Beautiful springtime weather calls for an outdoor garden ceremony, which Aussie boy Ivan Phuah, and Singapore girl Aileen Lai did at Sydney's historic 19 th century Vaucluse House.
Surrounded by perfectly pruned bushes, giant jacaranda trees and white picket fences, the venue was beautiful in itself so they didn't need do much to dress up the place. Using a simple palette of blush and gold, they slightly enhanced the natural surroundings with small details like hanging vases from trees, buckets of baby's breath and pretty little signages by Singapore design house, Breakfast. "They designed the wedding invites, placecards, 'Here comes the bride' sign and thank you cards," details the bride.
They had a simple cocktail reception after the ceremony and served guests light bites and beverages. "Chloe from Fresh Catering provided a lovely soda stand with wild berry and elderflower soda, as well as a citrus, cucumber and mint cooler, all served in little glass bottles with yellow striped straws," she adds.
"We worked with Jodie McGregor Flowers to handpick select the right blooms for our table centrepieces – David Austin roses, peonies, hydrangeas, silver miller – and filled the place up with tea lights and candles in vintage glass holders."
In the evening, they hosted a dinner reception at one of Sydney's most iconic restaurants, Quay Restaurant which has an awesome view of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. "Many of our guests were visiting Sydney for the first time and we wanted to show them the best view of the city," says Aileen.
Instead of a traditional wedding cake, the couple worked with Leigha Wills from Moreish Macarons who created a gorgeous six-tier macaron tower, topped with a six-inch red velvet cake brushed with cream cheese. "We had all our favourite flavours on each tier – Ferrero, salted caramel, blueberry and white chocolate, cookies and cream, peanut butter and Tim Tams!
