Today’s boho-vintage, seaside wedding, celebrated overlooking the sea in Coogee Australia, is an absolute delight featuring charming nautical blues and splashes of coral, as well as bright and beautiful florals – including fresh flower crowns for the whole bridal party! Every gorgeous detail was documented by the fabulous Tamar Porter of Bless Photography……

It all started with a proposal on a beach in the Maldives, which lead to a truly ‘once in a lifetime’ celebration in their hometown of Coogee. Bride Shadiyah looked beautiful wearing the most romantic lace wedding dress by Jennifer Regan that was boho beach babe, with just a hint of vintage; while groom Dave opted for a modern blue suit with a nautical bow-tie. I will let them tell you all about it…..

“Our wedding day style was based on our simple relaxed beach living lifestyle. We’ve lived in Coogee for the last two years and fell in love with the area and the beach culture from playing beach volleyball to coastal runs and sunrise snorkelling. Therefore, we couldn’t think of a better place to welcome our friends and family near and far to join us on our special day.

We kept everything local from AirBnB accommodations, rehearsal dinner at Farinha Pizzas e Massas, Dunningham Reserve ceremony location on one end of the beach and the reception at the other at the Coogee Surf Lifesaving Club – all within walking distance. Not one for formalities, we wanted a laid back, yet romantic wedding, with the beach as our backdrop…..”

“At the ceremony we had just one homemade welcome sign made from packing pallets hand painted by our bridesmaid Lauren Jones, along with a few boxes of baby’s breath to line the aisle.”

“We reused the welcome sign and baby’s breath at the entrance of the reception too. The Coogee Surf Lifesaving Club had impressive views and exudes a sense of local history that we wanted to embrace. We kept everything minimal using the venue’s decorations turning it into a welcoming beachside cocktail style lounge bar. We even used their 100 year commemoration book as our guestbook.

We brought the outdoors indoors by using patio furniture and driftwood as part of our decor with no reception flowers required. The theme of our wedding was ‘You are my favourite’ – a saying that brought us together when we were friends and knew we’d be more. This sentiment echoed throughout our wedding from the bunting, to the cake topper, bonbonierre and even inscribed in our wedding bands.”

Pearls of wedding wisdom from the bride…

“The best advice we can give to couples planning their big day is first understand the style and vibe you want for your wedding day. Narrow in on what makes you a great couple, your personalities and your quirks. The more personalised you can make it, the more you will enjoy the experience – both the planning and the actual day. There are a lot of options out there so understanding what style and feeling you would like for your big day will help get you started.”

Tell us a little bit about your photographer…

“Tamar and her trusty second camera & husband Matt were all we could have hoped for on our wedding day. They were professional, personable, creative and thorough. Filtering though websites and social media, we found Bless Photography through Instagram. We loved her photos and style so we reached out to her directly.

What helped us finalise the decision with Tamar was she was willing to meet with us at our home to discuss what we were after for our wedding day. The personal visit really made it easy to fully understand her vision and style, which was very much aligned with what we were looking for. After confirming that we would like her to do our photos she was very professional in following up and setting the engagement photo shoot date. This session was a great experience and really helped us relax with Tamar. Experimenting and laughing with her that day made the wedding day really easy and enjoyable.

On the wedding day, beyond all of the standard photos, we had a lot of fun taking pictures with Tamar and our wedding party. We even had a bride and groom session down at the beach, capturing the full day perfectly. Once it was all over, a few weeks later we received a web link and gift box with a USB stick with all of the beautiful pictures. The whole experience was a pleasure with Tamar and we highly recommend her to any other couples looking for an easy and fun wedding day photography experience.”

Don’t you just love Shadiyah & Dave’s boho-vintage style! A huge congratulations to them and a big thankyou to their photographer Tamar of Bless Photography for letting me share their wedding with you. If you love these photographs and would like to see more of Tamar’s wonderful work pop and take a peek at Holly & Brad’s bright and beautiful woodland wedding or Megan & Chris’s rustic vintage winery wedding right here on Chic Vintage Brides, or head over to her website www.blessphotography.com.au – and be sure to follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

If you have fallen head over heels for the relaxed style of this wedding and are looking for more boho-vintage inspiration for your own big day, then you might want to see this stunning celebration at a Chateau in the Dordogne, and this simply gorgeous boho-vintage wedding inspiration shoot at Deux Belettes. Or if its the vibrant colours that have caught your eye take a peek at this vintage Summer wedding in a similar palette.

Amy

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Photography ~ Bless Photography // Flora Design & Styling ~ Medina Designs // Wedding Dress ~ Jennifer Regan // Bridesmaid Dresses ~ Forever New // Robes ~ Bride Tribes // Bridal Shoes ~ Funkis // Hair ~ Hair by Anna // Makeup ~ Ash Quinn Makeup // Groom’s Attire ~ MJ Bale // Groom’s Shoes ~ Aquila // Band & Entertainment ~ Evoke Entertainment // Catering ~ Sassy Chef // Wedding Cake Doughnut Tower ~ Foodcraft Espresso & Bakery // Bonbonnieres ~ Makana Confections // Hashtag Printer ~ Boothers // Videography ~ Brookesy // Wedding Cake Topper ~ A La Roche // Ceremony Venue ~ Dunningham Reserve // Reception Venue ~ Coogee Surf Life Saving Club // Wedding Invitations ~ Kristen Dangerfield // Wedding Website ~ E-Wedding // Honeymoon Registry ~ Honey Fund