The Wedding of Alyssa & Ryan
On the 18th March, 2017, Alyssa and Ryan said “I do” under the beautiful atrium of Pavilion on Northbourne. It was a beautiful ceremony and a truly unforgettable day.
The Happy Couple
Alyssa and Ryan first met through an online chat group. Ryan proposed on the night of their six year anniversary. “We had gone to the coast and found a lovely hotel which had a Jacuzzi on the balcony that overlooked the ocean”, says Alyssa.
“After spoiling me all day, he took us to a very romantic restaurant, I had an idea he may propose but he didn’t at dinner. Being a bit disappointed that he didn’t propose I went to go brush my teeth after dinner. When I came out the lights were off but the room was scattered with small candles like stars and rose petals leading to the balcony. Once I reached the balcony, he was standing there with the beautiful ocean and stars behind him with a ring box in his hand, he dropped to one knee and told me how much he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. I of course said yes!”
Preparing for the Wedding
Alyssa felt confident throughout the preparation stage of the wedding. She worked with the Events Coordinator at Pavilion to make her dream wedding day come to life.
“Sally the Events Coordinator was very helpful and knowledgeable about the establishment and weddings, and as she was also planning her own wedding she had lots of great ideas”, says Alyssa.
“I had a few meetings with Sally to talk over what I wanted for the wedding, we went through every little step of the day until I was 100% happy with everything and confident with the arrangement. She worked with me allowing specific things such as a smoke machine, myself making all the menus and signage and dietary requirements. Sally was there on the day to help the wedding run on time and smoothly, she was a dream to work with and it wouldn't have been so perfect without her”.
The night before the big day, Ryan stayed at the home the couple share together, and Alyssa stayed the night with her mum. She spent the night watching movies to calm her nerves and was fast asleep by 10pm.
The Big Day Has Arrived
The morning of the wedding was spent getting hair and makeup done and sipping champagne to get the festivities started. Alyssa says that she wasn’t nervous at all, “I knew I wanted to marry Ryan, and as long as we got married nothing else mattered”.
After hair and makeup was complete, she put on her beautiful dress and veil and headed towards the limo that was awaiting her. The couple decided to have the bridal party photos taken before the wedding, so that the guests wouldn’t need to wait long between the ceremony and reception.
The Location
Alyssa says that from the first time she had seen Pavilion on Northbourne many years ago, she knew that she wanted to get married there. “I loved all the beautiful atriums they had to offer and the room with the amazing chandeliers”.
The wedding theme was navy blue, white, dusty rose and silver. The Pavilion supplied the tables and sashes for the chairs, as well as some of the decorations for the ceremony in the far atrium.
“I found the Pavilion was the perfect scene for my magical wedding as the atriums were beautiful, there was a staircase for us to make our grand entrance”, says Alyssa. “Due to having the two atriums we could get married in one and the guests could move to the second for their drinks and canapes before going into the reception room.”
Alyssa notes that because guests could book into the hotel and stay in a room close to the reception, they could all celebrate without the worry of having to get a taxi home. It was also handy as they had family attending the wedding from international locations.
According to Alyssa, the selection of dishes served on the night were delicious and made it hard for them to choose their desired meal! “We got to do a taste test of our 4 meals and were so happy we both decided to get the opposite of each other so we could have one of each meal on the wedding day. The food was amazing and very generous portions, the feedback we received from guests was that everyone loved the meals we chose”.
The Details
Celebrant: “We used the celebrant Donna Butler, she was very nice and had a lot of information for us. She was willing to help us as much or as little as we liked and were very happy with her services”.
Bride’s Veil: It was a gift from a family friend who got it from Enchante in Fyshwick.
Bride’s Jewellery: Earrings and necklace were purchased from Divine Goddess in the Canberra Centre.
Bride’s Shoes: Novo silver wedge gel heels as they were very comfortable.
Bridesmaids Dresses: “From Enchante in Fyshwick, the girls chose out the dress that they liked and we ordered them in the same colour and fabric so that they all matched but the girls were comfortable and happy in the dresses they wore”.
Groom & Groomsmen's Suits: Rented from Blades Menswear in Civic.
Bride & Bridesmaids Hair: “I got my hair done at Hair Boutique Woden. The girls are lovely there and are the only people I trust with my hair. As my bridesmaids had straight hair we decided to just keep it simple and let them do their own”.
Makeup: “I had mine and the bridesmaid’s makeup done by Tara Murphy, she is a professional makeup artist in Sydney and a long-time family friend”.
Flowers: “Bloomin Mad Flowers in Tuggeranong helped us out when our original florist cancelled, she did the bouquets and buttonholes, as for the rest of the flowers my mother and I created the table decorations and plinth flower displays with silk flowers”.
Cars: “Valley Limousines, they were fantastic! Right on time to pick me up, red carpet on the ground to walk on, beautiful interior which could hold the whole bridal party, it also had facilities to play your own music and lots of beer and wine with a platter of fresh fruit and cheese for when we got hungry during the photos”.
Cake: “We used Lavender and Lace cakes. We met Sarah and she was wonderful, she provided a tasting box of 4 of the different flavours we were interested in so we knew exactly what they would taste like. She also worked with all my ideas and gave us three price options to suit our budget. We had a cutting cake on top with 85 alternating cupcakes beneath, the flavours were caramel mud and vanilla strawberry cream, the guests loved them”.
Stationery: Alyssa is a graphic designer and designed the Save the Dates, invitations, menus, TV screens and posters. If you are interested in having Alyssa work with you for your wedding, contact alyssamcraedesigns@gmail.com.
Photography: “We booked Doug from Studio Vita straight away as I already knew he was the best! We got a great deal and had an engagement photoshoot before the wedding so we could get use to him and feel comfortable on the day. From the engagement photos Doug had a guest book made so all of our guests could sign. Everyone loved the photos and they were exactly what we wanted!”
