Ali & Nick’s Beautiful Lightspace Wedding
How did you meet?
Met in mid 2015 from an internet dating site!!
Our first date was at an Italian restaurant in Brisbane.
The proposal?
2nd January 2018. It was the last day of our family holiday road trip down to NSW and back. The proposal was very thoughtful as Nick involved my son Alex. They both got down on one knee and Alex said “Mum, will you marry Nick” and then Nick said to me “will you marry me”. It took place at The Sealy Lookout, Coffs Harbour. I was very surprised!
Hen’s night?
I was lucky to have two hen’s dinners! My wonderful school mum friends organised a fun evening at Factory 51 in Coorparoo. My maid of honour also organised a family/friends night starting with drinks at Blackbird followed by some hen’s games and a banquet dinner at Madam Wu Restaurant.
Buck’s night?
Nick’s best man and his brother organised the big day. They hired a bus/chaueffer (which had a bar inside!) to take all his mates down to the Gold Coast races and then back to a Brisbane hotel for dinner and drinks
The Details
Wedding Dress? Paddington Weddings
Bridesmaid dresses and Paige Boy (Vanessa was able to make a matching suit to Nick’s one for Alex): When Freddie met Lilly
Wedding Planner? Ali planned and organised the big day herself and consulted with White Weddings along with Jamie from Lightspace on the finer details to help bring together her vision.
Ceremony? Greek Orthodox Church of St George, West End • Reception? Lightspace, Fortitude Valley • Photobooth: InstaKombi • Hair? Twidale Hair and Makeup • Makeup? Twidale Hair and Makeup • Flowers? Bouquet Boutique (who also did an amazing job with transforming the reception space with exquisite flowers suspended over the long tables at Lightspace)
Lighting/Rigging at reception: AVideas • Entertainment? Angie Soul Band
Photography? Ben Clark Photography • Transport? Limoso: Chrysler 300C Super stretch limousine • Cake – Wild Canary (in Brookfield) Dark chocolate quinoa cake and as we plated this for dessert we added davidson plum jelly, chocolate ganache, fresh berries
Engagement ring details? Stones Diamond Ring Specialists : princess cut 1 carat diamond with additional small diamonds on either side of the white gold band
Caterer? Alistair McLeod’s catering company- Al’FreshCo. Alistair actually cooked at our wedding and spoke at the beginning of the reception which all the guests enjoyed
Theme?
Spring Glamour
Dining/menu details? We had an extensive array of canapés to begin with before being seated for a feast style (share style) dinner, followed by an individually plated dessert.
Canapes:
Salmon brandade, irish wheaten bread, Yarra Valley caviar
Pork and fennel sausage rolls, Al’FreshCo BBQ sauce
Mooloolaba King prawns with chilli, lime and wasabi
Marinated eye fillet of beef, olive puree, feta, tomato, crostini
Roasted Hervey Bay scallops, Buderim ginger, Bauple nut crust
Peppered duck, pickled green mango, fennel lavosh
Feast style main course:
Wild oregano crusted eye fillet of beef, grilled asparagus, skordalia, fresh mint salsa. Grilled spring chicken breast, crispy skin, heritage tomato Greek salad, tzatziki. Sides – Lemon roasted dutch cream potatoes
Sourdough and butter
Dessert: (Wild Canary Chef Glen who did our cake came to the Lightspace venue to cut the cake for dessert and plate up all 128 dishes including cooking and adding all the extra delicious elements!)
Dark chocolate quinoa cake, davidson plum with chocolate ganache and berries
First Dance song?
I put together a bit of a remix of two songs for our special wedding dance. We began our choreographed routine with “This is Me” from The Greatest Showman soundtrack and then finished with a faster, fun dance to “The Way You Make Me Feel” by Michael Jackson (one of my old time favourites)
Honeymoon?
McLarenvale and Barossa, SA
Best Advice for other couples planning a wedding?
Secure and reconfirm all vendors/suppliers in writing. Be specific and detailed with what you are seeking from each supplier. The more detail you give them, the better the result.
Ask a friend to be available to help the day before the wedding and on the day for any last minute errands that might pop up.
Pay the extra money to have both your photographer and videographer stay until the end of the reception to capture every special moment. Some of the best moments might happen on the dancefloor at the end of the night!
Assign someone to assist the photographer with getting all the important family photos after the ceremony (and give them a checklist). That person can assist after the ceremony with gathering up those family members attempting to race off to eat the canapés at the reception venue! lol.
What made this uniquely your wedding?
We mixed up the traditional order of events at our reception and got everyone up within half an hour of the proceedings from both sides of the family to do Greek circle dancing (my family in particular loved learning the circle dance and being part of it!!) It was a fabulous ice breaker and really lifted the atmosphere and had people talking to others they may not have met before.
We incorporated Alex into many parts of our special day. During the bridal party welcome/announcement entrance part, Alex drove his very own kids jeep car into the reception as his “surprise entrance”. Nick even arranged personalised number plates “Alex” for him. Everyone was blown away by this and was cheering him on and getting into it!
We did lucky plate prizes for guests at the start of the reception.
I wanted to make sure all of our families’ children at the wedding were able to have lots of fun as well, so I organised Captain America (yep, all dressed up!) to attend our reception and sit at the kids table and he entertained them really well plus the female adult guests also thought he was a hit!! You’ll see pics of him .
Any special memories from the day?
Dancing with Nick in our special dance routine that we rehearsed for months without telling our family and friends. We both loved performing our surprise routine for our family and friends and seeing their reactions. Nick hasn’t danced before so I was very proud of him stepping out of his comfort zone and learning a choreographed routine and nailing it!.
The speeches were a real highlight for both of us personally and for our guests who continue to talk about them. Nick even dedicated a part of his speech to my son as well as my late Mum. All the guests told us they were so affected from the speeches they were in tears and were the wiping their eyes with their dinner napkins!!
Alex surprising us all with pulling out the best Greek dance moves and performing an impromptu dance with Nick and his dad in front of everyone at one point.
Funny moments from the planning stages or the day?
The day before the wedding, Nick was loading up Alex’s jeep to take to the reception. In doing so, he almost drove the buggy off the side of his ute whilst putting it on!
Mob: 0408 727 982
Website: https://benclarkphotography.com.au
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/benclarkphotography/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/benclarktog/