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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. This episode of Stylish is brought to you by Bioderma. Great wedding glam starts with great skin. Choose Bioderma's iconic micellar cleansers. Available at leading pharmacies and online. Welcome to the Wedding series by Stylish, a three part series all about. Well, guys, it's pretty obvious wedding culture. I'm Rhiannon Joyce.
- [00:31]
B
And I'm Jo Fleming.
- [00:32]
A
And today we have a very, very special guest for our episode. Someone who actually got married in 2024, has a lot of great learnings to share and someone who I actually sit next to in the office. Introducing Cindy Liu, Shameless Media's senior partnership manager. Welcome, Cindy. Hi.
- [00:51]
C
So excited to be here.
- [00:52]
A
Oh, she's already had a little test and learn in the office yesterday, so I put her through the ringer. So she's feeling good.
- [00:58]
C
Yeah, I'm feeling good. I'm really excited.
- [01:00]
A
Very good, very good. So we are back. This is our second wedding series.
- [01:05]
B
Much anticipated, Much anticipated also.
- [01:08]
A
So I was surprised. So many DMs, and I know we say that a lot, but genuinely, so many DMs. Did you get a queue?
- [01:14]
B
Yeah, heaps. Heaps of people like begging for another wedding series.
- [01:18]
A
Do you think post your wedding as well? It was. Did you see a surge? I mean, yes, post wedding. That was quite a long time ago, almost like eight or nine months now. But when we were doing a few little teasers recently, I think the girls put a question box up and I, I'm not supposed to be in the stylish dms, but sometimes and I saw a few people reply being like, oh my God, please bring the wedding series back. So we have it's back and we're very excited because it makes the most sense. We are both married now, Cindy, as I said, you got married in 2024. So we wanted to kick off our first episode to share our biggest learnings
- [01:56]
B
post wedding and the best way to figure out what you want from your wedding to speak or listen to the ones that have already been there, done that. So that's why we're here again today. Maybe we need to make this a permanent thing. Every year we just come back even
- [02:08]
A
though we've only been married once and hopefully we'll just keep coming back. Do you know what though? It does hasn't even been a full year for me. But as the months have gone by and Cindy, I'll be interested to hear what you think about this. You start to remember more and more things.
- [02:21]
B
I'm the opposite. Oh really?
- [02:23]
A
Yeah.
- [02:23]
B
I forget to remember it.
- [02:24]
A
Maybe because it's so fresh. You're just like.
- [02:26]
C
It's.
- [02:27]
B
I think I've just got a really bad memory. Okay, we'll get into that.
- [02:29]
A
Okay, we'll get into that. We're jumping ahead.
- [02:31]
B
So Cindy, Andy, to start us off, can you paint us a picture for our listeners? I actually don't know a lot about your wedding day. I know Rae knows the all of the detail, especially because I just found out before we started this recording that you both got married in the same place we did. Before you knew each other.
- [02:48]
C
Yeah, before we knew each other. So I got married in November 2024. When did you get married? It was last year.
- [02:53]
A
Last year. May 2025.
- [02:56]
C
Yeah, yeah. So close. So November a couple years ago now, it was springtime, it was in Byron Bay. So really lucky to have kind of a destination wedding and have, I think we had about 100 guests there. We always knew that we wanted to get married like in a destination kind of and bring our guests to a place that we always loved. So yeah, we visited Byron a few times now. I actually had this venue on my Pinterest for years and I actually booked it without seeing it because I did the same thing.
- [03:27]
A
Did you?
- [03:28]
B
Yeah.
- [03:28]
A
I think this is actually more common than what we think.
- [03:31]
C
Yeah. So it was kind of like a beautiful chateau. It was really French, kind of Tuscan vibes. It was a private property and I loved how it had different sections of the house to have your cocktail hour and then your ceremony. We had it underneath the vines and then we had our marquee. We really took full use of the venue. But yeah, it felt like a little while ago now. So I'm really happy to be here
- [03:56]
B
and talk about it again, get to recap it again. I think Zara felt the same way in the last series. She was like, yeah, I get to talk about my wedding again.
- [04:02]
C
Yeah, yeah. What I really wanted out of the whole weekend was just to make it feel like a holiday for all of our guests. Cuz we knew it's a huge ask to have like, you know, your friends and family travel and stay, you know, it's a big financial decision. So we just wanted to host everyone the whole weekend and we had a few optional events pre and post as well.
- [04:22]
B
So I need to ask about the weather because I know that Ri had rain on her wedding day, which we're going to get into. What was your weather like, given that it was the same venue but different times of year?
- [04:33]
C
It actually did rain as well. When we were in Byron. We got ready in Byron and then it was about a 40 minute bus ride to the venue. And on the way there, I cannot even tell you the rain on like the car, windscreen wiper, like you could not see the road. Yeah, it was crazy. But then, I don't know, it just
- [04:50]
A
cleared up like, so northern New South Wales, Queensland. I grew up on the Gold coast and that, you know, everyone jokes Melbourne, like four seasons in a day. The Gold coast in northern New South Wales. Exactly the same. Yeah. Add the humidity though.
- [05:04]
C
Yeah.
- [05:04]
A
Not good.
- [05:05]
C
So, yeah, it did rain a little bit for our ceremony, but I feel like it was kind of really romantic. It was kind of. We were lucky it wasn't bucketing.
- [05:12]
B
Was it outside your ceremony?
- [05:13]
C
Yeah, it was outside. We were lucky it wasn't bucketing. It kind of was kind of like trickling down. We had like umbrellas and it's a
- [05:20]
A
nice moody vibe there.
- [05:21]
C
Yeah, yeah. It feels like really romantic. It does, yeah.
- [05:24]
A
I do want to tell a little bit of a story. When I interviewed Cindy for the position in the partnerships team, we'd already followed each other on Instagram. Cindy had attended shameless media upfronts, I think, earlier in that year.
- [05:37]
C
Yeah.
- [05:38]
A
So I'd already seen a lot of Cindy's photos from her wedding and she looked absolutely incredible, like, so ethereal, so beautiful. And the venue that Cindy was talking about, I had had on my Pinterest board. I believe you.
- [05:51]
C
I think it's the same photo.
- [05:52]
A
It was the same photo that we both were like, oh, my God, this is our wedding venue.
- [05:56]
C
Yeah.
- [05:56]
A
So I remember when I interviewed Cindy, I was like, do I bring it up? This is awkward. I've already booked the same venue, I've seen all the photos. We actually have a lot of the same suppliers. It's quite weird. Think I copied her. So literally the end of the interview and by this point, let's be honest, I knew that Cindy was getting the job, so I was like, so just so you know, I'm getting married at the same wedding venue. And then it was really nice. It's kind of. I broke the ice and then we had this really beautiful chat and then you shared so much about your wedding. But yeah, yeah, it's a. It's a gorgeous spot.
- [06:25]
C
Yeah. So lucky. I love it.
- [06:27]
A
It was so lovely. It actually graced the pages of Vogue. This is something that I think a lot of girlies are curious about. A lot of people don't really understand, like, how this process works. And to be honest, I feel a Lot of people think that the pages of Vogue are reserved for people who have a profile. And it feels like right now the wedding industry in the wedding section of this really prolific magazine is blowing up. But at the time, Cindy, not saying you don't have a profile.
- [06:53]
C
I don't. I literally don't. I have, like a thousand followers on Instagram.
- [06:57]
A
You are a real bride, and I think it's really rare to see real brides featured in such a prolific publication. Can you tell us about that process?
- [07:05]
C
Yeah, I never, like. I think, like, you. I just. I didn't think that they featured, like, real brides. I thought it was more for, like, celebrities and influences. And it came out of nowhere. I remember we had, like, received our photos. We're still in Byron Bay. We had, like, about. I think we got the teaser album.
- [07:20]
A
So when you get a teaser album, what they do is they drop 30 to maybe 50 photos that they think are the best, and then you get to pick those and then. Yeah, whack them up on Instagram.
- [07:31]
C
Yes. We had that while we were still in Byron Bay. I think it was within the week. So we were really lucky to get all of these photos back. And I remember was staying at this, like, Sun Ranch place in Byron, which was kind of like very western theme. So I just. I just had this, like, memory in my head. And we're looking through the photos and then I got this message from our photographer because we had the same photographer as well.
- [07:53]
A
There's going to be a lot of this in the episode. We have a lot of the same suppliers because in Byron Bay, they're very particular about who they work with. And also there's a limited number of really good supplies. And Joey, who was your photographer and our photographer.
- [08:05]
C
Yeah.
- [08:06]
A
Unbelievable.
- [08:06]
C
Yeah, he was amazing. He, like, it just went above and beyond. And you can really tell in the photos.
- [08:12]
B
Did you have to hold off posting your content? Because I know that is a caveat that Vogue won't let you post until they've posted.
- [08:18]
C
Yeah, that you do and you don't. You can't post, like, anything. I was told, like, you know, you should untag your photos or just hide. Hide them from your profile. I did post our, like, video from the day. That was like a little snippet. It was like a 60 second. Because I felt like I just got married. You know, I want to celebrate it. And I think that was okay. I mean, it was okay in the end, but yeah, it does take a little while for them to approve. And then once they've kind of given you the green light. They send you a bit of a questionnaire and then you fill that through and then that's what makes the basis of your article. And then, yeah, they say it's published and you get a link and all the photos are kind of like on the page. And I look at it all the time, honestly.
- [09:00]
A
We were in the office the other day, crowded around Cindy's computer, when she finally agreed to do this episode. Convincing from my end, but it's. It is honestly this beautiful pace that you can constantly come back to. All the girls are oohing and ahhing or just sitting there going, oh, so beautiful. And it will be so nice. I. I don't know if this is, like, weirdly sentimental for me, but, like, you can show your kids.
- [09:22]
C
Yeah, it's really sweet. So too. It's just. Yeah, it's really nice just to have that kind of, like, place in time, I think.
- [09:29]
A
Elevator pitch. I want to hear about the day, about the venue. I want to hear everything. Because you're the most recent bride as well.
- [09:35]
B
Yeah, I've got a shocking memory, Like, I'm known a really bad memory. So there's a key detail of the day that was very important to me because it's something I wasn't going to have and ended up having. And I'm so glad that I did. So I got married on 29 November last year, in 2025. So a few months ago now, I got married about two hours out of Melbourne, so in a old heritage building. They've got a wedding venue there and most of it is outdoors. There is an indoor option.
- [10:06]
A
What is wrong with us?
- [10:08]
C
Beautiful.
- [10:09]
A
We just love the.
- [10:10]
B
At least you guys were in northern New South Wales. I really took a risk doing Victoria look.
- [10:15]
A
That's true. In November as well. So hot and cold.
- [10:18]
B
Yeah, it was. It was a little bit of a risk, but I actually didn't think about that at the time when I booked it because I booked it in January. And so I'm thinking the weather's really good. It didn't really cross my mind until about four weeks before the wedding. And then I was like, oh, wow. I was actually really chill about the entire process, which is so out of character for me. It's not even funny. Like, I was very relaxed about this whole process because I'm just not really a wedding person, which I see in our last podcast is just not really, for me, the whole thing. I was just kind of like, oh, okay, yeah, cool. I guess we'll do that.
- [10:49]
C
Yeah.
- [10:49]
A
So were you on the weather app four weeks out trying to do that long forecast? You were?
- [10:54]
B
Oh, I was on AccuWeather every day.
- [10:56]
A
Yeah.
- [10:58]
B
And the venue started setting up before the last shower had passed. So they put the tablecloths on, and then there was, like, a shower, and I was like, oh, no. And the venue, like, manager was running around being like, I don't have any more tablecloths. And I was like, oh, that is not what I need to hear while I'm getting my hair done.
- [11:14]
A
So you got ready on the same location.
- [11:18]
B
So we stayed at the venue.
- [11:19]
A
Okay. There's. You can see everything.
- [11:20]
B
Yeah, I could see everything.
- [11:21]
A
Yeah. That would stress me out.
- [11:22]
C
That's nice. So I kind of wish I saw everything get, like, set up.
- [11:26]
B
It was kind of good and bad because if it was a beautiful day, I would be like, oh, yay. But because it was drizzling, I was like.
- [11:32]
A
And would you describe yourself as Type A?
- [11:33]
B
Yes, 100%.
- [11:35]
C
You seem so chill, like, so chill. Leading up to it.
- [11:38]
B
I was leading up to it, but the day of, I started to get really anxious, like, as things started to happen. That's when my anxiety started to increase a bit. I was pretty relaxed. However, the night before, because of the torrential rain, and it had been a really humid day. The day before, Adrian started getting asthma.
- [11:55]
C
Oh, no.
- [11:57]
B
I just had his car detailed, and so I'd taken out his asthma puffer, so we didn't have an asthma father. So the night before, we barely slept, like, barely a wink. I reckon I probably had two hours sleep, and I got in my head, and I was like, oh, my God, I'm starting to feel sick. Panicking the night before. And then I woke up, and I was like, oh, this is. This is not a good start to the day.
- [12:20]
A
So was it just the two of you staying at the venue, or because you famously did not have bridesmaids?
- [12:25]
B
Yes. So we stayed together at the venue, and then there was enough rooms for both our immediate families to stay there. So one of my brothers stayed off site with his family, but my other brother stayed there, my parents, Adrian's parents and brothers, and one of his brother's partners. So it was really nice that everyone was in the venue. That's another reason why I felt like I didn't really need to have a bridal party because of our venue. And we knew that everyone was going to be staying with us. So I was kind of like, I've already got people around. I'm an extroverted introvert. I Just wanted to get ready and just be able to like have some peace. I didn't want to have to be managing people and worrying about who is
- [12:58]
A
doing what, who's up next for hair and makeup and all of those things that it becomes a bit of a routine in the morning.
- [13:04]
C
Yeah.
- [13:05]
A
I really want to know what was the highlight of your wedding day?
- [13:08]
B
Oh, highlight of wedding day. I mean, seeing all of our family and friends there, it's really nice. Like you kind of look back on it and you're just like, wow. Everyone was there to kind of celebrate us and then the whole day was just like so much fun.
- [13:23]
C
So what did you do entertainment wise?
- [13:25]
B
So we had a live musician for the ceremony and I actually don't recall hearing that at all. I feel like my senses shut down, which I spoke about. Stylish. Afterwards, I was just in such an anxious state. My mouth was so dry even though I'd had water before I walked down the aisle.
- [13:42]
A
It like, it's overwhelming.
- [13:43]
B
Yeah, I just was completely. It was an out of body experience, but it was just like, wow, this is the most overwhelming moment of my life. So I actually don't remember a lot of the musician. And then we had a DJ for our reception which was all outdoors and there was an indoor option for us which is where this like weather component comes in. And it dawned on me that it may rain and the venue may suggest we move everything inside. And I'm like, that is not going to give off the same vibes that I wanted it to.
- [14:08]
C
It's like you don't want it to happen, so you don't think about it.
- [14:10]
B
Yeah, exactly. No, I literally was like, nobody talk about it. Everyone just.
- [14:13]
A
I also find it so funny when people like, it's fine, don't worry about it. Honestly, I do care. Sorry. I do care if it gets rained out or if it isn't exactly what I thought it would be. It's not the sole reason why you show up in that. Obviously. The love in the room, your partner, everything, all those things you said are what make the day so special. But I'm sorry, I feel like you're bullshitting if you're saying you don't care.
- [14:36]
B
Yeah,
- [14:38]
A
I would have cared for sure.
- [14:39]
B
So that leads us into your elevator pitch, Ray, of your wedding.
- [14:43]
A
I did get married in Byron way. Cindy and I did get married at the same venue. It's about 40 minutes outside of Byron, as you said. Cindy, I just always loved Byron. I did grow up on the Gold Coast. I used to go down there Quite a bit during school weekends. It was always a place that I felt very connected to. Interestingly, though, Lou and I had no real reason to, like, get married in Byron Bay. I feel. I don't know if you felt this, Cindy, but when you decide to have a destination wedding, people always the first thing they ask, what is the connection?
- [15:11]
B
People would ask me that about Euroa.
- [15:13]
C
Oh, my God.
- [15:14]
A
I liked the venue, but, yeah, we didn't have a legitimate reason to, you know, get married there. Don't. Don't you worry. I did throw out that I'm from the Gold coast, very close, very easy for all my friends and family to, you know, come from Sydney, come from Queensland. So I did, you know, embellish a little bit just to justify that. Literally, we started having the conversation about where we wanted to get married before Lou proposed. And Byron came up quite a bit. And then I snuck in.
- [15:45]
C
I was like, well, there's this one
- [15:46]
A
venue that I've known about for five years. I've been patiently waiting. And we had a lot of people traveling from overseas as well. So a lot of family coming from the US and from Scotland. Funny enough, I feel like they were more inclined to come to the wedding because we got married in Byron than if we got it married in Holiday. Exactly. So we did our bridal party lunch at Ray's on the Friday. So Raise is this beautiful venue on what it goes beach. It did rain all day, but it didn't matter because Lou and I always talk about the moment that was. Honestly, we looked around and we were like, holy. We have. I'm gonna cry.
- [16:28]
B
This was really out of character. I don't know what to do. I know.
- [16:32]
A
It's so overwhelming because we had so many people travel.
- [16:34]
C
Yeah.
- [16:35]
A
And I was like, oh, my God. Like. Like, some of my family members hadn't been to Australia for, like, 12 years. Walking around that room and having a very intimate moment with all of them. So special. But also, I feel leading into the weekend meant that we could be really present with everyone else as well, because we had about 50 people at that lunch. It was. Went for, like, a couple hours is a real move around the room sort of set up. So then I found on the actual wedding day, I was like, okay. I feel like I've seen a lot of people, and then I can also go and be present and see a lot of other people who I hadn't really had the opportunity to connect with or, you know, spend time with. And the thing is, a lot of people say it can go in a Flash. And it can feel like things just move so quickly on your wedding day. And you're like, oh, my God.
- [17:16]
B
I feel.
- [17:16]
A
How did this all just kind of end? Yeah, I didn't really feel that. And I. I think it's because of the lunch before.
- [17:22]
B
Yeah.
- [17:22]
A
It made the day feel really slow, and it made the day feel really intimate. I honestly spent a decent amount of time with everyone. I don't know about Lou. We didn't really move through the room together the whole time. We did break away quite a bit, but then we really made that we had time together throughout. We would have, like, these little pocket moments. I don't know if you guys did this, where I'd be like, let's just go and escape for a bit and then spend a bit of time. Like, what do you think? What's this? So that was really cute throughout the night. But I remember the ceremony. It was. I was just smiling so much. And everyone always says soft smile, gentle smile for photos. Absolutely fucking lutely not. You could not go through my wedding album and see a photo of me without looking like, I'm absolutely cackling.
- [18:03]
B
Yeah.
- [18:03]
A
Like full cackling witch.
- [18:05]
C
Yeah.
- [18:05]
A
And that makes me really happy because I think it's a true reflection on how I felt on the day. I looked around and similar to you, Jo, seeing everyone that you love in one place is just so exciting.
- [18:15]
B
Yeah.
- [18:15]
A
And before my vows, I remember just, like, waving to people and, like, smiling. And this house celebrant was like. But I just loved. I just loved everyone in the room. The fact that we did have so many people from, you know, not just Melbourne, Sydney, travel and visit from overseas, it was just so special. Cliche, but definitely one of the best days of my life.
- [18:36]
C
Yeah.
- [18:37]
B
And how many guests did you have?
- [18:38]
A
Have. We had 130.
- [18:39]
B
Okay. And you had about 100. Yeah, and I had 110.
- [18:43]
C
Yeah.
- [18:43]
A
Our original list was 160. We knew a lot of people couldn't come because of traveling. And also what you have to factor in is people having babies at that time. It's very difficult for them to travel. So there were already probably 15 or 20 people who we knew couldn't come. I was really angling for 120 max. And then Lou and I have kind of just met in the middle, so I was pretty happy with where it ended up.
- [19:03]
B
Yeah.
- [19:04]
A
Yeah.
- [19:05]
B
Well, a lot of venues have a cap on how many guests you can have. Like, it's not very common to come a venue that can have 250 guests. Like, if you have a huge guest list and you've got a massive family, it is kind of hard to find a venue that can accommodate everybody. All right, now that we've done the elevator pictures and you've heard all about our wedding.
- [19:23]
A
God, someone get me a tissue.
- [19:24]
C
Still more.
- [19:25]
B
Next we'll get into the parts of our weddings we're glad we spent time and money on and why. But that will be right after a word from today's sponsor.
- [19:34]
A
If you're engaged, you can probably relate to the fact that wedding planning is quite literally a full time job. A very fun full time job, but still a full time job. There's the venue, the guest list, the dress, and then of course there's the skin prep, right at the top of the priority list. Most of us dream of walking down the aisle with the best skin of our life. So the prep needs to start long before the big day. The thing is, it doesn't need to be expensive or overwhelming. In fact, the first step to healthy skin is cleansing. Great wedding skin and glam can be as simple as using a good quality my skin Micellar water or cleansing oil in the lead up to cleanse and hydrate the skin. Our favorites are The Bioderma sensor bio H2O micellar water, beloved by makeup artist and Sensor Bio Micellar cleansing oil. There's a reason these are so popular across the world. It's all to do with the science, LED formulation and hero ingredients. Micelles are like invisible cleansing magnets. They can capture impurities, sunscreen, and even waterproof makeup. Makeup. While Bioderma's biomedic LED formulas respect the skin's natural protective film even if you're sensitive, whether you're in the midst of wedding skin prep or not, choose Bioderma's iconic micellar cleansers available at leading pharmacies and online. Thank you so much to Bioderma for making this episode of Stylish possible.
- [20:51]
B
Let's kick off with some positives I'd love to know from each of you what from your wedding day were you really, really happy with what was actually worth the time and I'm sure a lot of money spent on Cindy. Do you want to go first?
- [21:04]
C
Yeah. I think the first one that comes to mind is buying a dress secondhand.
- [21:09]
A
Great idea.
- [21:10]
C
So I that really allowed me to go and afford a second gown as well. So I tried on a few dresses in store first. So I went to Bloom in Brisbane because I had a selection of gowns that I really wanted to try on and Then, yeah, I. I dug through the archives. I mean, Ray, you'll know this. I'm like the depop queen.
- [21:31]
A
Honestly, I've never seen anyone work the depop and the secondhand website. I didn't know this about you. She's unreal. Unreal.
- [21:38]
C
I like expensive stuff, but I don't want to pay full prices and I
- [21:42]
A
love her to do it.
- [21:44]
B
Good view.
- [21:44]
C
Yeah. Yeah. So I found my dress. She'd obviously only worn it once and it was like in immaculate condition. It was actually really weird having it shipped and then just sit in the closet for like six months as well. So strange.
- [21:57]
B
Did you need to get alterations done?
- [21:59]
C
Not too many. I had, I think just like my bus just needed to be taken in. I took straps off. She had like. Yeah, she had obviously wore that dress and she had spaghetti straps. But I wanted something that was strapless, so very minor. That really allowed me to buy a second dress as well. So. Yeah, that's definitely one thing that I am really glad that I did for sure.
- [22:20]
A
Did you do different styles for your first and second look?
- [22:23]
C
Yeah, so the first look was. It was like a very textured gown and I really liked kind of like a straight. I tried on heaps of dresses and I didn't realize how important the neckline was. The neckline? Yeah, Yeah. I just. It wasn't like the first thing that I picked out from dresses. And then when you put it on because I've got like no bust. A straight neckline really worked for me. And then I wanted something that I could really move in afterwards as well. So I had this like high neck, low back silk dress.
- [22:53]
B
That was my criteria as well. I wanted to get the fuck out of the corset. And it's just something that I could breathe in.
- [22:58]
A
Something slinky and sexy that you could rip the day for up.
- [23:01]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [23:01]
C
That dress is like, like ruined as well because I. I think I just
- [23:05]
A
had so much fun. Well, that's. Yeah, that's a good thing.
- [23:07]
B
It won't be going on still white though. It actually won't be ri. What about you?
- [23:13]
A
Favorite thing? I spent money on definitely photography. Because we had the welcome lunch the day before Louis and I actually forfeited the budget for a videographer. We were very. And we spoke about this in the first wedding series. We were adamant that we didn't want a videographer. We really wanted to make sure that we had more film photos and more images from the whole weekend, not just the wedding day. So we worked with Joey Willis and his lovely Partner Nat on shooting the welcome lunch and then shooting our wedding day and we paid for extra film and I'm so glad we did because I could not be happier. Film imagery is 100 worth the investment.
- [23:48]
C
Yeah.
- [23:48]
A
It's just so beautiful and I love that nostalgic look and feel. And I know we live in a modern, very tech heavy society, but there is something about the one shot that film captures. Don't get me wrong, some absolute dozens there. The ones that are gorgeous.
- [24:02]
C
Yeah, yeah. Everyone looks so much better on film too.
- [24:05]
B
Much better.
- [24:06]
A
It's like the flash, the lights. Oh, no, I just. That was the one thing that I'm absolutely so glad that we spent money on.
- [24:13]
B
Yeah. I actually have the exact same picture as you. I invested a lot of our budget in the content. And not that it's about the content, but I wanted to have that to look back on because as I've said three times now, I've got a really bad memory. So I booked our photographer and videographer quite early on in the process. We had Merve Token and Sommer films and they were like my number one. I was like, I have to have this photographer and this videographer. And then as we got closer to the day, a lot of people were talking about content creators and I was like, oh, I don't really think I need it. I do have a videographer. Like maybe it's just like kind of an unnecessary thing. And then about maybe three weeks before, I was like, nah, I'm gonna do it. I'm just gonna get the content creator. So I had Buy Me Content come and film our content for the day. And I am so glad I ended up doing that because I have all of these little snippets of the day, all of the behind the scenes. I look back on these videos all the time because there's so much that I don't recall from the day or I wasn't even there when that was happening. So she's gone around during cocktail hour. We weren't part of our cocktail hour at all because we were getting our portraits done at that time. So our guests all enjoyed that. But I didn't even get to see like what was being served and what people were doing. And so having all of that behind the scenes is so cool.
- [25:28]
A
It was so worth it. It for us as well, having a content creator. I also prefer a lot of lo fi content, which is why we didn't get a videographer because it does feel a bit too glossy and too curated for me. I know the videographer that you use though, and they are excellent. I've seen a lot of the stuff on Instagram. Amazing.
- [25:46]
B
Yeah.
- [25:46]
A
But for us, it didn't feel right. But our content creator was so good and captured so many gorgeous little intimate moments. There's this photo of one of my best friends, Georgia and I, sitting at the table and we're just holding hands and she captured it behind us and like I had no idea. And it is one of my favorite photos of all time. And I felt like if we didn't have someone like that who was kind of moving through the room, silently capturing all of those lo fi behind the scenes intimate moments. Very candid.
- [26:15]
B
Yeah.
- [26:15]
A
And you know when you see candid photos, you're like, that is staged and I'm guilty 100%. But there were none of those. It was pure candidness in the moment. So 100% worth the investment. And generally I want to be self aware about this. It is still expensive to have a content creator. But if you're someone like me who doesn't want to work with a videographer, which can cost, you know, upwards of some videographers are like very expensive. When you're hitting like 10 grand and they're getting more and more expensive, it can range anywhere between 1,000 to $3,000 to have a content creator there shooting. And the number of files that you
- [26:49]
B
get, it is endless. Like, I've got all of these different folders of like reception ceremony, like when you're getting your portraits taken. But also their personalities were really important to the day too. And I needed to feel like we were going to get along on the day and that they were going to be a calming presence, which they all were. Because they're so close to you for the whole day. You've got to make sure that you're really like aligning with them.
- [27:09]
A
Such a great point, Joe. I feel if you had one person that was off in that environment, I don't know if you would have felt this as well, Cindy. You would be like, your energy is
- [27:17]
B
like, yes, you instantly. Because you're so sensitive on the day. I think you instantly pick up when someone is just off and they have
- [27:24]
A
to work together as a team. Like you see them kind of move through the room together, weaving in and out.
- [27:29]
B
And none of my, like my videographer and photographer and content creator, none of them had met.
- [27:33]
A
Oh, really?
- [27:34]
B
Yeah. And so they all just worked so seamlessly together. They got along immediately and it was just. Yeah, it was perfect.
- [27:40]
C
My videographer and photographer and I think also caterer Randomly, because it is so small. In Byron, they had had the same wedding, like last week, the weekend before. So they actually got to like, like, know each other, speak about the wedding, what was upcoming. So I feel like that really added to like the calmness of the day because it was just so calm.
- [27:59]
B
And you probably got married just before, like the of wedding content creators. Is that something you wish you could have had or you kind of like,
- [28:07]
C
I do, I. I do and I don't. Because I also was able to gather so many videos and photos that my girlfriend's and everyone else, like, I've got this huge shed album and I've also like separated out into like, I categorized it all.
- [28:20]
B
So I look back, I like this girl.
- [28:22]
A
I know.
- [28:24]
C
So I feel like that really kind of did fill that gap. But if I was to do it again, I probably, I probably would. Yeah. Because it's just so special having little snippets here and there.
- [28:37]
A
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- [29:31]
B
Mine were the Bridal Journey.
- [29:33]
A
Yeah, everyone's the wedge. Both of those, I would say, are tier one. You need to be following those pages.
- [29:38]
C
Yeah, for sure. Mine was probably at the time, Georgia Fowler. She'd just gotten married.
- [29:44]
A
Yes.
- [29:45]
C
Yeah. So I took like inspo from her dress because mine was kind of, kind of similar and she had the neck scarf as well. And then really randomly, but she had these beautiful marquee set up, which was similar to what we did in the end. The lighting in her marquee. Yeah, I knew. I just didn't want any fairy Lights. I wanted to feel like a bit of a production kind of style. And she had this beautiful purple and pink kind of rotating light. I feel like that added to the vibe. And then I also looking back at my Pinterest boards for lots of styling and stationery. I was actually looking at lots of brand activations. So yeah, I looked back at photos and I saw that I had this screenshot from. From randomly. A Harris Tapper lunch. Yeah. And the way that they set up their tables, she had like this beautiful silver tray with figs on it and it was kind of similar to what I ended up doing. But I feel like lots of brands do invitations really well.
- [30:38]
A
Really well.
- [30:39]
C
Yeah. Really, really cool.
- [30:40]
A
In terms of creators. I'm glad you called that out, Cindy, because there were a few people and I didn't have this in my notes. Now that you've said that, it's front of mind. Bettina Looney, do you know her?
- [30:49]
B
No.
- [30:50]
A
She is based in the uk. She got married maybe three or four years ago. I feel like the wedding boom we've seen on social media has happened in the last 18 to months to two years. It's always been there, but it feels like right now it's on absolute steroids. She got married before then and I remember seeing her wedding in Vogue also. It was featured a lot on the Bridal Journey and she had the most stunning wedding. I took a lot of inspiration from her wedding. I just find her general personal style amazing. And also what I recommend doing is looking at the wedding venue page that you're getting married at because again, in Byron and I know we keep repeating this, but it's. It's actually really hard when there are a limited number of suppliers that you can work with and they're very particular about it because they really want to support local businesses within the area. So that is their motivation behind that, to make sure that, you know, they're really supporting their community. They're very focused on that. But that means you have limited options in terms of styling, look and feel. So I found that really helpful to be able to know what did we have to work with. But also if there was something that I liked, it was like taking little elements of that and then mixing it with what Louis and I liked. I talked about this a lot in the first wedding series. My husband Lewis was so involved with our planning, it was unbelievable. I would come out of meetings and there would be like 4 replies to Suppliers, full invoices, paid, everything. He cared about every little detail as much as I did. We Got our invitations back and he's already sent me bullet point notes on what he wants to do differently. That's my man. I love it. It's the best. And it honestly made me love him so much more going into the wedding because I was like, this is 100% my person. Yeah.
- [32:28]
B
Okay, next one. Did you guys wear a bag on your wedding day? If so, what was in it?
- [32:33]
C
No, I did. I wish I did because I felt like I didn't really have a lot of the stuff that I needed with me, so I didn't have any touch ups. I just had like a lip gloss because I think the morning just went so quick and I think we just, just. I don't know, we just. Yeah, it was. Just happened so quickly. But no, I didn't have a bag.
- [32:52]
A
So who carried all your stuff?
- [32:53]
C
My bridesmaids love that for them.
- [32:56]
B
Did you have a bag? Right?
- [32:57]
A
I did. I actually had a vintage oriton bag that my mum has owned for, God, I'm gonna say like 30 years. And I broke it. Yeah, I was having a bit too much fun and the strap broke. But I've got it fixed since. But yeah, I just had all my stuff in there. I didn't hold it. My bridesmaids held it as well. But it was good to have just everything in one place. One of my bridesmaids is really good with makeup, so she was like, this what you need in your bag? And I just went and bought that.
- [33:20]
B
Well, because I was staying at the venue, I didn't need to have one because I could just go up to my room if I needed to. And also my makeup artist was at my wedding, so she had her little mini kit set up inside and she would just, literally whenever she saw me get up and go somewhere, she'd just follow me and she just redo my lip for me.
- [33:36]
C
That was so handy.
- [33:37]
A
I had my makeup artist and my hairdresser at our wedding as well. Both very good friends, so it did help.
- [33:41]
B
That takes me into our next question. Which is a makeup or skincare product that you'd recommend for any bride? That is to listening. Listening guys.
- [33:49]
A
Old school, but a Goodie Mac Velvet teddy lipstick. My bridesmaids wore it. It was perfect. It's the perfect shade, very neutral, but also has like a nice warm tone to it. Unfortunately, it worked really well for all of them, so I'd stick by that.
- [34:05]
C
I think for me, this is actually one of your wrecks. Joe the Osmosis Rescue. I kind of wish I got into it way earlier because it was the tail end getting leading into the wedding. But it's so good. I've ordered it, like, six years.
- [34:17]
A
What did you use it for?
- [34:18]
C
Well, I am an eczema. Girly. So very, like, low. Just La Roche posay kind of stuff. Lots of balms and hydrating serums. I didn't go too ham on cosmetic kind of stuff.
- [34:30]
B
Yeah. Rescue is quite the investment before a wedding.
- [34:33]
C
Yes.
- [34:34]
A
Sometimes.
- [34:34]
B
Worth it.
- [34:35]
C
Worth it.
- [34:35]
B
Okay.
- [34:36]
A
The wreck everyone cares about. Joe's.
- [34:39]
B
I would say wedding day. You need to take a cleansing balm or oil with you, because for a lot of people, that is the time where you're wearing the most makeup you've probably ever worn. You know, a lot of people don't get their makeup done professionally aside from their wedding day. So having a proper product that you can remove your makeup with and, like, really get those false lashes off, you're gonna need it. And I would also say bring your good quality, like conditioner, shampoo, maybe even a hair mask. I took a, like, treatment with me because you will have so much product in your hair, especially if you're doing, like, an updo style. You'll have teasing as well. And it's really hard to get out. I wash my hair that I'd much wedding. Like, after everyone was gone, I was like, I just got to get this out. I can't go to sleep with this. It was like a helmet. So I put a treatment and everything in and had a shower and properly washed.
- [35:25]
C
That's actually a great break. I didn't do that. I just slept with, like, the bun up and the next morning. Because you're right. Because sometimes, like, if you do have a recovery, you don't really have time in the morning to, like, get re ready again.
- [35:37]
A
All right, let's finish on. I would say one of the most important parts to share. What was the biggest lesson of the day?
- [35:44]
B
Oh, you go first, Cindy.
- [35:45]
C
Okay. I think the one thing that I really took out was don't sweat the small stuff. I feel like, you know, it might rain on your day. Your dress will probably get ruined. Like, both of those things happened to me. But what I remember was just how fun it was and, like, the love in the room and the energy in the room. I think pour your energy into how the day will feel rather than, like, how it will look more aesthetically. I think, like, the atmosphere and, like, you know, how your guests were welcomed and moments that feel, like, really personal to you in the cup, to you and your husband or wife. Yeah. And that's what people will remember. I think we tried to really personalize every aspect as much as we could. We had our friends involved in the ceremony and the mc, so I feel like it just felt like us.
- [36:34]
B
I kind of regret of being stressed right before the ceremony. So my lesson from the day was kind of like, calm the down. Yeah, I just relaxed because once the ceremony was over, I was like. It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders. I think there was just so much, like anticipation for the ceremony and it being such a big moment in your life, like the pressure is just unbelievable and you think you're going to be fine. And then it starts to approach. You're like, oh, my God. Yeah, hyperventilating. So I would have just tried to keep myself a bit more calm, like maybe have a little bit of Rescue Remedy and. And just have a swig of champagne and maybe just cool it a little bit because I think I would have remembered walking down the aisle a little bit more clearly and just enjoyed that few minutes a little bit more. Whereas I was quite worked up during that time.
- [37:19]
A
Yeah, Sneaky little wreck there. The Rescue Remedy goes a long ways like that. I actually use them before presentations as well. It's so good. My biggest lesson person, honestly, I think it's both of those things that you said. You guys said. Cindy, I really resonate with what you said about the love in the room. Everyone I spoke to going into my wedding was very adamant on that bit presence and being really present for me again because I had the luxury of having the day before. It made that possible. And I felt like I got to the end of our wedding night and I was like, I remember everything, every detail, every conversation in the car on the way back to our hotel because it was a 40 minute drive. The debrief between Louis and I, oh, yeah. Was so lovely. So my biggest lesson would be definitely carve out time for you and your partner to really be present and soak it all in and talk about what is happening, what are the things you're seeing from each other's perspective. That was so special. And yeah, just the smile on Lou's face and that conversation is just, just. Yeah, I love it.
- [38:23]
B
I think that was a really key part of me not having a bridal party. Because the time that we were taken away by our photographer, videographer, content creator, I just had that time with Adrian, so I didn't have to worry about whatever anyone else was doing and what photos they were getting taken. It was just us. So we could be like, oh my God.
- [38:39]
A
Yeah.
- [38:40]
B
So it was just really exciting. And I would also say, like, a lesson from this whole process as well. I have never again thought about the money that I. That I've spent on that wedding because it genuinely, as you said before, it sounds cliche, but it really is one of the best days of your life.
- [38:53]
A
No, I completely agree. Guys, that's it. Our first episode done.
- [38:58]
B
We could have gone on forever.
- [38:59]
C
Honestly, we are.
- [39:00]
A
Well, over time, the girls are looking at us. Cindy, thank you so much for being our special guest. It's so nice to hear the perspective of a real bride, and that's what we really wanted to focus on with the wedding series, is making sure the people that we're interviewing and where, you know, hearing their experience in their journey to getting married is very intimate and very real. We'll be back on April 3rd to talk about wedding regrets with another special guest, and we're looking forward to seeing you guys then. Bye.
- [39:26]
B
Bye.
- [39:32]
A
This podcast was recorded on Wurundjeri land.
- [39:35]
B
Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.