We have been to Brookside Vineyard in Perth Hills 3 times in total, coincidentally over 3 Seasons, Summer, Winter and Spring in the same year to check out the venue. And each time we were there, it feels like Spring. So imagine celebrating Louisa & Yang’s wedding finally in Spring last weekend at this beautiful intimate venue! If you haven’t been there, and are looking for an intimate wedding venue, you just might fall in love with the running brook, the little singing frogs, that rustic romantic bridge, and not to mention wonderful food by Chef Ryan who also owns Vineyard Kitchen.
We are so grateful to have you and Didi (Polkadot + Moonbeam) as our wedding music band for our big day, your music suited the vibes of Brookside Vineyard perfectly, and I have many compliments from our guests about you.
Louisa wrote to me about a year ago (!), and so I confessed to her by the time it was weeks before their big day, that it felt like after so many email girly ‘dates’ that I knew her. It was hardly something we could help not feeling. This amazing lady did it her way. I saw her coordinate, manage, host the wedding and yet genuinely love all her people at once. How she did it, I would never know.
Remembering our own wedding planning years ago always made me feel thankful whenever friends stepped in to give unconditionally. And so when she invited her long-time college mate, Yu Heng who would fly in from Sydney play her Bridal Processional, we were so excited! We always appreciated input from family and friends because somehow you see something change in the atmosphere whenever it happens. It no longer is just an event, but a warm and personal celebration with blessings from the ones who love you so much. And he played Canon in D beautifully. And when her father who flew in from Foshan to give her away walked her down the aisle, I saw her close they were linked at heart from the way she held his arm. I couldn’t help my own tears when she burst into tears as he gave her hand to Yang. Later in the evening at reception, she shared how her father was even gently calming her down before the bridal entrance.
It was a very unique wedding ceremony as the couple had friends from out and about! The Pastor and his wife teamed up, and as he blessed them both in English, she translated these blessings in Cantonese/Mandarin for their overseas guests. Finally pronounced as husband and wife, we sang and played ‘A Lover’s Concerto’ as covered by Kelly Chen as she walked back down the aisle in celebration of their union with dear friends.
An intimate wedding of under 50, but we understood later that they also had friends from Sydney, Hong Kong, Foshan, Singapore, Sarawak, Jakarta and more. As we proceeded to move to Vineyard Kitchen’s other end, overlooking those water lilies, and running brook, and the guests started enjoying their pre-dinner drinks and canapes, we played an unplugged acoustic set of vintage swing and latin duets, as well as jazz instrumentals. We also included that famous classic anthem ‘Sweetly’ by Teresa Teng done as a bossa nova. We love how music truly speaks the universal language of love. Soon, people were joining in, and it really felt cosy even as it turned to one of Spring’s coldest evenings (4 degrees!).
Before opening their dance floor, we played and sang their couple song ‘Harvest Moon’ by Neil Young (see insta-post below) and witnessed finally after all the wonderful celebratory hoorahs, a nice quiet moment to themselves – for themselves in sweet little tune. The rest of the evening involved a costume change and us changing disguises to play as Mo’ Mojito Jazz Duo on piano and bass, rocking tunes like Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Route 66,… Seeing the love in the room, we also threw in a cantonese swing duet by Sam Hui from the 80s movie ‘Aces Go Places’ which I knew from watching cantonese comedy movies with my dad, and arranged as a duet for Moonbeam to join me in harmony on. Took a bit of coaching but he’s really fab – i think so! I also shared my twinny, pop-jazz sensation Joanna Dong’s mandarin lyrics for Marcos Valle’s ‘Sumer Samba’ on finding a love that is so nice. Both of these tunes were done as bilingual (english/mandarin or cantonese) duets so that everyone could appreciate the brilliance of music right where they are. It felt really good to share all of us for these amazing folks that Louisa and Yang both love dearly.
It was real pleasure listening to you live !!!! Your music made everyone feel such peace and joy.
Above the Straits desserts they served that I have a serious weakness for, we were also falling for that genuine openness and sincerity that was all around in the room that evening, they had people closest to them supporting and blessing their love, for a very very long time of course heavenly blessings no matter where they go. I still can’t believe how is it we get to be a part of someone else’s very significant moment in life, and get to give them a gift of music. Thank you Louisa and Yang for trusting us with the celebration of your wedding day. We love you and bless you both.
真的很喜欢你们的歌曲 你跟你的爱人都那么和蔼可亲 又很谦逊 很友好有爱的一对couple
(Translated: Truly love your music. You are such a friendly and amicable couple.)
We also thoroughly enjoyed playing at Brookside Vineyard with the wonderful Ryan, Faye and Peter who were beautiful hosts of this lovely venue. In fact, we shared that we might just have our renewal of vows or wedding part 2 there, some day. 😉
We also enjoyed working alongside these legends:
Xu Makeup (@crystalxm)
The Bohemian Flower Collective (@thebohemianflowercollective)
Maria Shaelava Photography (mashalaeva.com)