wedding date: 15th June 2019
95 guests
how did the two of you meet? We met on Tinder initially (so traditional of us haha) It was five years ago and it took a whole four weeks of chatting before Rhys finally decided to ask Marija out for dinner. Rhys had insisted that he couldn’t stay later than 9pm due to an early start for work the next morning, however that came and went and we found ourselves still talking in the carpark after the restaurant closed at midnight.
tell us about the proposal: Rhys proposed on Christmas Day last year. He secretly setup a camera in the room to film my reaction and gave me my “Christmas present” which was a photo book telling the story of our relationship so far, the last page asked “Will you Marry Me?” and when I looked up he had the ring ready. I was so shocked and surprised! Marija is so hard to surprise, so to see her so shocked but so happy melted my heart. It was lovely to celebrate our engagement on Christmas day with our family.
what was the inspiration behind your Wedding theme? We wanted to keep our wedding very simple, classic and with a European feast vibe as we both come from big European families.
Rhys: My favourite moment was seeing Marija come down the stairs for the ceremony, I felt less nervous the minute I saw her.
Both of us loved our knot tying ceremony, our celebrant said it best “As I’m sure is no secret, Marija was not Rhys’ first love. We all know that he fell deeply and passionately at a much earlier age….for the love of his life: Fishing.
These ropes and this knot were chosen by the couple to represent their relationship. Not only does the intertwining of the ropes symbolise the joining of their lives, but this particular knot is known as the strongest there is for joining two pieces. It will never break, only becoming stronger when pressure is applied”
We knew we had to include the fisherman’s knot in our ceremony. It is a very meaningful representation of our relationship and we have it mounted in a frame at home now, a memory of the day we tied the knot!
how was your dress/suit shopping experience overall? Marija: I walked into Bridal by Aubrey Rose with no appointment and they fit me in later that day, I tried on only 5 dresses and it was the last one of the bunch, we all knew that it was the one! Rhys: It took us half an hour to choose haha I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted and knew the navy suits were the winners.
classic stories from the day: We ended up with hotel rooms right next to each other when we were getting ready in the morning. The girls room had a glass panel right by the front door and every time the boys walked past the groomsmen would make a barricade across our door to shield us from Rhys walking past. We had quite a few giggles watching them bodyguard Rhys down the corridor every time!
advice: Don’t second guess your decisions, once you book something in stop looking!! We also thoroughly recommend a winter wedding, we had perfect Perth weather and all our vendors had availability and off-peak season pricing! Don’t be afraid to book vendors just staring out too, we did and they worked extra hard to make our day special and ended up being some of our favourite vendors from the day! It’s so cliched but the day really does go so fast, try your best to take it in and let loose and enjoy it and even it’s on a go-pro make sure somebody films your ceremony and speeches, you forget those moments so quickly.
Our aisle song was a cover of “Stand by Me” by Samantha Harvey
Recessional Alexandros Xenofontos- Xekina Mia Psaroboulla
or more commonly known as the theme song to My Big Fat Greek Wedding, an in-joke amongst our families seeing as Rhys is Greek.
First Dance was Michael Buble’s “Close your Eyes”
stand out vendors for the day? So many!!
Leon - Eat Greek, he went above and beyond in the planning, lead up and on the day. No request was too much he accommodated us in every single way, we can not fault Leon!
Brandon - All Class Limousines. Was so attentive, patient and helpful, from pouring drinks, passing around snacks and helping us into and out of the car, he was a star.
Simone - Simone Addison Photography. I saw Simones work 2 years before I got engaged and booked her before I even booked a wedding venue, she made us laugh all day and took some amazing photos, her energy and enthusiasm are infectious.
Shea Lee Wirth - Shealee Artistry. Shea was amazing, she kept us calm all morning, got us looking our best with stunning makeup and even passed us tissues and blotting paper on our way out the door as we were running late.
Leon - Eat Greek, he went above and beyond in the planning, lead up and on the day. No request was too much he accommodated us in every single way, we can not fault Leon!
Brandon - All Class Limousines. Was so attentive, patient and helpful, from pouring drinks, passing around snacks and helping us into and out of the car, he was a star.
Simone - Simone Addison Photography. I saw Simones work 2 years before I got engaged and booked her before I even booked a wedding venue, she made us laugh all day and took some amazing photos, her energy and enthusiasm are infectious.
Shea Lee Wirth - Shealee Artistry. Shea was amazing, she kept us calm all morning, got us looking our best with stunning makeup and even passed us tissues and blotting paper on our way out the door as we were running late.
reception Leon Xanthis Eat Greek
makeup Shea Lee Wirth Shea Lee Artistry @shealee_artistry
limo Brandon Ronaldo All Class Limousines
cupcakes & wedding cake Cupids Delight
photographer Simone Addison Simone Addison Photography @simone_creative
hair Suzy Savage Hair By Suzy
dress Bridal by Aubrey Rose @bridalbyaubreyrose
suits Brittons Formal Wear
celebrant Beth Parker @bethparkercelebrant
ceremony WA Maritime Museum Fremantle
ceremony furniture & décor and reception décor Nikki Clarke
acryllic sign and cake topper Carvd Studio
invites Love Carissa Designs
bridesmaid dresses Pilgrim