Sass Studios

Dave and Elise are just genuinely nice people. Dave’s polite and handsome and perhaps a little bit shy.  Elise is beautiful, funny and not at all shy.

They incorporated Port Douglas’s top wedding venues into their wedding day with ease and elegance.  Their guests had a ball, we did too.

Elise chats to us more below about finding her fairytale dress and her special day in paradise with the man of her dreams.

How did you meet?

In 2009 I was buying my first home and needed to find a room mate, at the same time my cousin was moving overseas and his room mate (Dave) needed somewhere new to live. Dave and I had a brief phone conversation in an attempt to ascertain that neither of us were crazy.   I thought he had a sexy voice and I felt confident he wasn’t the type I would find wearing my underwear or staring at me while I slept.  So we arranged to meet. The first moment I saw Dave I said to myself this is the man I am going to marry- without him saying a word I just knew he was the one.

The proposal? 

On August 15, 2011 Dave and I went on our monthly date night, I thought Dave was really making an effort dressing in slacks and long sleeved shirt, but thought nothing else of it, we had a lovely dinner at Dundees and on the way home Dave suggested it might be nice to go up to the Copperload Dam lookout to look at the city lights. We got to the lookout and there were a couple of cars of teenagers, Dave looking nervous decided to find something ‘more private’, he tried to pull the car to the very edge of the cliff further up the road and came very close to going over the edge. Eventually pulling the car to a safe place with a nice view, dave asked me to get out of the car, the next second he was down on one knee with a ring box in his hands, of course I said yes! Dave told me how he had nervously asked my dad for permission, something he knew was really important to me and I was pleased to hear that dad teared up and gleefully gave Dave permission, adding there is no other man as worthy of me as Dave.  Dave had spent months with Shane from Rowe Design, choosing diamonds and styles of rings all without me knowing.

How did you decide on a place to celebrate your wedding day?

We both love Port Douglas and fell in love with beachfront of Sea Temple Resort, we wanted the ceremony to be relaxed and beautiful and that’s exactly what we got.

We wanted the Reception to be the party to end all parties, when we saw Flames Of The Forest there was no more venue searching, we had found the perfect place, absolutely stunning and no noise restrictions! We decided on a canapé style reception so our guests could mingle and make new friends.  We kept the reception location a secret from our guests to add an air of mystery and fun to the event, it was hilarious hearing all the different ideas people had for where they thought they were going.  Driving into the forest and hearing our guests gasp when the wall of fire crossed the road was fantastic. Our Reception cards in the wedding invites read “Please join us in the celebration of our marriage at a mystery location for a selection of canapés, drinks and awkward but enthusiastic dancing”. (I am known for my awkward but enthusiastic dance style). We wanted a reception full of dancing and merriment that reflected our personalities.  My brother was our MC and he did an amazing job, there was so much laughter and dancing, truly the greatest night of our lives.

Tell us about finding your wedding dress:

Growing up my favorite story was- The Gown Of Cobweb Lace, the book was my mothers as a little girl- A peasant fairy saves a fairy dressmaker and for her kindness he makes her the most beautiful gown of cobweb lace to wear to the ball to meet the prince- so all I ever wanted was a lace gown, the moment I saw my dress I fell in love, when my mum saw me in it the first thing she said was  “this is your gown of cobweb lace” and we both cried.

Describe your wedding flowers:

The flowers were a combination of ivory and latte roses with silver foliage which really complemented the colour and style of my dress, they smelt divine! The florist (Angie) is my best friends mum and growing up I used to adore her arrangements and couldn’t wait for the day that I got my own bouquet made by her, knowing that they were made with love made them even more beautiful.

Describe your wedding cake: 

I made white chocolate mud cupcakes with, lemon butter cream icing.  Cupcakes fit with the canapé style of food and are so quick, cheap and easy to make- who doesn’t love cupcakes?!  We were all so busy dancing that we forgot to eat them so we gifted them to the staff at flames for making the night so amazing.

What was the biggest challenge you faced while planning your big day? 

I can’t actually think of any challenges we faced, I think that was down to the fact we had great suppliers who made everything really easy.

What was the most memorable moment about your wedding day?

Elise: Hmmmm, I can’t choose just one. The look on Daves face as I walked down the aisle, the tears in my dads eyes when he saw me in my wedding dress, saying my vows, holding my mums hand walking down the aisle, standing on the stage at the reception saying my speech- looking out at the crowd and seeing all the people that love us the most smiling back at us. The hilarious and heart warming speeches, my sister singing our first dance song,  the dancing, the shoe game, but most of all the overwhelming feeling of love you get when you realise you just spent the best day of your life with the man of your dreams.

Did you write your own vows? 

You could say we composed them, we found a lot of well written things on the internet all more eloquently written than we had the literary capacity to write ourselves.   They contained the meaning and love that we felt for each other so we picked and chose bits,  threw in a few personalized promises to each other such as me trying to stack the dishwasher more efficiently and Dave attempting to dry himself better. I have to say I am keeping up with my side of the promise- I don’t know about Dave- he still drip dries a lot, lucky he is good looking

Where did you go for your honey moon?

We spent five days at Waikiki Beach Hawaii before boarding a 18 night cruise through the South Pacific making awesome memories and making some great new friends.

What’s next for you guys? 

Hopefully more travel and adventure and perhaps a family of our own to share it with.

Who were your suppliers on the day?

The amazing Ben and Cath from Sass Studios- www.sassstudios.com

Shane from Rowe designs for our beautiful rings- http://rowedesign.com.au

Angela Lewis from Botanica, did the amazing flowers- 

http://www.botanicadesign.com.au

Flames of the forest, the most amazing reception venue- http://www.flamesoftheforest.com.au

Sea Temple Resort and Spa Port Douglas- http://www.mirvachotels.com/sea-temple-resort-port-douglas

Megan from Roger David for taking care of 8 unorganised men and their suits-  http://www.rogerdavid.com.au

Hills in Hollywood Chermside for the dress of my dreams- http://www.hillsinhollywood.com

Chrissy Ratcliffe celebrant- for the amazing job she did and making it legit- http://www.chrissyratcliffe.com.au

DJ Feel the music- Ben rocked the reception!- http://www.djftm.com

Hair by the girls at Eclectic Hair- http://www.facebook.com/pages/Eclectic-Hair/208301789201308

Makeup by Penny- http://makeupbyphennapha.tumblr.com