LIZ & JOHN’S BRISBANE WEDDING

This is the kind of meet-cute we love, people. “John and I met almost six-and-a-half years ago at Oktoberfest in Munich and bonded immediately over steins, pork knuckle, and singing in German,” bride Liz tells us. After six beer-filled days together, these guys knew they had “found something special”, Liz tells us.

“We met up again in London two weeks later, moved in together after six months, and moved to Sydney four years ago. We served Hofbräu beer during cocktail hour at our wedding to celebrate 2,398-days since our very first meeting/stein.” Beer and romance – we’re loving on this combo hard!

Liz wore a gorg Bo & Luca two-piece with help from our mates at Brisbane bridal boutique Bloom, John looked dapper in his InStitchu suit and M.J. Bale shirt, and the talented Janneke Storm swung by their “fun and relaxed” day to snap every magical moment. Want the deets? Yeah, you do!

THE VIBE “We don’t take ourselves too seriously and wanted our friends and family to meet and get to know each other, many for the first time. We wanted our loved ones to genuinely enjoy themselves at a wedding with not a lot of tradition, a whole heap of live music and great food, and to share the joy that each of them brings to our lives. Aesthetically – as we were interstate – we put a lot of trust in our amazing vendors, being the experts that they are, which meant that we were just as excited about the ‘look’ of the day as our guests were.”

THE VENUE “It was really tough to decide where to have our special day, hailing from opposite sides of the country (John’s family is from WA, mine from QLD). With my grandparents based in Brisbane, we decided we wanted a beautiful spot on the river where we could all be together to enjoy the festivities without them being too far from home. Bougainvillea House at Howard Smith Wharves was picturesque, perfectly located and we loved it immediately. The inclusion of locally brewed beer from right next door was the cherry on top. Amid swinging border closures between QLD and NSW, we ended up choosing Old Government House for our ceremony without ever having the chance to see it. It feels a bit mad looking back, but we were blown away by how wonderful and helpful their staff were and we had zero hesitation. That trust completely paid off and we were enchanted by their historic courtyard space.”

FAVE DETAILS “We loved our Harry and Lloyd cake topper by Use Me Accessories. Aside from being the greatest movie of all time, Dumb & Dumber happens to be one of the first things John and I bonded over when we met. Carla from Vanilla Pod, who made our cake, embraced the figures, then took a frustratingly vague description of an idea from us and made a stunning cake to suit the previously mismatched elements. We also adored our florals. Not being able to view the venues in person, we had complete trust in Mim from Aurora Floral Studio to take the wheel and go wild. The mix of fresh and dried flowers meant that we have been able to keep the preserved pieces and my mum and her friends have turned them into a giant breathtaking wreath that we can lovingly stare at forever.”

DIY “I brewed a beer to give John for a wedding morning gift. It was my first time brewing beer and being extremely optimistic and possibly reckless, made it in my parents’ laundry sink. Shoutout to my dad, who did the bottling when the state borders shut again. We are all eternally thankful that it didn’t poison the entire groom’s party the morning of the wedding. John was wildly (and suitably) impressed.”

THE DRESS “With the borders between Qld and NSW resembling a revolving door for much of 2020, I wasn’t able to get to Bloom in Brisbane to try my forever-coveted dream dress, the Amelie by Bo & Luca. Sam from bridal boutique Bloom is an angel on earth and boldly pioneered the at-home dress experience in the early days of Sydney lockdown – she sourced a dress sample from the US and had it delivered all the way to me in NSW, along with bubbles and flowers, and was there for emotional support the whole way (particularly for the hot second where the dress was left at the wrong address…). I couldn’t be more in love with my gown, it was a dream come true and a dream to wear. I’m lucky to now call Sam a friend and John and I loved having her and her husband join us as part of our wedding weekend.”

REFERENCES “I’ve been getting Hello May’s Real Wedding Special for years (just in case I got proposed to, of course) – and my girlfriends and I also loved the One Fine Day Wedding Fair in Sydney.”

WORD OF ADVICE “Get a day-of coordinator or a wedding planner if your budget permits! Ashleigh from The Other Bridesmaid quite possibly saved us from an early grave due to rising stress levels with her organisation, efficiency, and sheer kindness. She is worth her weight in gold and we will be eternally grateful for her support.”

WE’RE GLAD WE “We’re glad we made our wedding into a whole weekend. It seemed self-indulgent in the planning phase but it was the best fun to be able to get excited with our friends and family the night before and then enjoy the debrief the day after. We hosted welcome drinks as most people travelled to the city for our wedding, which allowed us to see everyone after a crazy year and allowed those who hadn’t yet met to get to know each other before the big day. We then invited everyone to meet at a local brewery the day following, which meant we could relax together and hear all the fun and wild stories of things we may have missed.”

STANDOUT VENDORS “It is impossible to pick just one and I couldn’t recommend our vendors highly enough. Our photographer Janneke Storm and cinematographer Luke Bickley are an absolute dream team, Sam from Bloom bridal boutique went above and beyond for us and continues to be a darling friend, and the wildly talented Gling Hunt single-handedly set the mood and his band served the fun. We are so grateful to them all.”

Janneke Storm is one of our faves here at HM and if you want to lock her down for your big day, you’ll find her over on our directory (along with suiting faves M.J. Bale).