Lucky In Love; A Black Friday Wedding

BY ANNIE MOLENAAR

Adam and Anika have been together since they were teenagers. They have literally grown up together while still managing to maintain their love, navigate their way through all the angsty, awkward teenage years, through leaving school and forging careers, through buying and renovating houses, and through what they describe as their greatest achievement, becoming parents. This year, their anniversary fell on Black Friday, so they decided it was time to celebrate all they had done and achieved together by making it official and getting married.

Adam and Anika wanted to make sure that their day was an accurate reflection of who they are, and to be mindful of not getting too caught up in unnecessary details. To them, the most important part of the day was the getting married part. They just wanted to celebrate them, in glorious simplicity. All their friends and family pitched in to get the big jobs done, like gardening and painting, as they decided to marry in their own backyard, and everything else, according to Anika, just kind of fell into place. Perhaps the only part of the day that was details focused, and far from simplistic, was Anika’s black and red wedding dress.

With some serious Kat Von D vibes going on, I asked Anika to tell me more about what she wore and how she pulled it all together, this is what she said:

“Ooooh! My favourite part! My skirt I got made by a girl in America that I found on Etsy and it cost $260 AUD. I got my corset online for around $80 I think and my black lace bolero from a shop in the valley in Brisbane that I can’t remember the name of now. My shoes were just from City Beach I think but the best thing, they were all black/maroon and studs! …It just goes to show, you don’t have to spend a lot to look amazing!”

Actually, this entire wedding was done on a budget of $10,000. Impressive.

Adam had skulls on his collar points, his shirt was from Dangerfield, and he wore maroon suspenders to match his pants

“It just goes to show, you don’t have to spend a lot to look amazing!”

Admittedly, Anika and Adam weren’t too fussed on maintaining a focus on tradition throughout the planning process, although they did decide to exchange rings, had four bridesmaids and groomsmen, Anika was walked down the aisle by her dad, there was a bouquet toss, a garter removal, and they had a fab cake (which Anika’s mum’s friend won for them in a fundraising raffle) that they ceremoniously cut into. Basically, they just stuck to tradition where it suited them and kept the bits that sounded like the most fun.

When I asked them what their favourite part of the day was, they were quick to sing the praises of their photographer, Mitch.

“We really enjoyed doing the photos even though we tried to get out of it because it was literally the hottest day in the history of ever! We had heaps of fun with Mitch doing the photos. He made something that could have been so awkward just so easy and fun!”

“We had heaps of fun with Mitch doing the photos. He made something that could have been so awkward just so easy and fun!”

And when questioned about what they would change if they could go back and re-do the day, they said they probably would have waited until their baby girl, Zephyr, was a bit older. She was only eight months old so Anika didn’t manage to get much sleep the night before the wedding.

[Should we tell her a sleepless night before the wedding is super common, baby or no baby?]

She also said that with the benefit of hindsight, she would not try to please others so much during the planning process, and just worry about pleasing themselves. But they’re not too worried about that because they are already looking forward to planning their vow renewal in a few years, and this will be ALL TIME.