Annabelle & George's Acqua Viva Wedding

Stunning Real Couple Annabelle + George stepping into a new life together.

These wedding photos Annabelle + George are an absolute inspiration shot by the very talented Ricky Gestro! Annabelle, my most cherished memory of you during your appointment was watching you stay true to yourself, your own individual style. Bridal appointments can be one of the best parts of bridal planning and I loved your appointments. 

I wish you every success in life beautiful. Xx

THE DRESS 

I was after a dress I would feel comfortable in so I could eat, drink, and dance the night away. Originally, I was thinking simple, straight lines and not too lacy.

Samantha Wynne was the first stop for my dress search as both my sister and sister-in-law had both got theirs from there, little did I know it would be my only stop!

I loved everything about my dress, it fit perfectly, the detachable sleeves were such a moment and plus pockets is always a plus.

CAN YOU REMEMBER THE MOMENT YOU KNEW IT WAS THE DRESS?

After an hour or so of trying on nearly every style of dress in the store and feeling a little deflated that everything I thought would work didn’t, I asked to try on the only dress there that was black and white. As soon as it was zipped up, I knew it was the one – and it came in all white!

HOW DID YOU FIRST MEET? 

George and I met the old-fashioned way, drunk in Claremont on a Sunday night when we were 21. From there our relationship grew organically and I am so thankful that my friends dragged me out that night for our chance encounter.

THE PROPOSAL 

So our proposal wasn’t exactly a surprise. A few months before he proposed, on our way down south George’s car had an alert pop up so I went into the glove box to get the manual out and discovered the ring box. When the day finally arrived when George proposed on our morning dog walk, I knew as soon as I saw the box come out of his pocket. It wasn’t overly romantic (but neither are we) as it had started bucketing down and the $5 ring that George had bought didn’t fit so we didn’t have the huge announcement. On the plus side though, I got to choose and design my own ring that I completely adore!

FAVOURITE MOMENT

My favourite moment of the day were the speeches, we wanted to keep things light as I had lost my dad a couple of years earlier I didn’t want anything too sombre. My sister, George’s dad and George all made speeches and they were perfect, the photos of everyone’s reactions are the best!

THE VENUE 

We looked at quite a few venues but the price for them was killing us. We didn’t want to have a huge, extravagant wedding but knew with family members there would be about 120 so price was a massive factor for us.

We ended up going to an open day at Acqua Viva in Nedlands which happens to be down the road from our house and they were offering free venue hire and could do a layout that we loved and fit 120 people. We were pretty sold on it and the team there are amazing, they made everything we wanted possible.

FAVOURITE DETAILS 

Honestly, I am a bit of a control freak so I planned everything to the tee or hired people that understood my “vision” for the day which ended up meaning I loved everything!

ADVICE FOR FUTURE BRIDES 

Advice for dress shopping is go in with an open mind, you won't know what suits you until you try it on.

Advice for finding vendors would be to go on peoples recommendations, stalk them on socials and be as clear as possible.

Our DJ, Luke Chan was amazing- so many people rave about how great he was. Being our age, he knew exactly what music to play plus get some songs in for the oldies. The dance floor was never empty.

General advice, remember to look up when you are walking down the aisle...

BEST WEDDING SPEND 

100% best money spend would be the right photographer (plus an extra photographer). Ricky Gestro and Manny were amazing, they captured everything perfectly and made us and our guests feel so comfortable in front of the camera. The best part about having the second photographer is when we went off to do our portraits, we still had Manny shooting the party so we don’t feel like we missed out on anything.

VENDORS
Photographer Ricky Gestro Florals Rose and Bud Make-Up Ellie Dunne Hair Isabella Palmer (Gamine Dynasty) DJ Luke Chan Venue Acqua Viva Stationary Peter Kin Celebrant Narelle Palmer (Timeless Celebrations)