Real Weddings

Article by

Sophie

Posted on

02/03/2022

Posted in

Real Weddings

For bride Tega, marriage means “always being there to take care of Tom – even when he’s complaining about ‘man flu’…” Ha! We love this a lot, folks, just as much as we adore Tom’s take on wedded bliss… “Letting Tega have the shower first so there’s always hot water.” Match made in heaven, right?!

Their big day was downright heavenly too, featuring not one, not two but three amazing looks for the bride, including a super-special to her Nigerian heritage. Despite a few hiccups along the way thanks to COVID lockdowns and restrictions – “we definitely had an uncanny amount of mishaps in the lead up to and day of our wedding!” shares Tega – these guys finally got the day of their dreams (shot by the lovely Amy Tomlinson Photography), just scraping in under the 100-guest limit with their 98 friends, family and loved ones. Lucky!

THE VENUE “My original vision for our ceremony was ‘enchanted forest’ so we were looking for venues to suit that style. I had originally narrowed it down to about 20 venues, then whittled it from there to about four that ticked all the boxes – fit our style, budget, allowed for DIY food/drinks, and within an hour from the CBD. We fell in love with one straight away so booked in, but unfortunately, we didn’t end up having it there as they cancelled all events due to safety issues at the venue. The next time around I used essentially the same process to research new venues and Aintree Cottage popped up. It hadn’t been available the first time I was looking at venues. We went to take a look one weekend and straight away we loved it. It’s the perfect rustic yet modern cottage feel, with the bonus of having onsite accommodation!

THE THEME “I started off being completely obsessed with the ‘enchanted forest’ theme (look it up on Pinterest, the photos are amazing!), but then because our wedding got delayed and we spent such an extended amount of time planning, I started to move away from that and was more drawn to a modern, minimalist, earthy look. Tom’s favourite colour is coral, so we knew that would be a feature colour from the very beginning. We also both have a really good relationship with our families and visit them often for catch-ups and family dinners, so we knew we wanted to go with long tables and shared plates to re-create that warm, inviting family gathering feeling.”

FAVE DETAILS “My absolute favourite details were our family tree and our ‘the story of us’ sign by Say It In Neon. I really wanted to celebrate our families and honour the people who have been with us and taken care of us since day one. I also wanted to find a way to include older family members and those who had passed away so that they would still feel connected to our wedding day. So I devised a plan to gather old photos of our families and grandparents to put on display – and I think it turned out absolutely perfect! It was so fun to look at old photos of our parents on their wedding day and to think that might be our kids looking at us the same way someday. I also often think about how our grandparents grew up on completely different continents, so there would be no reason why their paths would cross, yet somehow the two of us managed to meet one another (and in Australia of all places?!). When you look at our story – where we were born and where our lives have taken us – it really makes you think about how so much of life is just running around and hoping you’ll fall into some good luck! We were so close to meeting yet so far at so many points in our lives, so we both feel very lucky to have crossed paths when we did.”

THE DRESS “For the traditional dress, my aunty in Nigeria helped us get them made. We spoke over the phone and sent dress styles, colours and fabrics back and forth. She bought all the fabrics and took them to the local tailor to be custom-made for the bride, groom, our parents and the wedding party! Then she expressed shipped them to us once they were all ready. It was slightly stressful as one of the bridesmaids lives regionally so she wasn’t able to try it on until the day before the wedding! Luckily it fit and we were all ready to go! I was so happy to be able to honour my parents and my Nigerian family by incorporating something from our culture into our big day. My ceremony dress was custom-made by Le Vow Bridal in Perth. My reception dress was purchased from LDN Bridal, who were kind enough to make some slight changes to the original dress design (they changed the fitted skirt to an A-line skirt), and they also assisted me with making alterations to my ceremony dress. It didn’t take me very long to find the first dress because I knew I wanted something super simple. The second dress took a little longer as I knew I wanted something totally different from the first dress (make it SPARKLE, baby!) – but that meant the cost would likely be a lot higher as I was now looking at dresses that involved a lot more beadwork. I fell absolutely in love when I tried on the dress from LDN Bridal, though, so I was beyond happy that it fell within my budget.”

A WORD OF ADVICE “If I’ve learnt anything, it’s that it always brings so much peace of mind when a vendor comes highly recommended by others. Almost all of my standout vendors were recommendations or highly reputable companies. It only takes a minute to join a wedding group and ask other couples about their experiences before booking vendors – it can save you a world of heartache.”

COOL CUSTOM “The bride, groom, parents and wedding party all had a traditional Nigerian (specifically Yoruba) outfit as well as our Western attire. We all wore them during the ‘Owambe dance’. For the Owambe dance, instead of the Western tradition of the first dance, the bride and groom dance into the reception dance floor with their family and wedding party. Traditionally, the guests would ‘shower’ them with money but that’s a little hard in Australia because we don’t have dollar bills. Instead, we encouraged guests to throw their leftover confetti and join in on the dancefloor!”

WE WISH WE… “Our only regret is not being more organised with the setup day before the wedding. Particularly for DIY couples like us – you will have a million people coming up to you to ask about every minute detail and it’s quite overwhelming, especially when event planning isn’t something you’re used to! Make sure you have some people (groomsmen, bridesmaids, parents) who also know all the details and can be your secondary point-person during setup and on the day. So many things will be going on, vendors might get confused and you might be too busy to assist, so make your lives easier and lean on your close ones to help you both get through the day without any hiccups. And definitely have a to-do list and assign people to execute a handful of tasks at a time so they don’t have to keep coming back to you asking, ‘What do we do next?'”

STANDOUT VENDOR “Our amazing florist Kristy from Sea & Rein, photographer Amy Tomlinson Photography, coordinator Alice Heydon Events, DJ VJ Kevo, and my best friend/stylist/creative director/graphic designer/all-round events extraordinaire sister Rume (Isele Creative). All of these folks truly went above and beyond and I would (and will) recommend them to every single person I know.”