A relaxed and sophisticated affair
23rd April 2021
Olga & Michael tied the knot at the Quarry Amphitheatre on a gorgeous April day. Their dream wedding day was all about creating a relaxed atmosphere and taking care of their guests. With simple, but sophisticated white and green styling, and 350 LED candles adorning the steps of the Quarry, the space looked truly magical. Creating the perfect backdrop to celebrate their love with family & friends.
We LOVE love – and one of our favourite parts of catering weddings is getting to know our lovely couples, as they trust us to cater their event. It makes seeing the day come together and our clients and their families enjoying themselves, even more rewarding. We asked the newly-weds to share some special moments from their big day.
How They Met
“We met in Darwin through a mutual friend. Both were sent to Darwin for work and were only meant to be there for a short period of time, but from seeing each other for a couple of months, we knew that the relationship was serious, so we continued it for a year and half through long distance. It was very hard but it made us realize how much we wanted to be together and cared for each other.”
The Proposal
“Michael proposed in Maldives, on the beach overlooking the sunset. As a true romantic, he got on one knee and popped the question. It was a complete surprise to me (apparently the ring was in my glass of champagne for a good 15 minutes before I noticed it) and I was so excited afterwards that I couldn’t eat or drink anything and kept looking at my ring.
Michael designed the ring and the diamond came from his mom and dad – it was used in the original ring that Michael’s dad proposed with to his mom. This made it even more special to me.”
The Ceremony & Reception
The theme of our wedding was: “I’d like to think that we went with simple but sophisticated. Our color scheme was green and white. So were our bouquets and girls dresses (mine white and girls wearing green). Boys went with the dark navy. Once we set the date, picked the venue and color scheme, everything flowed from there onwards.”
Our ceremony venue was: “Quarry Amphitheatre. We tried to make it as easy and simple for our guests as possible, so straight after the ceremony, while we were away taking photos, we had our guests enjoying themselves with canapes and drinks. As entertainment we choose a piano player and lawn games, which I think added to the atmosphere and made it more relaxed.”
Our reception venue was: “The best venue in Perth – Quarry Amphitheatre in City beach! It’s unique and absolutely stunning. I spent a long time living in Scotland and the walls of the quarry remind me of the Edinburgh castle. I also found the venue very spacious, it does not feel over crowded even if you have quite a large number of guests.
We often got to hear that it was one of the nicest weddings people have ever been to (maybe it’s a standard statement for the newly weds) but we really tried it to make it as easy as possible for our vendors and make sure our guests had fun. One of the nice little things that we thought was a good idea was to give everyone personalized glass cocktail straws engraved with their names. This made it a unique idea and was well received given the nice touch of engraving individual names.”
Our first dance was to: What the World Needs Now, by Burt Bacharach
Our Advice For Other Couples
- Don’t stress, you are not as far behind as you think and you won’t miss anything!
- Get yourself a good wedding planning diary with major milestones there, stick to the timeframe there and keep ticking things off. Once decided, move on to the next thing, don’t dwell, even better, delete all the old photos so you won’t think that you’ve made the wrong choice
- Delegate! If you are really struggling, ask your bridesmaids and husband to be for help. Make sure you are specific with what you want as it would make it easier for them
- Trust your intuition. You’ve made the right decision and it will look beautiful regardless. If you are stuck in between 2 options (my biggest dilemma), flip a coin and if you don’t like what you see, you’ve just made your choice
- Go with the flow on the day, we ended up getting married during the snap lock down and had to wear masks after 6pm. I was surprisingly calm now that I think about it and so many of our friends brought masks enough for everyone, I even got a white one on the day from one of the good friends who went home to get it. People are amazing, especially in the time of need!
- Enjoy every moment when it comes to the big day and try to take 5 mins with just you and your husband to take it all in as it will fly by
Suppliers other couples just have to know about: Hollie McDonald, from Ultimo. So good, she will keep you grounded and on track. Did I say she is amazing already?
The Honeymoon
“It was meant to be Europe, but due to COVID, we stuck to Australia. Straight after the wedding we went for a couple of nights to Bodhi Spa Retreat in Injuyp, WA.
The main honeymoon was organized by my husband end-to-end who kept it as a secret right up to the last minute when we had to board at the airport. We spent a couple of days in Brisbane, followed by Hamilton Island. I’ve never been anywhere bar Perth and Darwin due to our long distance relationship before, so this was a treat and seeing Great Barrier Reef was a highlight.”
The Menu
Canapes to start
Salmon caviar cone, smoke salmon mousse, kaffir lime powder
Crispy prawn gyoza, fresh chilli, scallion, plum syrup (DF, NF)
Crumbed five spice pork bite, honey mustard dip (NF)
Three cheese arancini, vincotto mayo (V)
Entrée
Spinach, sundried tomato & goat cheese tortellini, don shimiji mushroom, hazelnut foam, charcoal paint, parmesan crisp (V)
Mains – Alternate Drop
Triple rib lamb chop with cassoulet of beans, roasted heirloom carrot, olive oil snow, wild flower, and rosemary jus
Alternating with
Black pepper crusted beef fillet, brussel sprout, grilled pears, ginger & raisin puree, crusted chat potato, beef jus
Dessert
Wedding cake plated as dessert, served with berry coulis & cream
Signature Cocktails
Pear + Cloudy Apple Whiskey Sour
Pomegranate + Rosemary Gin Fizz
The Team
Wedding Coordinator / Catering: Hollie McDonald, Ultimo
Wedding Stylist: Hollie McDonald, Ultimo
Florist: Event Flowers
Hair/Make up: Pearlin
Dress designer: Karen Willis Holmes
Photographer: Ross Wallace Photography
Videographer: Finn Motion
Cake: Cake & I
Celebrant: Andrew Pickering
Furniture & Crockery/Glassware/Linen/Cutlery Hire: Hire Society
Lighting: Festoon Lighting
DJ: DJ Jeremy Tucker