Wedding | April & Aidan

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We’re April and Aidan, a designer and museum worker, from Sydney, Australia. We were in the same year in high school. We knew of each other but weren’t close. We reconnected at a house party 9 years ago, and have been together since that night. I had just graduated fashion school and Aidan had just returned to Sydney after living in Seoul. It surprised us how natural it's been to be together because we couldn’t be more different - our differences bring out the best in each other.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

For the ceremony - we wanted to keep it small with our family and close friends. So the Pyrmont registry was an easy solution. It was super relaxed and we could get a water taxi from the registry back to my parents place. The water taxi took us through the Sydney Harbour which our family from overseas and interstate really enjoyed.

The reception venue was a no-brainer. We visited Ester Spirits for the first time on the way to a party. The drinks were delicious and we loved the red interiors. We wanted our celebrations to reflect us - low-key but still a party. Ester Spirits felt like that to us. When we met Corinna, the owner of the distillery, and saw how open she was to our ideas, we knew it was a good fit.

How many guests did you have?

Tell us about your outfits.

It was important to us that we got something we could wear again.

Once I figured out what hairstyle I wanted (inspired by my forever style icon Faye Wong), the rest fell into place. I loved the clean silhouettes by Van Der Kooij and chose the bodice and skirt combination in champagne silk. It felt effortless and timeless. All the jewellery worn belonged to my grandmother who passed away earlier this year. I also borrowed my friend’s beaded bag to go with my shoes.

My tea ceremony Qi Pao was from a lady in Cabramatta that sells dresses literally outside of a hair salon. The black velvet dress with silver sequins and pearl beads at the collar was one the seller picked out for me. I tried it out of politeness but ended up loving it.

The I’m Sorry by Petra Collins dress I changed into at the reception was also a total wildcard. I found it when I was browsing SSENSE one night. I wore it with the Sandy Liang bow belt bag that I bought, thinking it was going to be part of my wedding dress before I decided on the outfit from Van Der Kooij. The outfit was inspired by the dress my mum wore at my parent’s wedding reception in the 80’s.

Aidan wanted something that was relaxed and we picked up the Beams Japan jacket and Y’s for Mens trousers at Incu. We ironed on the Double Happiness embroidery patch that I had picked up in Singapore onto shirts he already had to tie into the theme.

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

We wanted the day to feel like us and for our guests to have a good time. It was important for the day to feel relaxed and spontaneous. We wanted to honour tradition but also do it in our own way. Even though we had a tea ceremony, it was really casual and we made sure Aidan’s parents were involved.

My sister also did the decorations at my family home and incorporated Aidan’s family’s tartan in the Double Happiness signs which was a nice touch in marrying our two cultures.

For the reception, we definitely wanted a more relaxed vibe and we wanted it to feel as social as possible. We didn’t have set seats, and had tables outside the venue and smaller ones inside. Through the night we saw friends from different groups mingling together which was what we wanted. We knew we wanted the food and drinks to be delicious, and Ester Spirits and Babs Pops Up knocked it out of the park.

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

My family is Chinese Singaporean so we wanted to incorporate those cultural elements like the tea ceremony and double happiness signs, but to also make it feel modern.

We were definitely leaning towards a kitsch vibe but still wanted it to be chic. For the reception venue styling, we were inspired by Taiwanese and Hong Kong movies, the interiors of Chinese restaurants in an Australian country town and the Instagram account Beijing Silvermine. Hence the monotone red colour scheme, the draped satin fabric, bows & roses.

*As a side note, my mum and sisters coordinated wearing my Grandma’s Kebaya in honour of her memory. This was something they coordinated themselves which I loved. A lot of the wedding had touches of her.

Any tips for couples getting married?

We did our own planning and DIY-ed quite a bit of our wedding. We learned that when we were clear with what help we needed, people were happy to jump on (with respect to their time). Our wedding was a community effort.

We are really lucky to have such a creative circle. Our friends and family were also involved in helping us with the set-up and prep of the venue. We had friends DJ through the night and my sisters did an amazing job being the MC’s.

We couldn’t be more grateful for their talents and contributions that made the night even more unforgettable.

We let our friends and family play to their strengths and trusted the process. I think so much of it was a surprise which made the day feel spontaneous and kept us in the moment. You can’t control every element of the day so going with the flow and being with the people you love worked for us.

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

We went with our gut with all of our vendors. We chose them because they were all genuinely lovely people that we vibed with and were passionate about their work. We were happy with every single one of them and they all went beyond our expectations.

Ester Spirits went above and beyond their delicious cocktails. They were so dedicated to making our day special through the whole process and their team treated our guests so well. They also introduced us to Babs Pops Up who did the most amazing food. From the pig on the spit to the champagne jelly, it was perfection.

Alanis K , was our photographer who instantly felt like a friend and captured every special moment. She understood who we were as a couple and worked to bring that out in the photos.

Jihye Chae Make Up & Hair, did an exceptional job with my make up and brought my dream hair to life - which was the cherry on top of all my outfits.

Our dear friend Mariska (Studio Aur), who is an extremely talented set designer, stepped in when I was drowning in red satin and transformed the venue to something out of a movie. They really helped me refine my vision of how I wanted the venue to look & brought it to life.