Melissa + Omar
How did you and your husband meet?
Omar and I had known each other as we went to the same college but we met at a house party and became friends, after we met we kept bumping into each other and our two friend groups became one.
How did he propose?
Omar and I had been together for 7 years before he proposed, he had organized for us to travel to Hawaii for my birthday and my mum had told me that she had paid for a helicopter ride while we were there as a birthday gift (she was in on the proposal and it was a ploy to throw me off), on the second last day of our trip we went on our helicopter ride and Omar had organized for 'Mel, will you marry me' to be written in sand at a beach, the helicopter pilot told us to look at some 'rare seals' that were below as he was circling the writing then I turned to Omar a blubbery mess and he was holding the engagement ring.
Can’t wait to put gorgeous dress on!
Who doesn’t love Chanel?
How did the wedding planning start?
When we got home from our holiday we started to round off some names of who we would like to invite as we needed to know a rough number of guests to figure out what venues were suitable, after we had decided on a rough number our venue was limited as we had planned a big wedding, we booked a venue and paid a deposit after that we also booked a company to do Lebanese drums and entertainment, after about 5 months we decided that a big wedding wasn't what we wanted and we canceled the venue and booked a small garden at a hotel for the ceremony and a function room (cocktail style) at another hotel in the city.
Once we were set on a reasonably small wedding, we re-did the guest list, booked the photographer and celebrant, and started planning all the fine details.
That’s what friends are for!
Having a lil drink before your wedding never hurt anyone!
What made you choose Blanche Bridal for your gown?
As I live in Canberra I initially looked at all of the bridal shops here, because I'm 'plus-size' I was only able to try on a very small amount of dresses which made it hard, I always envisioned that I would just know when I found 'the dress' like we all see in movies but I never got that feeling (until I went to Blanche Bridal). Going to bridal shop after bridal shop and not being able to try on dresses is so daunting and overwhelming along with bridal attendants coming into change rooms with me and being so very pushy when I finally found Blanch Bridal it was a completely different experience.
After finding a dress on Instagram that looked so stunning I scrolled through their page and website to find the dress I didn't know I was looking for! I emailed to enquire about a price and after learning how reasonable the price was I instantly booked an appointment to go to Sydney and look at their dresses.
What was your favorite moment when purchasing your gown at Blanche Bridal?
My favorite moment was when I had my first fitting, finally seeing myself in a beautiful dress that fit me perfectly was a moment I will never forget. When we arrived for my first appointment we were greeted by such a happy lady (Iris) who was so friendly and welcoming which put my nerves at ease, they never once made my size feel like an issue and although I wasn't able to initially try on the dress Helen said that she could make a 'test fit' dress to make sure that I was happy with the fit, style and look. I knew this bridal shop was the one for me even if I wasn't getting the dress I had in mind.
Helen and Iris helped me make some changes to the one I had seen online and helped me piece together the most incredible dress which made me feel incredible. My wedding day wouldn't have been the same without these two beautiful ladies and I cannot thank them for their time and incredible work enough!!!
Did you have a theme or look in mind for your wedding?
We didn't have a theme but we did have some traditions that we incorporated into our wedding; Omar is Lebanese so we had some drummers at our wedding reception along with Arabic music.
We wanted to keep the wedding very relaxed and we didn't particularly like that there was such structure to a wedding reception so we had a cocktail type reception, so no seating arrangements, no sit-down meal. We had an arrangement of food that was placed on a table like a grazing platter but with substantial food like mini burgers, skewers, etc.
Any funny stories about the wedding day you’d like to share?
It wasn't until we were on our way to take photos that our best man told me there was a little mishap with our music at the ceremony, because I had completely forgotten about the music needed while people are arriving before I arrive, I made a quick playlist on Spotify for the boys to play on my phone until I arrived. The only problem was I had only selected 5 songs and it took longer than 5 songs for me to arrive. Spotify then selects a random song from a list of songs that I usually listen to, so just before I was arriving the song 'Up Down' by T-pain started playing and it wasn't until the line 'Booty goin’ up, down' 25 seconds in that our best man realized that something wasn't right and re-started the right playlist.
Was your wedding experience everything you dreamt of?
Absolutely, I wouldn't do a single thing differently at all. The most important thing I envisioned would've been that the weather wasn't too cold (we got married in August) and that everyone was fed and had enough room/seats at our reception as they were limited but in hindsight, the most important thing was that our loved ones were there with us which was all that mattered.