Via social media in late 2013 when Brad slid into my DM’s. We have basically been inseparable ever since.
The Planning
If I didn’t procrastinate so much and have a surprise baby on the way, I’m sure it would have been a lot less stressful. I don’t know what I would have done without Bronwyn’s help in tying everything together! Taking care of the finishing touches which brought I had ever wished for, to life. For me, I really enjoyed researching the different suppliers. That would have been my favourite part of the process and of course, making endless Pinterest boards.
The Dress
Originally, my wedding dress was purchased from When Freddie Met Lilly. Three weeks out from the wedding, it was not possible my dress was going to fit with the growing bump. My poor mother had to make a wedding dress from scratch. Being so last minute, I am grateful my Mum was able to create a dress including the skirt and veil. Our bridesmaid dresses were also made by my Mother. It was quite difficult for us to find dresses to suit Winter in the Scenic Rim! I also crashed the guys suit fitting just to purely help with colours.
The Location
We chose Royston House as I am obsessed with horses so they had to be incorporated! Brad and I loved the idea of spending four days together with our closest friends and family. Eliminating the worry of travelling to and from another location.
Advice
Must have element for our wedding was an epic photographer who really brought out the emotion in every photo. Levi from Beauxartco did exactly that. A microphone for the ceremony! Too many times we have attended a wedding and couldn’t hear a word. For us, hearing the ceremony involves the guests. Our wedding was intimate so we could be present and involved with all our guests.
Like everyone says, the day goes so fast and before you know it, it’s over. Make sure you take time every now and then to have a few minutes for the two of you.
All our suppliers were equal in making our wedding what it was. I believe Kate being the amazing Celebrant/MC absolutely set the tone for our wedding and nailed our brief. Phoebe our Videographer package inclusions was incredible.
Bronwyn’s advice, from Scenic Rim Bride, on all things wedding related is second to none. She really helped incorporate everything we imagined while working within our budget.
We first met in late 2009. Juan had recently arrived from Colombia and was introduced to Alessia by one of his English school friends, but didn’t start dating until March 2010. Together, we have been through everything. Growing together, traveling, and learning each other’s languages (rustily!). We are strongly tied to our cultures and believe in the importance of love, family and good friendships.
Planned, Styled and Coordinated by Scenic Rim Bride Photography by Nina Claire Words by the Bride
THE PROPOSAL
Our engagement took place in December 2018, Juan using Alessia’s birthday as an excuse for a surprise trip to Tasmania. Juan got down on one knee and proposed during a breathtaking sunset in Marion Bay. The surprise involved a romantic picnic and a long walk to the picnic location with Alessia wearing a paper bag for the journey for full effect! Hot tip: always prepare a blindfold for a surprise picnic. We chose to have a two year engagement, giving us time to craft the wonderful vision for the wedding we had in mind.
PLANNING A WEDDING
Being from Italian and Colombian backgrounds, we had food, music and colours top of mind for our wedding day. Our wedding planning was a year in the making. We used to joke that it was our second part-time job. That is definitely how it feels, but in a fun way!
Soon realising, our DIY venue where almost everything needed to be hired, it made sense to have someone on board to help us. That’s when (to our amazing fortune) we met Bronwyn from Scenic Rim Bride. From then on, everything was so perfectly organised and executed and couldn’t possibly have done it without her!
Second hot tip: hire a wedding planner/coordinator/stylist extraordinaire. Make sure that person is Bronwyn from Scenic Rim Bride. Together with Bronwyn we organised and planned everything the way we wanted. With ideas in mind for our table settings, flowers and general vibe which was joyous, beautiful and most of all, filled with our favourite music and people.
We always agreed we wanted the process to be just as fun and enjoyable as the day itself. With an endless to-do list that seemed to keep growing. Thankfully we tackled each new section when it felt right and completely organic. It might not work for some, but everything seemed to fall neatly into place one job after another, which we were super grateful for!
THE CEREMONY
Our first thought was having a separate ceremony in the surrounding area of Royston House. We looked at a few churches nearby, hoping to find a quaint country church, but there was nothing that suited.
Therefore, we landed on the idea of having our ceremony and reception in the same area. With the sweeping landscapes of Innisplain as our backdrop, Royston House had plenty of locations to choose from. In order to make the ceremony as special and personal as possible, we asked Alessia’s godmother to be our officiant. She has known both of us for a long time and has seen us grow into the couple we are today.
We also wanted our wedding day to be the official day we got married, so we devised a plan to have our ceremony be both official and personal. Feeling grateful we found Ann Taylor from Ceremona via The Celebrant Society – she understood our vision. Together with Alessia’s godmother, made the perfect ceremony team. Ann performed a “legals only” ceremony, which means she legally married us with our witnesses and paperwork. Then Alessia’s godmother popped in and out of our ceremony to speak to the personal parts.
THE ATTIRE
For our attire, Alessia chose Brad from Darb Bridal Couture to create a custom gown for an idea she had in mind. Darb also supplied her veil. Juan enlisted the help of Black Jacket Suiting for his tuxedo and shoes. Alessia chose a reception dress from L’ETO Bridal in Sydney with a scooped pearl-lined back. She had Brad alter the length for dancing, and wore an Aura Bridal headband and matched it with a Shrimps bag that she sourced from Vestiaire.
We recommend giving yourself as much time as you can – even 6 months longer than you think you need – for your attire, especially if something is being custom made for you! For Hair and Makeup, Alessia went for a subtle, natural glam look, and had her hair pulled back into a low chignon which she then took out for the reception to wear with her headband.
Our Groomsmen suits were from David Jones, and they each wore a bow tie that matched the colour of Juan’s jacket. We wanted a multi-colour bridal party, so Alessia worked with the bridesmaids to choose a colour that suited each of their complexions, and sourced their dresses from multiple online retailers.
Flowers
Even though we got married in May, the early days of autumn are very spring-like in Queensland, and so that was the seasonal inspiration we used – a beautiful spring day bursting with flowers, sunshine and colour.
We wanted florals as a main feature for the day. To bring this to life, we enlisted the help of Kat from Garden Graffiti. We knew we wanted something pretty special for our arbour and showed her a reference image we’d found on Pinterest, but on the actual wedding morning when we each peaked out the window to see Kat assembling it, it was completely breathtaking. She absolutely delivered on the bursting and colourful brief, there were sprays of colour from every angle. We wanted to keep our centrepieces more toned down and pastel to fit with the rest of the tablescape. Kat made the bouquets unique to each bridesmaid’s dress colour, and Alessia’s bridal bouquet was a fresh arrangement of chamomile daisies to match her dress. She later had her bouquet preserved so we could have it hanging in our living room.
STYLING
Our table settings reflected the garden wedding party vibe. Alternating coloured glassware with blue and white toile plates, periwinkle napkins and golden candlesticks. All items were sourced by the wonderful Bronwyn at SRB of course! As a nod to Alessia’s heritage, we had limoncello bomboniere from a lady on Etsy in Greece with personalised tags, hand-tied to each bottle. Third
Hot tip: if there’s even a slight chance of rain (even though you planned your entire wedding day during one of the most beautiful, temperate months of the year) and your reception is outdoors, just get the damn marquee!
CATERING
Our food and alcohol was a nod to both our heritages, with influences from both cultures. We opted for 3 canapes and an Italian-style grazing table at cocktail hour, paired with a Paloma cocktail. Jerome from Dalton Catering and his team kept the food and drinks coming all night, with a 2-course meal that we’d chosen and sampled with him beforehand. We had a pasta entree and beef cheek and wine jus for our main. We didn’t want a wedding cake, instead breaking tradition to go for a cannoli tower so that everyone could serve themselves (there were no leftovers to take home!).
PHOTOGRAPHY
Our photographer was Nina from Nina Claire Photography. Nina has a great eye for detail and knows where to be. Her style of capturing emotions and scenery focuses on un-staged, natural moments – the result was a jaw dropping wedding album that we’ll treasure forever.
STATIONERY
Laura from Laura Elizabeth Design created all our wedding stationary including our invitations and signage on the day. We had our menus and name cards printed on raw-edge cream paper for a rustic look, and a three-piece wedding invite suite tying together with the overall theme (the inside of our envelopes had lemons!).
ENTERTAINMENT
Spencer and the incredible Baker Boys Band kept us toe-tapping through our jazzy cocktail hour. They raised the roof during our reception. The Baker Boys Band provided the ultimate wedding day music feast. Complimenting each section of the day perfectly working in with our song preferences and (many) requests.
We chose our songs meaningfully. Alessia’s walk down the aisle song was ‘Ti Amo’ by Umberto Tozzi. A romantic Italian ballad that we asked Baker Boys Band to perform live for us. The original version was a bit synth-heavy for our liking! Exiting the aisle, we paid tribute to our love of Queen with ‘You’re My Best Friend’. For our reception entrance song we chose ‘Day Tripper’ by The Beatles.
Our first dance we chose to twirl to the heavenly, romantic version of ‘Bésame Mucho’ by Cesaría Evora. This was a surprises to our guests. Lovers of music and dancing, we choreographed a dance with the help of Kristi Hall from Dance Culture. Kickstarting the party our hype song to get everyone on the dance floor was ‘Bella Ciao’ by Manu Pilas. Dancing in a circle we got everyone up to celebrate with us.
Unfortunately Juan’s side of the family couldn’t be there to celebrate with us on our day. The only regret we have (thanks to Covid). Knowing we alway wanted two weddings, one to celebrate our life here in Australia, and one to celebrate Juan’s heritage with all his family.
So, we’re doing it all again, with our second wedding in Colombia! Hopefully to take place in 2023 or 2024, and we will definitely be enlisting Bronwyn to help us once again.
Love Alessia and Juan
Behind the Scenes
Planned, Styled and Coordinated: Scenic Rim Bride | Florist: Garden Grafitti | Tableware: Table for Louis | Furniture Hire & Tableware: Hampton Event Hire | Stationery & Signage: Laura Elizabeth Design | Linen: The Supper Club | Catering: Dalton Catering | Entertainment: Baker Boys Band | Lighting: Scenic Rim Wedding Hire | Dance Floor: Let’s Dance | Celebrant: Ceremona | Hair Stylist: Aleesha Darke | Makeup Artist: Sarah Smith | Gown: Darb Bridal | Transport: Logan Coaches | Film: Josue Films | Photographer: Nina Claire
Find your dream Scenic Rim Wedding Suppliers on SRB Community
We met 13 years ago at a mutual friends 20th birthday on the coast. To my friends, I secretly called Mick my boyfriend from the start. It wasn’t until a year later that it was actually official and the rest is history!
The Proposal
The proposal was a long time coming. We bought our first home together three years ago. I’m pretty sure I nagged him about getting married every day after this.
I would send Michael what I would call a ‘diamond of the day’ which he claimed he never looked at. Turns out one day, Michael clicked on a link and bought the ring of my dreams! Little did I know Michael had the ring for almost five months. One weekend, we went to a winery for my birthday. We had a beautiful picnic and bottle of wine where Michael got down on one knee and proposed. Michael had organised our families to be at our house that night and we had a big party! Our families were shocked to hear that night our wedding would be in under five months time. The Groom included!
I had already booked holidays at work in the hope that it would happen soon. And it did.
The Venue
Royston House was shortlisted before we were engaged. We had been waiting a long time for this proposal and I knew once it happened, it would be a quick engagement. We always wanted an outdoor cocktail wedding with room to fit a lot of people which provided free reign to use the space however we wanted. Royston House was exactly that. It is the only venue we looked at and we were convinced straight away this was the venue for us. Finding a venue in South East QLD that allowed a large wedding, a decent curfew with the ability to bring your own suppliers and space for a marquee.
Drew at Royston House was amazing from the very first visit and helped us iron out any potential issues that arose straight away. We could not recommend this venue enough. Not only is it absolutely stunning, the events manager is so easy going and eager to make your wedding as effortless as possible. It was a big plus! Drew was also conscious of our budget and went out of his way to recommend suppliers to suit. A big beautiful home was also a drawcard as we partied all five nights with friends and family.
It was a weekend we wish we could do all over again!
The Future
Dreams for the future is nothing specific at the moment. Just to enjoy being married as we had such a quick, busy engagement and haven’t really had much time for each other. We love travelling and already have our next holiday planned.
Advice to couples
Invest in a wedding planner!! Thinking I was so organised, I never thought I would need one. There is so much more to planning a wedding than what I knew. Planning a wedding in a blank space can be difficult but with the help of a fantastic events manager and wedding planner, I didn’t have to worry about a thing. I had complete trust in Drew and Bronwyn, which doesn’t come easy to me as I’m very controlling at times.
From the beginning, Bronwyn from Scenic Rim Bride was my go-to. Bronwyn was so quick to reply to my many emails, was conscious of our budget and did everything she could to help us save money! Her style is impeccable and knew exactly what I was after and helped us grow this vision. There was constant contact with all of my suppliers and she ensured the day ran so perfectly. Bronwyn is so incredibly talented, organised and personable.
We were very lucky to have so many people invest so much time and energy into making it the best day of our lives. Coming out of the wedding with new friends, I actually miss the frequent contact we had.
While the cost of weddings can be overwhelming at times, it is honestly the most amazing day and worth every cent. I would do it all again in a heart beat. No one ever warned me about how sad I would be when it was all over!
How often in your life will you have all of your family and friends so excited to celebrate your love for one another. It’s pretty cool.
It would have to be Toni from Doe and Deer photography and Jess from New England Flower Co. From the beginning they were so understanding of my vision and of what I wanted and didn’t want! Michael isn’t one for photos- in fact, he said at the start that we didn’t need a photographer at all!! But on the day, Toni was like one of our friends. She fit in so well and made us feel so comfortable. The whole process felt effortless (for us anyway!).
Jess from New England Flower Co- wow! I don’t need to say much at all, the flowers on the day spoke for themselves. I actually couldn’t believe that that was our wedding- the flowers fit in with the space perfectly and worked so well with the furniture to transform the blank space into my dream wedding! She is so talented!
I also have to mention the beautiful ladies that helped us all get ready! April (hair) and Becci (make up) were so chilled and fit in with my family and me so well. What I thought would be a hectic morning, was actually so much fun and this was partly thanks to their professionalism, talent and easy going attitudes- it would not be an easy feat pleasing 6 fussy women but they did so effortlessly!
Inspired by the scenic landscape, Manuela & Fabrizio’s wedding celebration was modern bohemian in aesthetic yet intimate in mood. A wedding of rustic luxe styling and European romance.
Adorned in an alluring long sleeve Grace Love Lace gown, Manuela elegantly moved through the space. Minimal arrangements of olive and white garden blooms decorated the venue, beautifully contrasting natures backdrop.
Manuela & Fabrizio
17th August 2019
Rosewood Estate
How We Met
Manuela and Fabrizio were originally introduced by Manuela’s sister, Luiza, back in August of 2016 – but this is the edited version of it. Actually, Fabrizio saw Manuela for the first time on one of those dating apps, but didn’t get a reply back from her. Fabrizio did his research and found out that Manuela was sister’s with an old friend, Luiza. He contacted Luiza, who then told him to forget about technologies – she would do the introductions in the old school way.
Our Story
Manuela was adamant that she was not interested in pursuing a relationship at that particular time in her life. But Luiza was quite persuasive about how amazing Fabrizio was, and Manuela agreed to meet him for a coffee date in Broadbeach. Fabrizio was instantly attracted to Manuela the moment he met her. Although Manuela was indifferent and admits that they did share a real sense of ease in each other’s company and they discussed their mutual interest in Peru.
The following week Fabrizio took Manuela out to dinner in Kirra. Over tapas and sangria, they learnt more about each other’s lives, hopes and dreams for the future. Fabrizio says he noticed an amazing connection as he realized they were talking for so long. So deep into conversation that they forgot to order food – something very unusual to him.
After dinner, Manuela very reluctantly agreed to go to Fabrizio’s home under the pretense of him needing to feed his dog. And it was there that they shared their first kiss – and only a kiss. Over the next few weeks they shared a few more dates together, but Manuela was focused on her work and studies. Manuela didn’t give much thought to having a relationship with Fabrizio. She would take days – maybe a week – to reply a message of him. What she didn’t know was that Fabrizio cannot see a challenge in front of him and not pursue it.
He kept trying
Restlessly, until things finally changed. It was on January 5th, when they were going to have dinner and drinks that Manuela remembers an unexplainable shift. It was a combination of the moment and a very wise choice of words that made Manuela realize that Fabrizio was the one. It was as if she was looking at Fabrizio for the first time and seeing the amazing man that he is. It was a defining moment that not only opened her heart but all the possibilities that a relationship with Fabrizio would bring. Her soul welcomed his love and it was in this moment that their love story really began and quite suddenly they fell in love.
Since then, they saw each other every day. They have shared many beach days, camping adventures, two houses, and have travelled to 8 different countries together. His dog is now THEIR dog. The beautiful staffy Cali is very lucky to call Manuela her mum – although Manuela thinks that the really lucky one is herself, for having Fabrizio and Cali in her life.
The Proposal
Fabrizio and Manuela knew they had something very special and shared the same desire to spend their life together, but it was in December last year when Fabrizio orchestrated his proposal. During a holiday in Indonesia, Fabrizio arranged for them to stay in a beautiful penthouse in Bali. He led Manuela from the lobby to the outdoors to admire the magnificent views from the lookout and unbeknown to Manuela, Fabrizio had arranged a photographer on standby to capture the special moment. As they admired the views, Fabrizio surprised Manuela as he went down on bended knee, and with ring in hand he asked her to be his wife. It was a very intimate and emotional moment as the photographer captured Manuela happily accepting Fabrizio’s proposal.
True Love
When asked what Fabrizio loves about Manuela he said he loves her caring and supportive nature. She is fierce towards any challenge and her strong drive and determination allows her to complete any task she sets her mind to. He loves their connection towards life and how she inspires him about their future together, knowing that whatever life brings, it will be amazing with Manuela by his side.
Manuela says that Fabrizio’s love is unconditional. He has an amazing heart and makes Manuela feel very special and loved. She admires everything about him. The way he behaves with family and friends, his commitment to everything he does. His amazing ability to fix problems, situations and broken things around the house. She loves the way he truly listens to her, and also the way he prepares her coffee every morning. Above all, he makes her smile. He is indeed her one true love.
The Future
Manuela and Fabrizio are very excited about their future together as husband and wife and will continue to support each other with a foundation of love and respect. They look forward to more adventures together. When the timing is right they plan to have children and raise them in a family surrounded by their love for one another. They love the very idea of growing old together and reflecting on the amazing life that they shared.
The Location
Widely regarded as one of the finest properties on the mountain. Resting high on the famous Lamington Plateau. Renown throughout the world for its stunning rainforests, waterfalls, walking tracks and lush green hills.
This beautiful 100-year-old Rosewood Estate is located on a magnificent 250-acre horse and cattle farm. With stunning coastal views stretching from South Stradbroke Island to Coolangatta to the East and up the entire Numinbah Valley to the South.
For a copy of an all-inclusive package at Rosewood Estate, please contact us.
