Today Couturing take a look at the wedding of Jordie Grist Legudi, one half of Australian fashion label A L E S S A.
HOW THEY MET
Ryan was on holiday in Perth from Melbourne with a group of friends and was out at The Cottesloe Beach hotel on Boxing day 2004. I had finished work and wasn’t going to go out but my friends begged me to. Ryan was wearing sunglasses inside and I thought that was pretty silly so I proceeded to tell him that….we ended up chatting all night and I decided I quite liked him. He was in town for 6 days with his friends but we spent every day together…. We then did long distance for the following 12 months before we moved to London together.
THE PROPOSAL
On the 31st of December 2008 Ryan and I were still living in London but decided to head to New York (my favourite city) for Christmas and New Year’s. It was snowing a blizzard but Ryan insisted that he wanted to go to Central Park for a walk…I had my suspicions but I guess you never really think it’s going to happen. So we were walking through the park and he proposed just over one of the famous bridges. We actually returned there last year and carved our initials into one of the nearby trees. There was no horse and cart thank god!
THE DRESS
I walked into Browns in London and saw this dress that I had seen in a magazine already….I tried it on and it fit perfectly….so I purchased it straight away. We had only been engaged for 3 weeks but it fit me so well and didn’t want to risk not finding another dress (luckily I never saw anything after this that I loved as much). It was an Oscar de la Renta gown and was the last one they had….I thought it was meant to be!
THE BRIDESMAIDS
Given I love fashion and am part of A L E S S A I wanted the girls to all be in something custom made. I also thought it was very important that they be in their own style but still in the same colour. So I designed 5 different styles which I felt suited the girl’s body shapes and personality. I loved the colour navy and thought it tied in with the romantic-modern style of wedding I wanted. I really wanted them to be long as I felt it achieved a more elegant feel.
THE FLOWERS
Loads and loads of Kenyan White Roses! The trick is to have lots of them to add maximum impact. We were lucky enough to have a team of flower experts (friends of the family) to help arrange all the flowers on the day. We purchased a lot of vases which were different sizes and filled them with the flowers down the guests’ tables. For the Bridal table we did the same but had tall vases with white Hydrangeas.
My bouquet was made by Poppy’s flowers in Nedlands – again lots of white roses but with more green included.
THE RECEPTION
I wanted a modern romantic inspired reception, which I think we achieved by having lots of white flowers with a hint of pink as well as a lot of candles and massive Chandelier hanging over the bridal table. I particularly loved our dessert table as it had masses of flowers and loads of desserts. We also had a light up bar which served French Champagne all night as well as some signature Brazilian cocktails (caipiroskas) to show a bit of my Brazilian background. The dance floor was black and white checked which I thought was a bit of fun!
THE CEREMONY
The Ceremony was in the gardens at the Cottesloe Civic Centre. There were views of the sea and it was only 500metres from where I lived and met Ryan!
THE FIRST DANCE
Al Green ‘Let’s stay together’
FAVOURITE MEMORY
I loved dancing with Ryan, the guests and my family the best! Is that bad? Ryan and I really just wanted it to be a big party which I think we achieved. The car came to get us at 3am and we made him wait until 4am… it was a great night and we had so many interstate and overseas guests so we just wanted to show them a good time! Another favourite memory was going down to The Cottesloe Beach Hotel and taking a photo out the front (as that’s where we first met!)
ADVICE
I think when preparing for a wedding it’s really important to not get caught up in the small things and to not lose sight about what it’s all about. Also, carry powder in your purse – you will need to touch up as it’s a long day! Wear your shoes a few times at least before the day (an obvious one….but you don’t want to be in pain all day!) The main thing is to try and enjoy every moment of the day and take it all in.
Images courtesy of Jordie Grist Legudi
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