Young Hearts Run Free: Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet meets Frida Kahlo in a Botanical Gardens

Mr Wigley Photography

November 30, 2019

Nat and Alfredo got married at the Botanic Gardens in Sydney, Australia on the 24th of August. They were inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet and Frida Kahlo for their theme. The bride explains, “Both are visually captivating with symbolic imagery, but at the heart of it, are about two people who connect and commit to each other. They’re not fairy tale love stories but are about the strength of love. I’ve always loved the symbolism in Romeo and Juliet and it was also something the represented Rome (where we met) and Alfredo’s background.”

As the bride works in the wedding industry, she didn’t want their wedding to be in any way traditional, or for her look to be too classically bridal. “I wanted something that was fun, party-like and not weddingy”, she continued.” I wanted the wedding to really represent us and our relationship as well as our contrasts. Working in the wedding industry I was over seeing the same style again and again. The word bespoke gets thrown around a lot but it’s not always really true at all – it’s all the same thing with just a slightly different colour palette. I wanted my wedding not to look like a typical wedding and to be a reflection of our interests and style and for it to feel like a fun party.”

The couple have been together for six years and have a four year old son, Brando, who walked Nat down the aisle, joined in the recessional, their first dance and helped cut the cake. “In fact Brando would refer to it as ‘our wedding’,” Nat laughed, “as in the three of us!”

“Our ceremony was in one of the oldest glass greenhouses in Sydney. We chose it because it looks beautiful and because it was covered in case it rained. Our wedding was one of the warmest August days we’ve had and the glass house was a lot hotter than we expected! I drove myself and the bridal party from our AirBnB and we hit every single pocket of traffic. We then parked and had to walk over to the gardens so we were about 20 minutes late. We didn’t really have a moment to catch our breath before we were walking down the aisle. We walked down the aisle a three string instrumental version of Dreams by the Cranberries. Our ceremony was fun and lighthearted. Venetia our celebrant was amazing, she was a great storyteller and so full of personality.”

With the bride running a prop hire and styling company, of course the decor was going to be spectacular. They went for a scheme of orange, red and yellow. Alfredo even made the copper arch that the neon hung from himself.

“Whatever you want to do, just do it!” Nat advises. “This is your day and it should be about you and what your story is. Fuck other people who try to bring you down or try to make it about themselves. Don’t ever feel embarrassed and make sure you have a good chat with your vendors. You need to make sure you feel comfortable and have a good vibe with them too otherwise you’ll feel more stressed.”

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