Rachel and John went back and forth between having a big wedding or eloping, torn between celebration and intimacy. "In the end, we chose something that felt distinctly us: a courthouse ceremony followed by an intimate reception with our closest friends and family."

Emilio and Brady were married in Chicago. "During the big day, people always told us to “be in the moment” and after our ceremony we had a private moment for 10 minutes with drinks and food in our wedding suite. No cameras, no noise. It was one of our favorite memories of the night. We really felt in the moment and excited to celebrate the night with our family and friends."

Rachael and Catriona celebrated their wedding in a way that was meaningful to them "You can do what you want. There is a lot of tradition and pageantry in weddings, for clarity around this we had a handful of conversations about whether or not to include certain elements, weighing if it was out of obligation or if we actually thought it would add something meaningful."

Alix and David fell in love with Italy on a trip they took together before they were engaged. "What started as a half-joking comment—“when we get married, we should just elope and run off to Italy”—slowly became less of a fairytale and more of a real possibility. With Alix’s family spread across Arizona, Colorado, and Texas, and David’s family in Seattle and Michigan, everyone would be traveling no matter where we married."

A family-style reception was one of Karleigh and Jake's top priorities. "Long, connected tables created an atmosphere that felt intimate and communal. More like a family dinner than a formal reception. Cocktail hour was equally important, giving us the chance to immediately connect with our guests and spend meaningful time with each one."

A priority for Ailbhe and Fergus was good wine and food. "We drove to France on the ferry four months before our wedding to get the wine for the weekend and it was such a fun process. Similarly the catering company we chose, served amazing food on the day which was right to our liking."

For Bianca and Duncan the most important elements were the personal choices that reflected their families, their backgrounds, and how they wanted the day to feel. "My mother is from Mexico City, so incorporating my Mexican heritage was especially meaningful. We had Mariachi Fuego play as we exited the church and led us to the venue for a champagne toast. It was one of the most memorable moments of the day. Family involvement mattered deeply to us and it was important they fel

Over the past few years Daniele and Casey have been to countless weddings together. "They were all lovely but none of them were what we could imagine having for ourselves. We knew a lot about what we didn't want and not a lot of what we did, which left us feeling stuck for a while. We eventually decided to separate our celebrations with both friends and family. We wanted an intimate and intentional experience with our family and a big party with our friends."

Thuan and Rooz had an intimate wedding with just fifty guests. "It was important for us to represent our Persian and Vietnamese cultures. We decided to do this through a traditional Persian Sofreh Aghd ceremony and a Vietnamese dinner menu. Rooz's mom and aunt sourced items from Iran and worked closely with our planner to design a modern Sofreh Aghd. "

Tatiana and Maxim wanted to get married in Italy as they felt it had the key ingredients to a great wedding: excellent food, good wine and sunny skies. "We decided on Tuscany as a region and meticulously combed through all the potential locations, filtered by budget, capacity, travel time and scope to make it our own. "

Meg and Jack were married in San Diego after twelve years together. "Be open to where the process takes you. We never thought we’d be those people who get “into their wedding,” but the deeper we got into planning, the more it became a creative outlet — and a way to honor our journey and essence as a couple. And there’s no shame in that!"

Melbourne is where Teneile and Dave's love story began — "Two country kids who found a city that felt like home. We spent most of our life together here and wanted to get married in the place that means the most to us, and to be where our families and friends first met. The most important element for us was definitely being with family, especially our boys feeling all the love. We always imagined ourselves sharing dinner, conversation and wine, followed by a whole lot of fun

Throughout their planning process, Megan and Audg were both focused on maintaining an overarching atmosphere of warmth. "We also wanted to make sure that our guests had all of their needs met throughout the night so that they could just relax and enjoy themselves. We also wanted the day to just feel authentic to us and our relationship."

Aside from keeping their wedding small, the most important thing for Rebecca and Olivier was that their celebrations felt true to them. "That meant no bridal party, no strict timeline, and very few formal moments. We wanted everything to flow naturally, without feeling rigid or exhausting. We were also mindful of how we would move through the day ourselves. We wanted to be as present as possible - even though, looking back, it all feels like a dreamy blur that lasted about fi

Joana and Jonathan wanted to make sure their Nigerian traditional wedding was equally as special as their English wedding. "I wanted to showcase the Nigerian culture – living in Britian everyone would have been to an English wedding but how many have been to a Nupe wedding. I was lucky to work with people who were calm, intuitive, and genuinely aligned with how I wanted the day to feel – nothing overworked, nothing performative."

Lily and Matt wanted to make sure their wedding felt deeply personal and special. "I was an assistant wedding photographer throughout college and had seen dozens of weddings that felt exactly the same. I wanted to toss all tradition out the window and simply think about what we love to do and what makes us happy. Matt and I love to throw dinner parties together and so, at the end of the day, we wanted it to feel like the best dinner party we had ever thrown."

Darby and Ben wanted their guests to feel like they were at a house party with delicious food, plenty of drinks, and an electric dance floor. "We encouraged our guests to dress loud and fun! We chose hot pink and red cabana linens and told our DJ to imagine the dance floor as his own Boiler Room set!"

Food, music, and cultural traditions were most important to Alexa and Ryan. "Honoring Oaxaca was incredibly important to us. We worked with local vendors and highlighted traditions deeply rooted in the city, like the calenda, a joyful street parade that follows the ceremony, and, of course, the food. "

Tesily and Shane leaned into 30s/40s/50s aesthetics. "We wanted to emulate those little chapel weddings it seemed like everyone’s grandparents had 60+ years ago. Maybe it’s in our imagination, but those weddings seem so... relaxed! Effortlessly stylish! Happy to be in love! That was the type of day we wanted, where we had time to slow down and feel the love — not just from our guests but for each other."

Sarah and Adam were married on a boat in Chicago. "It was a boat we passed hundreds of times. It was docked on a canal behind the apartment I lived in when Adam and I started dating. We would walk our dog Sailor along the canal to the lake, we would pass the boats and talk about how sweet it would be to get married on them one day. It unfolded in a very serendipitous way."

Katherine and Nick didn't follow many traditions for their Sydney wedding and held a small civil ceremony earlier in the year. "For our reception, we didn’t want to redo our vows as that moment was so special as it was. However, we wanted it to be a party for family and friends. We also wanted to showcase the beauty of Sydney especially for those who’d travelled interstate. We loved the idea of a cruise on the harbour to be able to speak to our guests and catch up before the

The colour palette played a key role in Elisabetta and Eufranio's wedding . "The venue featured traditional South Tyrolean floral installations with pink and red geraniums. Rather than hiding them, we chose to highlight and elevate them through carefully curated compositions and shapes."

With Izzy's Spanish heritage and Euan's Scottish roots, it was really important to them that both cultures were celebrated throughout the weekend. "Our celebrant conducted the ceremony in both English and Spanish, which made it incredibly special. Because our main goal was simply to have an amazing party with our favourite people, flying in a ceilidh rock band from Glasgow was a non‑negotiable---they had everyone on their feet, dancing late into the night!"

Presence, play and connection were most important for Leen and Ryan, who turned the concept of a wedding on it's head and hosted a wedding festival. "In the end we managed to totally flip the script and design something really original, while staying true to the "key moments" of a typical wedding. If you can, find a way to throw the rules out the window and do it your way. We never imagined we'd get away with not having a traditional wedding but it was so worth all the effort