On a slightly drizzly December day, Olivia and Raj vowed to spend the rest of their lives together in front of their loved ones. Their day was filled with smiles, laughter, and a lot of love!
Olivia wore the dreamy Flora dress by Forget Me Knot - a gown with beautiful embroidered matte floral lace, open v back and plunging neckline. She added lace to the spaghetti straps, perfectly tying in to the lace on the gown. With her hair in loose waves, adorned with our RE4046 soft pearl accents, the whole bridal look fits right in at the gorgeous garden setting of Woodlands Estate.
What was it that made this particular wedding dress catch your eye and fall in love?
The champagne/peachy underlay really suited my colouring! Looking at photos of me in all the dresses I tried you could tell I was the most comfortable in that one. It also had the low v front and back that I wanted, and I loved the v shape illusion under the arms/at the side.
Tell us about your search for the dress and the experience at Astra Bridal.
I had chosen what I thought was the dress from looking at the website, and had told Dee that I loved the Forget Me Knot line. I decided to try on a dress that Dee had selected before the one I thought was 'the one' just to ease into it. I loved that first dress but still tried on the one I had pre-selected as well as about half a dozen more that Dee had picked out for me. Every dress that I tried on, myself and my bridesmaids kept comparing to the first dress and nothing else could compare to that one. It was the complete opposite of the dress I thought I was going to choose. I loved my dress so much, I felt amazing in it and just loved the colour and detail so much. I recently went back into Astra with a friend who was looking for her dress and Dee recognised me straight away and asked about how my wedding day had gone and wanted to see photos. She also helped with some minor alterations which took a task off my list! I felt so comfortable with Dee and so grateful to have had her as part of my experience.
Tell us your story, how you both met, and the proposal.
We met when one of my flatmates introduced us, hoping to set us up. At first, neither of us were super interested but not long after we ended up talking non-stop and realised we had a lot in common, the same goals in life, and really enjoyed spending time together. Three years later on a trip to Hahei for our anniversary, we went for a walk to Cathedral Cove. We had the whole beach to ourselves as it was a rainy weekday. I was 99% certain Raj was going to propose to me but the more time went by on the beach I began to doubt myself! But sure enough he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. We were both so excited as we had designed the ring nearly a year prior (pre-lockdown!) and had been talking about getting engaged for a while before that also.
What was your favourite part of the day?
Probably getting to spend time with the people we love the most. Especially how much fun we had on the dance floor, and watching our guests really enjoy themselves.
Tell us about your wedding day as a whole.
I really wasn't very nervous on the day, just super excited. Myself and my bridesmaids got ready at Woodlands, I loved spending the day with my friends. One of the makeup artists (Em - owner of Prodigal Beauty) is a longtime friend who flatted with me and was actually there when I met Raj, and witnessed a lot of the special moments at the beginning of our relationship, so it was very special having her there. I only became nervous once I saw guests arriving and had to get one of my bridesmaids to help me quickly find the Rescue Remedy before going downstairs to walk down the aisle!
I could hardly take my eyes off Raj and definitely had some major tunnel vision for the entire ceremony, which definitely sounds cheesy but honestly we just spent the whole ceremony grinning stupidly at each other and squeezing each others sweaty hands. I think both of us were way too nervous to look at our guests. As our group photos ended it started pouring with rain but we had so much fun with our umbrellas taking pictures, my dress got so muddy and I loved it! After that we just enjoyed mingling and kept the formalities to a minimum. Had plenty of laughs during speeches and the shoe game, then after dinner (which I think I was too excited to eat much of, even dessert) we just had a ball dancing with our friends and making some amazing and funny memories. Looking back on our photos I can just see how much joy was on our faces, I think we are laughing in the majority of our photos!
Finally, what is your biggest piece of advice for brides to be?
Just do whatever you and your fiance want to do for your wedding. Who cares what other people think you should do or what tradition says you have to do, outside of the legalities you can do whatever you want! I walked myself down the aisle and we had a flower dude even though a few people thought that wasn't the way you were 'supposed' to do it.
