Wedding | Caley & Koji

Tell us a little about yourselves!

We met working at the same company in 2019 and started dating right before the real start of COVID, so we’ve been together a little while. We live in Brisbane with our two labradors, Marlow and Murphy. Koji works in IT and Caley in PR so we’re proper opposites in that way, but so similar in others.

Why did you decide to get married where you did?

We always knew we wanted to have our wedding at a restaurant. We wanted our wedding to feel like an elevated long-table, sit-down dinner party. We knew immediately that Rosmarino was the perfect venue when we saw it – the exposed brick and impeccable Italian food honestly just makes you feel like you’re in a pocket of Italy. It has the perfect vintage, intimate and romantic feel we were really drawn to.

The setup was a big drawcard as they have a small courtyard in the back of the venue so we were able to have our ceremony there, and our reception dinner in the restaurant, all in one place so it was easy for our guests. We opted to do welcome drinks before the ceremony commenced in their bar too. We wanted our guests to really feel hosted for the day and night – glasses constantly filled, huge servings, all share style and incredible food to indulge a bit – and Rosmarino really ticked all of that for us.

How many guests did you have?

We had an intimate group of 43 guests. Close friends and our immediate family. The guest list was a hard part of the planning process, particularly as we would have loved to have more family there, but once we landed on Rosmarino, we knew an intimate group was going to work best. And on reflection, it suited us perfectly and made the day feel even more special.

What was your budget?

We didn’t really have a set budget, but we didn’t want to spend an enormous amount. We aimed to keep everything under around the $40K mark.

Obviously everything can be so expensive with a wedding but we opted to do all of the planning and majority of the styling ourselves, which meant we could choose to invest in a few things that were really important to us, like good food and wine (lots of it), the photography and some other little touches.

Tell us about your outfits.

Koji wore a custom Oscar Hunt suit. He opted for a deep cool brown, double-breasted, 100% Italian wool look, with a wider leg and heavy pleats. He wanted something that wasn’t a classic black, and we had a formal dress code, not black tie, so we had the freedom to have a bit more fun with our outfits. His tie was also Oscar Hunt and he wore GH Bass loafers and his usual Don Du Ciel rings.

I wore an ivory gown by MWL Bride. It had a drop-waist corset style top and bias cut slip skirt in a heavy silk. I was always drawn to that style as it was what felt the most ‘me’ so when I tried it on, I instantly loved it. I actually left dress shopping quite late in usual bride terms so had to make my decision within a week of trying on that one and a few others, so I just trusted which one made me feel the most comfortable. We took the train in a lot as I didn’t want anything too long in the way of my movement on the night. I paired the gown with a Chantilly lace mantilla veil which I just adored. I kept my shoes, jewellery and hair understated and simple, and wore a vintage burgundy bag for a bit of colour.

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

Our guests! We really wanted every single aspect and moment of the day to prioritise the experience of our guests. We wanted them to have fun, feel well fed, get a little drunk, and feel doted on. Nothing too formal or rigid, just a really fun, relaxed atmosphere. It’s something we worked really closely with the Rosmarino team on, to get everything just right. Of course, we knew the day was actually about us getting married, but we wanted it to be just as much about the guests.

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

We wanted to have touches across the entire wedding that really felt like us. And we had a lot of fun creating all the little touches. Instead of bridal parties, we had our parents walk down the aisle before the bride, so they could have their own little moment in the spotlight. Everyone clapped them as they came down, and it made for such a special start to our ceremony.

The hero of our styling was drapery that Koji hand-painted for our ceremony space. One had our initials on them hung to welcome our guests in, and the other had the lyrics of All I Need To Hear by The 1975 which we chose as our first dance song. For the rest of the styling, we just wanted to elevate the restaurant slightly – it’s already such a beautiful space, so we wanted to honour what was already there, rather than try to make it anything it wasn’t. We did navy leather menus, like a traditional restaurant, paper doily name cards for each guest, photos of our parents and grandparents in vintage frames across the space, a wishing well which I made out of a traditional wine box from the restaurant, and we found a vintage photo book of Rome to use as our guest book. We did a really fun floral install for our ceremony backdrop – upside down hanging calla lillies, created by Studio Monfleur – and then paired it back as single stems on the table to not overcrowd the setup.

For food and drinks, we wanted there to be a total surplus, so everyone felt full and satisfied the whole time, but also add in a few unique elements. We had charcuterie cups with cheese, olives and salted chips as a starter during our cocktail hour, as it felt like the right little tasty bite when having a few drinks. Rosmarino put on an incredible three-course spread of pastas, sides and mains for dinner, and all of that was served family-style for everyone to share. We picked a few of our favourite cocktails and a mixture of wines to be served throughout the night, as well as a few non-alcoholic options like kombucha and mocktails for our non-drinking guests. We didn’t love the idea of a traditional wedding cake, and didn’t really want that moment on the night so instead landed on affogatos, served table-side in a cute, vintage-look trolley.

Finally, as a late-night treat, we had Brooki Bakehouse cookies come out by tray service on the dance floor. We chose to not have an MC as we didn’t really want the formality feeling of most weddings, so we had our speeches peppered throughout the night to guide things as needed.

Any tips for couples getting married?

Design the day exactly how you want. It’s so easy to get swept up in trends or what you think you ‘should’ do at a wedding, but honestly, you can do whatever you like. We tried to take inspiration from things other than weddings, like brand events or really great parties, and then if we were struggling with a decision, we’d always just come back to if something felt like us or not. I think that helped the day feel right, and hopefully a bit unique too.

As hard as it can feel in the moment sometimes, make sure to have fun in the process too! The planning can feel like a lot, but it’s usually such a fleeting season in your life, so we really tried to have fun with it and enjoy creating something so special together.

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

Studio Monfleur created our florals but went so above and beyond that. She helped manage so much on the day, so we honestly didn’t have to lift a finger, and just filled us with so much confidence the whole way. She was also just such a great sounding board for any creative elements we were struggling on – her vision is so perfect and you can tell she genuinely cares about the couples she works with. She really takes the time to ‘get’ the vibe you are trying to create.

Paloma Lane captured everything on the day and the pictures really speak for themselves. I actually knew Bec from working together at a brand event where I fell in love with the way she captured moments and details, so when we started the planning process, I reached out to her to ask if she’d consider doing our wedding. Of course, Bec being her gorgeous self, she said yes and we locked it all in very quickly. She put in a lot of effort to actually be there for us on the day and just melded into the event, and everyone loved her, which obviously helped. She shot in a mix of digital and film, and honestly seemed to capture every single moment. What we loved the most was that we only did formal portraits for about 20 minutes as neither of us are big photo people, so the majority of what she’s captured are genuine candid moments throughout the night. And she captured all of them so impeccably.

Of course, we want to call out Rosmarino as well. Aside from the food and drinks – which a lot of our guests are still raving about – their support in creating our day was what made all the difference. There were so many elements where we asked Lauren (owner) if we could ‘just try something’ and she was so flexible on every element, really working with us on the vision and the vibe we wanted to create for the day.

Photographer: Paloma Lane @palomalanephoto | Flora: Studio Monfleur @studiomonfleur | Ceremony & Reception Venue: Rosmarino Italian Restaurant @rosmarino.brisbane | Celebrant: Ceremonies by Sacha @ceremoniesbysacha | MUA: Stacie Parmenter @stacieparmentermua | Hair: The Mane Society Joel Anthony @themanesociety @joelanthonyhair | Catering & Beverages: Rosmarino @rosmarino.

brisbane; Brooki Bakehouse cookies @brookibakehouse | Entertainment: Tegan Walker Entertainment @teagswalker | Dress: MWL Bride @mwlbride | Suit: Oscar Hunt @oscarhunttailors | Veil: Etsy @etsy | Engagement & Wedding Rings: Cullen Jewellery @cullenjewellery | Shoes: Koji – GH Bass @ghbass | Accessories: Koji – Don Du Ciel @donduciel.co rings; Caley – vintage bag; Caley – bridal bouquet sash from lace on mum’s wedding dress