in Serbian when we were overseas last year and Alex was obsessed with using this line on every waiter in Serbia. So it was a really funny and a cute moment for us.
Did you have any special or unique traditions incorporated into your wedding?
We had so many! I am of Serbian background and Alex is half Portuguese and half Kiwi. We really wanted to embrace both sides of our cultures and we did this through music, by having both Serbian and Portuguese musicians on the day. It was also specifically requested by Alex that we follow a popular Serbian custom, where relatives provide the guests with Rakija (Serbian plum spirit) from a round wooden flask with a strap (cutura). My guests still talk about this and had so much fun taking swigs from the flask! We also had prepared little bottles of Rakija as our wedding favours.
What was the biggest challenge you faced while planning your wedding?
The last few weeks before the wedding you need to just let go of control and trust that all the vendors know what they're doing, and I found that difficult! Everything of course was fine, but when you spend so long planning, handing over the reins was more difficult than I had anticipated. Mind you, on the day all that stress dissipated for me! By that point, there really is nothing you can do but enjoy the day - and it was perfect!
Any Words of Wisdom? What advice would you give to someone planning their wedding?
I feel like many married couples gave us advice to find time in the day to spend with your husband/wife as it all just goes so quickly! Whilst I enjoyed the little pockets of alone time I got with Alex, what I would recommend is setting time aside where you and your spouse make time to enjoy parts of your wedding. Alex and I scheduled time for us to mingle with the guests during the cocktail hour, which is a bit different - usually this is when you do all your photos. We still did all the photos, but we extended our cocktail hour so that we could also see some of the entertainment we planned and also had a chance to actually mingle with guests before our reception dinner. It really allowed us to enjoy parts of our wedding that I feel like could easily be missed by not scheduling in the time or planning for it.
What was your favourite detail or element of your wedding day? So hard to pick a favourite - but I think Alex and I really enjoyed the synchronised swimmers during the cocktail hour - it was just a small part of the day, but we have not seen this at a wedding before and so it made it extra fun for us. I think it was very special for us to have an opportunity in our day to spend it with our guests between the photos and other formalities and feel like a bit of a guest at our own wedding.
Finally, tell us about your ASTON Bridal moment, why was it special?
Firstly, I cannot even begin to count how many compliments I had on the Aston Bridal JAC mini dress! I had changed into the dress after the reception dinner and made a second entrance in my Aston Bridal mini! It was really special to walk in and re-introduce ourselves to our guests in a whole new outfit! I really wanted to have a moment in the dress, so I decided to do the cake cutting, first dance and my father and daughter dance in my Aston Bridal dress! It was such a perfect party dress and really added to the fun, which is exactly the vibe I wanted for post dinner when we really kicked off the dancefloor!
Vendors / credits:
VENUE: Somerley House PHOTOGRAPHER: Lucie Blake Photography
Venue - Somerley House @somerleys.suttonforest Photographer - Lucie Blake Photography @lucieblakephotography
Videographer - Marcus Rusbourne Media @marcusrusbournemedia
Wedding Stylist/Florals - The Make Haus @themakehaus_
Makeup - Serena Wyllie Make Up @serenawylliemakeup
First Dress - Corston Cotoure @corston_couture
Second Dress - Aston Bridal @astonbridal
Hair - Salon Zephyr @salonzephyr
Serbian Entertainment - Toni Trubac @toni_trubac
Synchronised Swimmers - Pistachio Entertainment @pistachioentertainment
Music / Live Band - The White Tree @thewhitetree
Bar - Henry Clive @henryclivecaravanbar
On-the-day Coordinator - Two Lovers @twoloversofficial
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