Mt Coot-tha Botanical Gardens, The Summit Wedding | Anneke + Richard

Anneke + Richard are married! We had the pleasure of meeting these two for their engagement session where we trekked to an island at sunset. This ended up being a much longer and wetter hike than expected! LOL On their wedding day they both decided to do a first look session. This is where the bride and groom get to spend time alone before the ceremony and take in the day together and also get some AMAZING photos we normally wouldn’t have time to get after the ceremony. This worked our great because they were both able to fully enjoy their family and guests immediately after the ceremony and go straight into cocktail hour! So happy for you both and thank you for having us for your celebration!

ALL PHOTOS FROM THE DAY ARE AVAILABLE TO VIEW. Log-in to Anneke + Richard’s photo gallery by  CLICKING HERE. 

HOW DID YOU MEET?

We met in high school, in grade 9 English class. We didn’t really start spending time together until grade 11, when I started dating someone that Richard hung out with occasionally. That relationship ended halfway through grade 12, but by that point Richard was one of my best friends. We spent every Maths B, Maths C, Physics, and IPT class hanging out, finishing our work too fast, and distracting the people around us. We had a lot in common, and we played games together outside of school as well. This continued until about halfway through our first year of university. We also spent heaps of time together then, since we were doing the same degree, and we tried to pick the same tutorial slots so we could go together. At some point I had a lightbulb moment about what mattered to me in a relationship, and I realised that I couldn’t see myself going through life without Richard. He had already told me that he could see a future with me at this point, so I just decided I would be crazy if I didn’t see where it went. We decided to give it a go, and it was basically an immediate yes from both of us. We knew from the beginning that we were going to be partners for life, and it was simply a matter of when we would get married, not if.

TELL US ABOUT THE PROPOSAL…

I knew Richard would be proposing on this one weekend, but I didn’t know exactly when, so I was highly suspicious of everything he was doing. He took me out for dinner to our favourite restaurant, and once we were finished and back in the car, he told me he had a surprise for me. He gave me a giant thermos filled with my favourite tea, pulled out a bag of my favourite cookies, and said “We’re going for a drive”. The first place we went to was the house he lived at in High School. We parked outside and he told me that the theme of the night was “The Past,” and the theme of tomorrow was “The Present.” At this point I realised that he would be proposing the next day, since it would make sense for both meanings of the word present. So I just relaxed and enjoyed the conversation and reminiscing about all the things that had happened at his old house and our crazy adventures over the last 4 years. After a while, he drove us to our high school parking lot, where we used to have ridiculously long conversations after we tutored other students instead of getting home on time for dinner. So we remembered more funny and sweet things and basically got all sappy and romantic. Admittedly, the tea and cookies were definitely helping at that point. Then we drove to the first place we ever hung out outside of school, which really kick-started our friendship getting deeper. And then we drove back to my parents house, where we were living at the time. At this point I thought the night was over, since the proposal was obviously going to be the day after. So I headed for the door, but Richard went to the back of our little hatchback, saying he’d forgotten something. I went back to see and realised that he’d strung up fairy lights on the inside door of the hatchback. At this point we were standing under these gorgeous fairy lights, and he pulled out the ring box, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was all absolutely perfect.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE The Summit FOR YOUR WEDDING?

We were hunting for a venue that was all inclusive but still allowed for our much smaller number of guests. Most of the places we found had a 60 person minimum, which was about double what we wanted. When we found out that we could just hire the smaller room at The Summit, we were very excited. It suited our guest count, and our budget, better than anything else we found. Also, Nicola and the team were absolutely amazing.

DIY DETAILS

The main things we ended up DIYing were the table numbers, the place cards/favours, the card box, the bar menu, and all the stationery. We got the table numbers and favours laser cut out of wood, and then we painted them gold using a metallic acrylic paint. We added some holographic gold glitter to the table numbers too, just for some extra sparkle. For the card box, we got a mini greenhouse from IKEA and stuck a vinyl decal from Etsy to the front of it, then we added some copper fairy lights for extra cosiness. All the stationery we got printed by Vistaprint, except the seating plan, which we had to improvise a little, and the bar menu. We got those printed at Officeworks. The bar menu was a customised design off Etsy. Most of the DIYs ended up being a little bit last minute, and that definitely made them more stressful than they needed to be. But the outcome made it so worth it.

KEY STYLING INSPIRATION

Honestly, most of our styling started with the style of our invitations. We had a hard time narrowing that down to a colour and style combination that we both agreed on, and the one we picked ended up being dark blue and gold, even though our original colours were going to be grey, pink, and silver. We ended up sticking to the blue and gold basically everywhere, and it worked really well with all the fairy lights and the overall feel of the reception room. We also threw some burgundy in there, just because we could.

WHERE DID YOU SPLURGE AND WHERE DID YOU SAVE ON YOUR WEDDING?

We ended up splurging on Photography and Videography, as well as the bar tab. My dress was on the more expensive side too. Most other things were on the cheaper side, partially because we weren’t super fussy about them, and partly because our number of guests was so low. We only needed flowers for four tables, and then bridal bouquet and one bridesmaid bouquet, which made that a good price. We were gifted the cupcakes, the rest of the accessories weren’t too expensive, and the venue was amazingly well-priced.

WHAT WAS THE FUNNIEST MOMENT OF THE DAY?

It was an absolutely struggle getting in and out of the car in my dress, and it made for some very funny and creative solutions, like wrapping me in fabric and just shoving me in until the door could close. It was also great watching my brother dance to Single Ladies by Beyonce!

WHAT WAS THE MOST SPECIAL MEMORY FROM THE DAY?

The most special memory was the first look. We were both dying to see each other and when he finally turned around it was like we were in our own little bubble. It was a super emotional moment and we were both just so happy to have each other back and be able to spend the rest of the day with each other and just be all romantic and cute.

WHAT DID YOU DO FOR YOUR HONEYMOON?

For our honeymoon we flew down to Melbourne and spent the week gorging ourselves on the best food we could find. We spent much of the week in a food coma, but it was absolutely worth it.

SPECIAL THANKS TO…

Our family and friends were all super helpful and willing to do whatever we needed on the day to make it perfect. My mum worked so hard to make sure I was happy at all times, as well as fed and watered since a fainting bride is never a good plan, and I was so glad I could spend the morning with her. Both of us were very grateful for the contributions from our parents as well, and it meant a lot for them to show their support for us and our future together.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OTHER BRIDES-TO-BE?

The most important thing is to focus on the big picture. If you can get to a few weeks out and all the vital stuff is sorted, then you’ve done it perfectly. Any extra little details will really only matter to you, so don’t stress if they aren’t perfect. And when you get to the day itself, accept that things will go wrong, and make the choice to focus on the positives and not let the little things get to you. It may not be the best day of your life, but it will always be a very important one, because it’s the day you get to marry the love of your life!

PHOTOGRAPHY // Dallas + Glennn for Dallas Love Photography

CEREMONY + RECEPTION // The Summit, Mt Coot-tha

CELEBRANT // Peter Grant

FLOWERS // Kate Dawes Flower Design

MAKEUP + HAIR // DIY

VIDEOGRAPHER // Shaking Man Films – Patrick Rose