An Intimate Luxe Wedding with a Long Table Dinner

Surrounded by 30 loved ones, these two brides chose Moana Hall for their modern luxe wedding. An intimate long table dinner and all the romantic details.

Why did you choose to plan your wedding before you were engaged?

We planned the wedding on a 12-hour long road trip together. We wanted to enjoy the “newly engaged” feeling and the excitement of planning a wedding without outside influence and pressures that can occur, so we did it back to front. 

Everything was booked, and nine months later, we had the official proposal. 

Sometimes, the proposal doesn’t go quite right; what happened?

Our proposal was absolute shambles. Mainly because Preah thought she’d planned a low-key proposal. Chelsie threw a spanner in the works by having an exam scheduled on the day; Preah got scammed an hour before the proposal, resulting in a trip to the bank mid-route to the proposal site (this resulted in the grazing box and bubbles becoming unfavorably warm in the boot of the car on what could only be described as an unusually hot September day). 

Alas, we made it to the picnic site after a moderate hike only to find a relatively intoxicated group of people playing some techno music on their boat moored just off what is our favorite (usually) tranquil river location. 

You would think by this point you may reschedule the proposal, but Preah had organized a surprise post-proposal dinner for Chelsie with her family, so understandably persevered. 

Preah had written the proposal in a card (Chelsie’s favorite thing is to hoard all cards and sentimental notes ever given to her), and the rest is history. 

Tell us about having a prewedding shoot with your photographer and videographer.

Preah surprised Chelsie with the prewedding shoot. It was the perfect way to connect and have a little test run in front of the camera, especially for two very camera-adverse people. 

It really helped us relax on the day and was our favorite part of the lead up to the wedding.

Tell us about why you decided on Moana Hall, in Perth, as your wedding venue?

Being an intimate wedding of 30 guests in September, we needed a size-appropriate venue that would work for an indoor ceremony and reception. 

We knew September weather could be unpredictable and we weren’t interested in the stress of contingency planning. 

When we come across Moana Hall, a charming 1908 building, we fell in love instantly and knew that we wanted to be married in front of the beautiful arch windows.

What were the details of your intimate wedding?

Our favorite way to spend time with our closest friends and family is dinner at home with a bottle of good wine and a board game or two, and we wanted our wedding to reflect this feeling. 

The vibe we wanted to create was intimate, warm, and romantic. 

To create this, we had one long dinner table lit with candles and soft lighting in the venue, used warm tones of caramels, beige, and whites, stripped the formalities right back, and opted out of a dance floor. It was simple and it was so completely us. 

When we thought about what we’d wear, we quickly realized two things. Firstly, dress shopping isn’t as enjoyable as people make out it is and secondly, the only opinion we really wanted was each other’s. 

We came across an amazing local designer Louise at Nuku Bridal. Louise created two stunning dresses that were customised to suit our personal tastes and create the exact look we individually were after. 

Tell us about your favorite moments for your small wedding?

• We woke up together, and enjoyed a coffee and leisurely breakfast. It was a great way to revel in the excitement with each other.
  
• We mostly chose to get ready together – because it made sense to spend as much time with our future wife on our wedding day.
  
• We shared a first look and had portraits preceremony. This gave us protected time together, all nerves dissipated before the cereomy and we didn’t feel like we missed out on time with our guests.
  
• We spent money on documenting the day with both a videographer and photographer. People don’t lie, the day really does fly and sometimes things feel like a blur, and we’re grateful to have these both to look back on.
  
• We got all the formalities out of the way first, so that we could relax for the rest of the evening with all pressure off.