Nicola & Ash by Arianna Leggiero

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship…

We met in 2011 at a Melbourne bar. We moved in together after three months and have been inseparable since.

Today, we run a successful PR and Communications Agency together, which we founded in 2015. Some wonder how we can live together, socialise together and work together but to us, it comes naturally. We have a mutual respect for one another and complement each others skill sets. We’re complete opposites in some ways, and so similar in others. We love travelling together and visiting new countries and share a gorgeous dog (who featured in our wedding!)

Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details…

Having run a number of events through work, I decided to take wedding planning and styling into my own hands! We both love native flowers and greenery and the rest of the wedding seemed to flow from this. We didn’t have a colour palette nor a specific theme and I was finding it difficult to find a location that felt like us. I also struggled with receiving wedding packages that included this, but excluded that, and you couldn’t use this and you must use that. I had suppliers I had worked with through work and knew their work was amazing so I wanted to find a venue that allowed for some flexibility. I stumbled across Mount Ophir Estate on Instagram and we drove three hours north to visit it one cold winter weekend. We absolutely loved how raw and untouched it was. Only one wedding had been held onsite so a lot was left to the imagination. There was so much history to the site and we knew we could make a weekend getaway for our wedding guests. Mount Ophir was a dry hire, whereby we paid a fee for the space and the rest was left to us. This allowed freedom to use my own suppliers, so yes, I did make them drive a 6-hour round trip for Melbourne! The native flowers suited the setting so much and everything else just came together; gorgeous crystal glassware, deep green napkins and lots and lots of candles!

Tell us about your main outfits:

My dress was Grace Loves Lace. I had my eyes set on this brand for quite a while as I always envisioned a long sleeve lace dress. I made the visit to Queensland to their showroom and after trying on a few, I fell in love with the MAI dress. My jewellery was all rose gold, including my rings and gorgeous earrings from Grace Loves Lace. On the day of the wedding, my two best friends gave me a dainty rose gold bracelet that was engraved with my cat’s name Lulu, who sadly passed on our engagement the year prior.

My husband’s suit was custom made by some good friends of ours who helped him choosethe colour and textile through to the design and fit. He paired this with Grenson shoes, his Digby and Iona snake wedding ring and a sentimental necklace he wore under his suit that his grandfather from New Zealand gifted him.

What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?

Hearing our mum’s speeches during the ceremony was really memorable and having our dog, Lebron, involved in the ceremony. In typical attention grabbing fashion, he started rolling around on the grass mid-vowels. We also ‘officially’ tied the knot at the registry a few days prior and only had our immediate family present. This allowed us to spend quality time celebrating such an intimate moment with our family, while also allowing my best friend to run the ceremony on the wedding day. A lot of people said it was a unique and intimate ceremony as we created the format ourselves and it was very much us. Following our ceremony and during drinks and canapes, we were lucky to have the most beautiful sunset which really highlighted the Australian landscape, with everyone quickly grabbing their phones for happy snaps. I also loved that I was able to get some photos with my grandparents that I’ll cherish for years to come as typically my nan is photoopposed but as it was my special day, we were able to capture a few! We had family and friends that travelled from interstate and Ash’s grandfather from New Zealand. Having everyone in the one place celebrating us, eating delicious food and just having fun was wonderful to see.

Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?

We’ve been together 8 years now and whenever we have a disagreement, it’s typically resolved within 24 hours. We never let issues stew. We both understand that we’re two separate individuals who have their own hobbies, passions, dislikes and dreams but together, we’re building something we can both enjoy. We’re supportive of what one another does while also allowing for a level of freedom. We don’t always have to do what the other one wants to and that’s ok, but sometimes it’s about comprise. Whatever we’re doing, it’s working!