A Modern City Celebration in Perth

Photography by Teneil Kable for Courtney and Michael

Inspired by the modern celestial, Courtney and Michael’s Perth celebration was one bold in aesthetic yet intimate in mood. A wedding of sleek styling and star-aligned romance, the pair exchanged vows beneath a cosmic ceiling swirling in teal blue and molten gold.

Adorned in an alluring off-the-shoulder dress, Courtney elegantly moved through the space; her diaphanous veil embroidered with silver stars, delicately gleamed in the afternoon light. Magnetic arrangements of blush and toffee toned blooms decorated the venue, beautifully contrasting the moody backdrop and midnight-hued furniture.

Behind the lens chronicling every magical detail was Teneil Kable.

Our Story

Names / Courtney & Michael

Wedding Date / 6th October 2018

Guest Numbers / 95

How We Met

As all true love stories start…in a nightclub. I was sober and driving, Michael was…let’s just say not driving. It was only a brief encounter but we bumped into each other again over the next couple of weekends. He ended up getting my details from a mutual friend, the rest, as they say, is history.

Our Engagement Story

Michael managed to catch me completely off guard (which is amazing in itself). He proposed at home in the kitchen with our dog Ziggy watching on. He then told me to pack my bags as we were checking into the Como Treasury in an hour. All of our family came to the hotel, we celebrated with lots of champagne followed by dinner with our friends (and a few more champagnes). It was absolutely perfect.

Marriage to us Means

Committing to love your partner through the good and the bad days. It is about creating and building a life together and relishing in those memories together when we are old and grey.

The Details

Wedding Location

We wanted to have our ceremony and reception in the city and all indoors so we didn’t have to worry about the unpredictable weather of October, and being a wedding photographer myself, I didn’t want to get married somewhere I had already photographed another wedding. The ceremony was at the newly opened QT Hotel in Perth. The space was so different from anything we had seen for a ceremony before and we loved how intimate it felt. The ceiling was what really sealed the deal for us.

The Heritage was our reception venue which we were lucky enough to find after the first two venues had cancelled on us and we were only three months out. The building was originally built in 1929 and has a beautiful French bistro feel. As soon as we walked into the space it felt like us. Somewhere we would go for dinner and sit drinking wine until they closed. It felt formal and yet relaxed, romantic and intimate. Once we met with Amanda we knew this was the perfect venue for us. She was the ultimate professional – nothing was too hard and the staff were incredible throughout the entire process and especially on the night.

Event Aesthetic & Inspiration

All styling elements for our wedding incorporated modern celestial. An ethereal colour palette of nude, peach and dusty tones were used to feature beautiful bursts of blooms and finishing details. This created an intimate and romantic mood with an element of edge.

Photography

As a photographer, I have always admired Teneil’s work and knew that when the time came, she would be my photographer. I love her timeless and romantic style and her ability to capture those fleeting emotive moments so well. I had high expectations and she somehow managed to exceed them. In our meeting, I had mentioned that I wanted to shoot somewhere where no one had taken wedding photos before and she spent so much time and went to great lengths to find unique locations for us so that we could have something truly special.

Fashion Notes

Bride’s Dress

My dress was from One Day Bridal from their Chosen range. I knew I had always wanted to go to One Day bridal (admittedly even before I was engaged). I loved their more fashion-forward gowns. I decided on the Sadie gown which was a shock to me as I was not even going to try it on, but I couldn’t help how I felt when it was on. It was an off-the-shoulder sleek and fitted gown with a dramatic train. It is made from a bonded georgette fabric with a beautiful texture to it.

Bride’s Shoes

My shoes were soft pink velvet stilettos by Robert Robert from Zomp.

Bridesmaids Dresses

The girls wore “The Confidant Dress” by Sass and Bide. It was shapely slip dress with an asymmetric neckline.

Flowergirl/Pageboy Outfits

Flower girls wore dresses from Witchery Kids and the page boys wore tuxedos from Next.

Wedding Rings

A close friend made all of our rings. I had been obsessed with his jewelry after he made a friend’s ring. My engagement ring is a round yellow diamond with white pear diamonds on either side in yellow gold. My wedding band is a yellow gold diamond set band in a series of circles and marquises. Michael’s wedding band is a slim band of brushed gold with high polished edges.

Jewelry & Accessories

I wore the Beccy earrings by Isabella May. Veil by Harriette Gordon.

Groomsmen’s Attire

Michael wore a black Politix Tuxedo with a velvet jacket and black bowtie with black Brando shoes from Gingers Menswear. The groomsmen wore black Politix tuxedos and black bow ties.

Hair

Nicole Arcorace styled my hair and we went for loose natural waves.

Makeup

My makeup artist was Hendra Widjaja – He is incredible and does flawless airbrushing makeup. I left the makeup totally in his hands but just wanted a dewy and natural look.

My bridesmaid’s makeup artist was Brittany Lovell – she did a similar natural look with fresh skin and natural eyes.

Style Notes

Stationery

Tess from Paper Fusion was our stationery guru. She managed to turn around our invitations in such a short amount of time as we only locked in our venue three months before the wedding. Our Invitation was printed on a grey stock with hand drawn stars and moon to reflect the space at the overall creative concept. The menus were printed on vellum with a card detail for the guests’ names and fixed with a gold tassel. Tess also produced our welcome sign, seating chart, menus and giant feature sign at the reception. Along with supplying signs for the screens at the lobby of the QT.

Flowers & Bouquets

Sarah from Scapes by S was incredible, I trusted her completely with our florals. Her style is so original and structural and she did not disappoint.
Sarah created modern, sculptural and ethereal arrangements in soft blush and nude tones, offset by hints of toffee and peach. Bridal party florals were elegant with a modern edge, in keeping with the silhouette of my bridal gown.

Videography

Orriss Films absolutely nailed our video. I could never explain how special this film is for us. They captured the vibe of the whole day so well, stayed well past their finish time and were a pleasure to have around on the day. It is amazing to look back and watch everyone enjoying themselves and dancing the night away.

Preparation

We all got ready at the QT hotel. Our families and the bridal party had also stayed with us the night before, so we had dinner and drinks on the rooftop bar on Friday night. It was a wonderful way to be able to greet our loved ones.

Ceremony Décor & Reception Décor

The ceiling at the QT was a large source of inspiration for the decor. A burst of blooms on our modern black arbour was the centrepiece for our ceremony. The welcome sign and seating plan were suspended on large gold mesh frames. The mood for the reception was set with various gold edged giant candles and florals positioned throughout the space. One of the main decor elements was our large feature sign with the Frida Kahlo quote, “Take a lover that looks like you like maybe you are magic”, which sat behind our bridal table. Our bridal table was a feature within the space. This was created by using a long high top table with velvet stools so we could see across the venue to all of our guests. As a surprise, Tiffany had covered the table top in blush marble which left us speechless. Matte gold cutlery and grey linen napkins, pinch pots and frosted and gold table numbers were details that tied it all together.

Wedding Stylist/Planner

I think we will forever be indebted to Tiffany Keal. Her creativity knows no bounds and her attention to detail is outstanding. After working closely with her over the past few years, I knew she was the only person we wanted to create our wedding. We trusted her 150 per cent and gave her a rough idea of the vibe we were after for the day, and not only when we walked into the reception but throughout the entire process, we were completely blown away. She coordinated and worked closely with all of our suppliers to make sure everyone was on the same page along with coming up with creative ideas and providing endless guidance. She has a wealth of knowledge and her calm, considered approach allowed for a relaxing and exciting experience.

Cake

Michael’s Nan made our cake as a gift to us. It was half white chocolate raspberry swirl and half chocolate. We loved having her as a part of our day.

Food and Beverages

The Heritage uses local and seasonal produce which was important to us. We chose a sit-down menu where guests arrived to Salumi boards and had a choice of three mains with roving dessert canapés. Guests raved about how good the food and service were, the chef even made me two meals as I was too busy talking and the first one went cold. The staff kept everyone’s drinks topped up all night and being a wine bar, we had an incredible selection to choose from.

Wedding Songs

Aisle song – Little Lover by Broadhurst
Signing song – River by Leon Bridges
After Ceremony – Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson
First Dance – Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye

Entertainment

We were so blessed to have Michael’s Cousin Anthony Llyod play during our ceremony. We have wanted him to sing at our wedding since we first got together. He is an amazing singer/songwriter with a beautiful raw voice. DJ ASLAN – Ash Keogh was KILLER. An absolute professional. Kept the dance floor pumping.

Gift Registry

We didn’t have a registry or wishing well but were completely blown away by the generosity from our guests. As a surprise, My sister had also organised a Magnum of Mumm champagne for guests to sign at the reception. It was such a special gift that we look forward to opening with our family on our anniversary.

Celebrant

After photographing many weddings myself I knew the only person that I wanted to marry us was Kristy. She has an amazing presence and truly makes every ceremony so personal, heartfelt and genuinely special. We could not recommend her highly enough. So many guests still talk about how incredible she was and how it was the best ceremony they have been to.

Readings

We really weren’t keen on having generic readings but wanted to include some of our guests in our ceremony. Kristy had the amazing idea of getting some people to read their thoughts on love and marriage and we loved it. We had two of our sisters and one of our friends read their thoughts and it was so special. It made our ceremony even more personal and intimate to have these close people to us share their thoughts and feelings with not only us but the rest of our guests. We both also wrote our own vows and as Michael is a swimming coach, we invited his athletes to watch the ceremony. Midway through my vows, I organized for his athletes to all call out “2,1 GO” (which is something Michael says many times every training session and I love hearing him say). It caught him completely off guard and was a great moment.

Honeymoon

We spent two incredible weeks in Italy. We flew out the Monday after our wedding and it was so amazing to leave straight away on this incredible high. We stayed a few nights in Rome then headed to Positano and Capri and finished off with five days in Sicily. We talked and reminisced on our wedding so much on that trip and it was so nice to have that indulgent time together. We would definitely recommend to anyone going on a honeymoon to go straight after your wedding.

Special Details

Sources of Inspiration

Being a wedding photographer for many years I have found inspiration from various places along the way, but for the most part, I was inspired by all of our suppliers and 100 per cent trusted their vision and expertise. Michael was also a large inspiration as he kept reminding me not to get caught up with trends or styles and focus on us and our relationship and planning a day that we would love.

A Memorable Moment

It would be impossible for us to choose just one. The entire day was more than we could ever have dreamt. It was however especially memorable when we got back to our room that night and could revel in the day that had just been – we talked for hours about every aspect of the day. The feeling that night is one I will never forget.