The longest friendship has turned into a lifetime together. Kathryn met Anthony when he was just the new boy in Year 5 of Primary School. Friendship budded by year 10 however they just couldn’t quite get on the same page at the same time! As we all know the best things in life are worth waiting for and this love story was one worth the wait! #RCRealBride Kathryn wore the Amal made and designed in Australia. A classic beauty! Sleek and modern with a hint of contemporary design. Photography by Anthony Licuria from APL photgraphy THE FIRST SIGHT We met in Primary School in Year 5. Fair to say it was definitely not love at first sight. He was the new kid to join our school and was bubbly and happy from day one. We finished Primary School and then continued into High School together. We were friendly but never super close… until Year 10, when we were partnered together in Food Technology classes. It was then that we really started to get to know eachother and became fond of one another. He quickly learnt of my inability to cook, appointing himself as head chef and me on cleaning up duties…nothing has changed. We grew a strong friendship that then found us to have stronger feelings, but at different times for the both of us. Clearly we were not on the same page at this point in our lives. Forward to the first year of Uni, we were finally on the same page. One night out with our group of friends found us to finally be on the same page. We kept it quiet for a little bit as we didn’t want to ruin our friendship or the closeness with had with our group of friends. Lucky for us, it worked out! THE PROPOSAL It was Queens Birthday long weekend and we had been dating for 8 years at this point. We were busy helping my family move houses and had planned to go away for a night to celebrate our birthdays as our birthdays are 9 days apart. He picked me up and we were off to Balgownie Estate Resort in the Yarra Valley. I was honesly exhsuated from moving houses and finishing my classroom reports that all I wanted to do was to have an early night. Fair to say, I was not suspicious whatsoever. We had spent a few hours out, enjoying chocolate at the chocolate factory and getting some lunch. I was still so excited to head back to the room to sleep, but in true ‘Anthony-fashion’, we needed to stop off at the IGA for snacks. Back at the room, I immediately got into my pyjamas and went into bed. Anthony came out with a birthday gift which was suprising to me as our gift to each other is usually to be away for our birthdays. I was so excited! I thought it was a watch because the box was pretty big. After unwrapping what felt like layers and layers of wrapping and boxes, I found an open ring box with a little card sitting up against the ring with the words “will you marry me?”. THE VENUE We married in the same Greek church that my parents were married in 29 years ago. It was also the same church I was baptised in. The priest that married my parents and baptised me was still practising in that same church. This was a no-brainer for me as I truly wanted to be married in a church that had sentiment to my family. In terms of finding the right venue for our reception- we knew we were limited as we had to hold over 300 people. We had been to many big greek weddings at different venues, so we wanted to look at venues we had never been to before. We had heard nothing but good things about The Park, so we gave that a go. It was the first place we looked at and fell in love with the space. It is an empty canvas, allowing us to add our own touch to it. The venue manager was absolutely lovely and accomodating. The way in which they were open to altering things to suit us, our families and our greek culture is what truely convinced us to have our wedding there. This was then the first and last place we had looked at! FAVORITE MOMENT Oh how to pick one! Anthony’s speech is definitely up there as one of my favourites, but also walking down that aisle. I truly loved sharing that moment with my dad and made sure I walked slowly to take it all in. However, one of the moments I’ll truly cherish was when I walked out to my family at my parents house. My aunties, uncles, cousins and our family-friends were all so emotional. I will never forget how much love was in the room. One thing I always hoped for as a young girl was for my four grandparents to share this day for me. I considered myself the luckiest girl that day to have them by my side. I shared a beautiful traditional dance with the four of them at my parents house. I havent stopped watching the video of us dancing as I lost my beautiful Grandfather suddenly 10 days after the wedding. That dance I will forever remember. THE DRESS I always wanted something simple- yet elegant and timeless. I knew I wasn’t going to wear anything with lace or crystals but was open minded to try on every style. I took my mum, aunties and cousins to Raffaele Cuccia in Armadale and enjoyed champagne as I tried wedding dresses on for the very first time. A soon as I walked out in the Amal Gown by Caleche Bridal, my family knew that was the one! My favourite part of the dress was the off the shoulder feature and the buttons down the back. With the simplicity of the gown, I knew I needed something extra- just to give it that wow factor. I had become very obssessed with the T.V series “Reign”- mainly because of the beautiful crowns featured in the show. I had come across Viktoria Novak on Instagram and decided to fly to Sydney to try on her beautiful crowns. I tried a few crowns on, but as soon as I put on the “Luciana” Crown I told my mum how much I felt like I was in the show Reign. Then to my surprise, Viktoria said that they are her crowns! I had absolutely no idea. It was almost meant to be. FINDING THE ONE I absolutely enjoyed my experience at RC. I was lucky enough to have had a great shopping experience at both stores-Armadale and Brunsick. Ellen was absolutely beautiful from the Armadale store. She made me feel so special and welcomed my large family with open arms. Francesca from the Brunswick store is a true expert. She knows the female body, what suits each shape and each inidividual bride. She helped me make the right decision and am so thankful for that! VENDORS Gown: Raffaele Ciuca Bridal Photographer: Anthony Licuria from APL photgraphy Venue: The Park Church/Celebrant: Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church Flowers: Mina’s Florals Cake: Sweet Cakes of Mine Hair: Alarah Hair Studio Makeup: Daniela Cantelmi Shoes: Christian Louboutin Invites: Paperjam Studio Suits: Hugo Boss and Andre J Menswear Band/DJ: Peter Tzamalis (MC), Glendi Greek Bank with female singer Maria Diakonidis as well as Paul Antoniadis from Protact Entertainment Bridesmaid Dresses: Made by Andriana Karvelis (cousin of the bride and one of the bridemaids) Bonbonerie: Coasters by Mazii Collection and koufetta boxes/stationery by elle + ink Table Centrepieces: Mina’s Florals, Shape Steel and The Luxx Co. Rings: Anton Jewellery and Mazzucchellis Special Mentions: Amica Event Hire- chairs, bridal table and cake stand Viktoria Novak – Crown, Veil and Jewellery & Video- Lavan Photography