Alannah Rose Exclusive Stationery Boutique

Today’s beautiful client wedding is of Rachael and Drew. Rachael and Drew were married in Sts Peter & Paul Church in South Melbourne, followed by a reception in the Grand Ballroom at The Royce Hotel, St Kilda Road Melbourne. Rachael and Drew have two gorgeous boys which they involved in the wedding celebrations, take a look at little Jonty on is trike – awww!

Rachael and Drew chose our Latte Lace wedding invitations which fitted well with the art deco style of Rachael’s Gown and the Reception venue.

Above: Rachael’s stunning gown was created by Mariana Hardwick; Hair & Make-up by Lady Belle Rouge “absolutely fantastic girls” says Rachael; Flowers by Function Accessories Brunswick

“My favourite part of the day was the ceremony.” says Rachael “We live together with our two boys, so we had our 4 year old ride his trike down the aisle first with the ring cushion in the back tray, (definitely an awww moment for our friends, and a teary one for our parents!) then Drew walked down, and I followed holding Benjamin’s (17 months old) hand. It was beautiful.”

“Fr Bob did a great service and had most people laughing and feeling at ease. It was a real family ceremony in that the boys did what they had to do on the official side then they were free to walk around during the service. It was very relaxed and made the guests feel relaxed too. We arrived early and had to wait on the road outside the Church to allow everyone to go in. Even when we got out and were assembling at the entrance, guests were still arriving behind us. The weather was a perfect 20 degrees.” says Rachael

“We put aside the old tradition on not seeing each other before the ceremony and stayed the night before in our suite at the hotel. We had a lovely quiet dinner together in a little restaurant down the road, got to bed early and had a good night sleep. We got dressed together and had fun with it. It really relaxed us. We loved that we got that extra time (in the morning and before the ceremony) by ourselves together, it was our day and we got to enjoy a lot of time to ourselves to soak that up. We also got to have our photos together before the wedding instead of after the ceremony, to allow us extra time to sit in our suite before the reception to gather & refresh ourselves.”

The wedding photos were taken by Boxer Wedding Photography, locations included the suite at the Royce, the Victoria Barracks on St Kilda Road and at the Church.

Above: Cake by House of Elegant Cakes, Bomboniere – Donation to the Cancer Council of Victoria, Entertainment (MC & DJ – Black Tie Events), Table settings – Function Accessories Armadale.

Congratulations Rachael and Drew on a beautiful wedding day, it was a pleasure working with you and thanks so much for sharing your day with us!
Suzi
x

I’ve been sifting through my files this week and found this inspiration board I created as a guest piece for Style Collective a while ago. I still love it, grey is so soft, pretty and warm, brighten it with a touch of yellow and you’ve got a sophisticated and elegant colour palette for your wedding day.

Clockwise from top left
Lanvin gown via Net-a-porter
Macaroon wedding favors via Martha Stewart
Katerina gown by Ava Madison
Shoes by Jimmy Choo
Alannah Rose Vintage Earl Wedding Invitation
Centrepiece via Martha Stewart

I thought I’d keep today’s find in keeping with our black and white week and also given that most of the things I blog about are for the girls or children, I’d share something this time for the boys!

So today I found these great bicycle cufflinks from the The Cufflink Maker. I think they are super sweet, and what a perfect and quirky way to theme the men in your wedding party with our Bicycle for Two wedding invitations.

Also check out the Best Man Cufflinks below. The Cufflink Maker also custom make, so if you can’t find the image you’re after send them through a picture and they’ll make them up!

Happy Sunday All
x

The last real wedding we’ve got to share with you for Black and White week!

Rachel and Matthew were married on 11th October 2009 in the gorgeous Quay Restaurant at The Rocks, Sydney. Their event was styled and arranged by Sweet Art who sent through these gorgeous images for me to share with you.

Working with Sweet Art we created their Hollywood Nights wedding stationery suite, complete with matching signs for the candy bar. The look was finished off with the stunning Hollywood Nights wedding cake created by Sweet Art.

Congratulations Rachel & Matthew!
x

Following our theme of the week – black and white, I’ve got another lovely real wedding to share today – the beautiful wedding of Vibica and Craig.

Vibica and Craig were married on Saturday 24th October, 2009 with their reception celebration held at The Beach House, Nielsen Park, Vaucluse, Sydney.

We worked with Sweet Art on Vibica and Craig’s wedding to create a beautiful black and white wedding stationery suite using our Butterfly Garden design. Sweet Art created a stunning black and white butterfly garden cake to tie in with the theme.

Above: Vibica and Craig cut the stunning Butterfly Garden Cake created by Sweet Art.


Above: The black and white butterfly wedding stationery suite included invitations, rsvp cards, place cards, service booklets, table name cards and a seating chart. The couple chose to name each of their guests tables after concerts they had attended together to add a personalised touch.

Above: The room at The Beach House tied in with the black and white theme with classic black chairs and whimsical lanterns adorning the ceiling.

Congratulations Vibica and Craig, thank you for sharing your day with us!
x

Some more black and white wedding inspiration for black and white week.
I love the anthropologie cups, they’d make sweet favours for your guests or pick them in your own monograms to hold flowers, candles or sweets on the tables, the possibilities are endless!

Clockwise from top left: Polkadot cravat from The Girl Can’t Help It; Dress by Vera Wang; Marni Necklace from Net-A-Porter; Monogram Tea Cups from Anthropologie; Alannah Rose Sweet Serenade Wedding Invitations in custom black and white; Black and white lollipop from GoodyGoodyGumdrops

Another beautiful black and white themed wedding for you today, also using our gorgeous Hollywood Nights vintage wedding invitations.

Kelly and Nico were married in Noosa on Friday 24th April 2009. Having lived in Switzerland for the last few years, Kelly wanted to travel home to be married. The elegant setting of The Plantation in Cooroy, Queensland was chosen to celebrate their nuptials. Kelly’s father had been restoring a vintage car and the 1924 Delage became the inspiration behind the sophisticated vintage theme of their wedding day.

Kelly’s stunning gown by internationally revered hollywood designer Jenny Packham, was embellished with intricate beading and was accessorised with a soft floral bouquet by Liz at A Sculpted Leaf.

Above: Arriving in style – Kelly’s fathers 1924 Delage set the theme for the day

“My father and his friend had spent five years restoring this beautiful automobile so being driven to the ceremony in it was a special part of my day,” says Kelly.

The Catholic ceremony took place in a very private area close to Noosa Beach. The ceremony was witnessed by 50 of their closest family and friends from both Europe and Australia.
“We decided on Noosa for our wedding destination, not only because we love the area, but we also thought it was the most amazing location to really ‘show off’ Australia to our overseas family and friends.” says Kelly

The beautiful gardens of The Plantation, set the scene for the exquisite reception. Long reception tables were decorated with vintage style roses in soft pinks and a soft romantic setting was achieved with the help of a beautiful marquee. The beautiful wedding cake was created by Cake Conversations.

The beaches of Noosa provided the backdrop for their wedding photography by Jodi Mc Donald.

Twelve months on, Kelly & Nico now have a beautiful baby girl. Congratulations Kelly & Nico and thanks so much for sharing your day with us! x
For more details on Kelly and Nico’s beautiful day see Weddings of Noosa and Sunshine Coast Brides.

I’ve been going through all the beautiful real wedding submissions from our clients this week and I’ve got so many stunning black and white ones I thought we’d make this weeks colour Black & White, I’ll showcase some of the gorgeous weddings our clients have done in this theme and as a special bonus will make any custom colour alteration in black & white for the month of July free!* That means you can select any of the wedding invitations and stationery designs in our collection and we’ll alter the colour to Black and White at no charge, that’s a saving of $88.00.

To kick start the theme here’s a couple of images to inspire.

Above: Black and white bridal bouquet via Martha Stewart

Above: Bridal gown with black sash by Vera Wang

*Custom colour offer ends 31st July 2010. Offer is only valid for alteration of existing designs to Black and White. Maximum total saving is $88.00. Please email us prior to order.

As promised, part 2 of Sophie and Phil’s gorgeous black and white themed wedding.

“The bridal party photo shoot was so much fun – we popped the champagne and nibbled on club sandwiches that a family friend had prepared for us and spent nearly two hours laughing and posing. Our photographer was Joanna Wickham who did an amazing job of capturing our wedding. Joanna specialises in a romantic reportage style of photography which captures all the special moments of the day in a natural stylish way. Joanna said how much the photos reflected the fun and love she could feel on the day.”

“One of the most special things about the wedding was having all of the people we love and find inspirational in one room celebrating with us.”

“Everyone commented on the wedding stationery – we used Alannah Rose invites, order of service booklets, place cards – right through to the thank you cards. I loved the elegant black and white colour scheme and the gorgeous contrast of the stripes and damask pattern. It really tied everything together. The invites also announced the classic black and white theme to all of our guests.”

“We showed Sue Humphrey’s from Cassels our wedding stationery – she loved the black and white theme and so she suggested mismatched black and white votives on the reception tables along with the floral centre pieces we had designed: vases of phalenopsis orchids with beer grass which she delicately sprayed black. We had Alannah Rose place cards on the table along with our favours. We gave all our guests white noodle boxes tied up with black ribbon – inside the noodle boxes were black and white striped personalised strawberry flavoured rock candy with Sophie loves Phil in the centre.”

“Cake Couture did an amazing job with our a classic 3 layer square cake with black ribbon – it was decorated with a trailing stem of orchids. The bottom layer was decadent white chocolate, the middle layer was banana and the top layer fruit – which we have kept for our first anniversary. We included black framed photos of both sets of parents cutting the cake on their wedding days on the cake table which highlighted what great examples of marriage our parents have given to us.”

“Enjoy the planning process by celebrating along the way, arranging things together as a couple and having plenty of fun thinking up creative ideas. After we had booked each vendor my husband and I would have a glass of wine and celebrate ticking something off the list of things to do. We had plenty of pre-wedding dinners with family with my mum baking mini wedding cakes for us to practice cutting, after each bridesmaid dress fitting we all met for coffee and cake, after my wedding dress fittings my mum and I would have drinks and nibbles and talk excitedly about the dress.”

“After 10 months of planning the day exceeded our expectations and was just amazing -we would love to do it all again!”

Thanks so much for sharing your wedding day with us Sophie & Phil, we loved working with you!
Suzi

Today’s wedding is the gorgeous black and white themed soiree of Sophie & Phil. It’s taken me a little time to get this one up on the blog due to the fact there are so many amazing pictures to choose from – I’ve decided I couldn’t decide on just a few – so enjoy – this is a big post!

Sophie and Phil were married in New Zealand on the 27th March this year, their black and white theme was complemented perfectly by our Hollywood Nights wedding invitations and stationery. Sophie has done an amazing job of writing up her thoughts on the day, so I’m using quite a few of her quotes for this post.

When I asked Sophie her number one tip for brides, she said
“Aim to be a bridechilla not a bridezilla – have fun, enjoy yourself and just get lost in the magic of the experience.“
I think the photos of the day sum this up perfectly – a couple and their friends, relaxed, happy and having fun on a truly magical day!

“The girls got ready at my parents beautiful villa which my mum had decorated with fresh white lilies and sweet smelling white stock, white tulle, and large ornate mirrors for us to get ready in luxury. The bridesmaids wore black singlets with “bridesmaid” on the front, and I wore a white “soon to be mrs wong” singlet.” says sophie

“I wore a beautiful sweetheart Martina Liana dupion silk dress. My dress was classic and elegant and without any embellishment – I wanted to save the “bling” for my earrings as I love decadent chandelier earrings. I fell in love with these Westwood earrings from Stephanie Browne when I saw them online and ordered them immediately.” says Sophie.

“Considering our black and white theme I was on the hunt for some funky black wedding shoes. I went to Mi Piaci and happened to try on a blue pair of shoes for sizing and they look absolutely stunning – the bright blue satin just popped. However, I was still a bit wary of getting them as I felt it didn’t really work in with my colour scheme but my husband to be said “its your something blue” and that was it – I was sold! They looked absolutely stunning with the dress, a bright blue flash in a sea of off white dupion silk and petticoat. They were definitely the talking point of the wedding and made for some fantastic photo opportunities – I have to thank my husband for his great fashion sense!” she laughs.

“Whilst the girls were getting ready, the boys warmed up with a little game of back yard cricket.”

“My dad and I traveled to the wedding venue in an amazing white Excalibur Phaeton Sedan from Excalibur Cars.“

“I wanted my bouquet to be a little different so had a number of full orchid stems in trailing form with bridal white ribbon and pearl buttons.”

“Our ceremony and reception was held at Cassels, on the west coast of Auckland. The venue is European in style but is contrasted by the beautiful New Zealand native bush which serves as a backdrop. We choose the venue because it had three distinct gorgeous areas to hold the ceremony, drinks & canapés and the reception. The ceremony was held in the lower garden complete with fountain and an Italian belvedere. Canapes were served to guests after the ceremony in the courtyard surrounded by fern gardens, whilst a romantically lit ivy-covered entrance way led the way to the dining area where the reception was held”.

“Walking down the aisle with my Dad was such a special moment, he kept me calm and made me laugh. My beautiful mother joined us close to the altar area and we all walked arm in arm towards my husband to be. At that point I didn’t think I could get any happier until I saw Phil standing at the end of the aisle – such a wonderful combination of nerves, love, happiness, excitement and elation.”

“Our ceremony was beautiful, funny and emotional. One of our good friends, who is an amazing opera singer, sung Ava Maria, unaccompanied, whilst my Uncle read the Irish Blessing to us. Meanwhile my parents agreed to a “100 year lease” for me, instead of giving me away!”

“For my two bridesmaids we choose a long simple elegant design – a grecian style dress in black from Nadia Couture in Ponsonby. We added the asymmetrical ruffled black strap to add a glamorous touch. The bridesmaids had their hair up with plenty of volume, long black earrings and dark nail polish. Both carried orchids in a posy style with black ribbon wrapped around the stem, secured by crystal pins and an orchid in their hair. My junior bridesmaid wore a shorter satin dress which we accessorized with an orchid wrist corsage in black ribbon and black and white parasol for her walk down the aisle whilst an orchid sat nestled into a braid in her hair.”

“The boys looked very handsome in pin striped suits. The grooms and groomsmen wore charcoal pinstriped suits with matching waist coats with grey ties and white shoes. The junior groomsmen wore classic black suits, whilst both fathers wore the same pinstriped suits with silver ties and black shoes.”

To be continued… – we’ll be back a bit later today with more gorgeous images. x

Following up on our colour of the week, here is our inspiration board based on our Love Birds wedding invitation design. Combine this colour with earthy hues and warm grey for a perfect Autumn/Winter palette.

Clockwise from top left: gown by Ava Madison; Judith Leiber beaded cluch Neiman Marcus; cake via brides.com; floral arrangement Kei’s Flower, Alannah Rose Love Birds Wedding Invitation in custom Mushroom Pink; earrings Anthropologie.

Today I’m excited to launch a new regular feature I’ll be running on the blog – Colour me Happy.

Each week I’ll be running a colour of the week from our Colour Chart and showcasing an inspiration board and some of the invitations as to how they would work in that colour, so if there’s a colour you’ve got in mind or an invitation design from our range that you’d like to see in a certain colour – this is your opportunity to do so!

This weeks colour is Mushroom Pink. Mushroom is warm, soft and romantic. Stay tuned over the next few days to see what I come up with, and don’t forget to email me or post a comment here if you’d like to see one of the designs in this colour.

Suzi
xx