Real Wedding | Erin + Johnny

Tell us a little about yourselves!

I’m Erin, a mother of two kids, Mika and Luna. I previously worked in retail buying after studying a BFA majoring in Fashion. Johnny is in the Airforce so we are lucky enough to spend a lot of time travelling. Before the pandemic, we took Mika to Japan with some friends of ours, and this year we are spending five months in Florida while Johnny works. We would love to travel with our kids as much as possible so they can experience many different countries and cultures as they grow older. When we aren’t travelling we spend most of our time socialising with friends - they are like family to us.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We got married in my parents back yard, it’s the house I grew up in and the place where we spend a lot of time with family and friends. They have large palm trees lining the lawn so it felt very tropical in keeping with our feel good soirée theme.

Tell us about your outfits.

I am drawn to chic effortless style so I chose a custom Kenny + Harlow dress in a champagne colour. I wear white daily, so I wanted to wear a colour that made the day feel special. Johnny wore a le Faitaga (a formal lava lava). After the formalities, I changed into a dreamy pink Paris Georgia outfit which was much easier to dance the night away in.

What was the most important aspect for you, in terms of planning your wedding?

Both Johnny and I have an affinity for Asian food and we loved the idea of the meals at our wedding representing all of the dates and memories we’ve made eating Asian fusion. It was also something that Johnny was invested in which felt important to me.

Were there any elements that were important for you to incorporate?

After getting engaged in 2020, the year of lockdowns, my vision for the wedding was a feel good soirée. It was important to us to have a wedding that would make people happy so we chose yellow as the main theme. Two of my bridesmaids had pale-yellow dresses, my bouquet included buttery yellow roses and Flock Events with Floral Stylist created beautiful art installations using lemons, yellow foxgloves and golden vases.

It was also very important for both of us to honour Johnny’s fathers heritage and his family who were unable to make it due to restrictions, so he wore a le Faitaga (a formal lava lava).

Any tips for couples getting married, particularly during the pandemic?

Always have a plan B. This doesn’t just apply during a pandemic but also for unplanned changes in the weather. I’m so lucky that Johnny persuaded me to have a marquee for cocktail hour because that became our backup wet weather plan – which we needed. My other tip is to work with reliable and creative vendors. I had ordered custom yellow tablecloths, but the week before the wedding I was told they weren’t going to arrive in time because of delays due to the pandemic. So instead, we used white tablecloths and my very clever stylist came up with some great floral art displays on theme.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

Keryn Sweeney, our photographer, was a dream to work with. Not only did she make us feel relaxed and calm on the day but she took the most beautiful photographs that we will cherish forever. Her photography style very much matched our style and on the day she felt like another friend celebrating our wedding with us.