Olivia Burke-Lynch: A KYHA Bride

KYHA

09.01.2024

NAME

Olivia Burke-Lynch

WEDDING DATE

11/11/2023

NUMBER OF GUESTS

151

LOCATION

Melbourne, Australia

YOUR LOVE STORY

We met in 2014 through mutual friends on the Gold Coast and have spent the last nine years growing up together. During this time we have had many adventures, a two-year period of long distance, and thankfully our life events worked out that we both settled in Melbourne together in 2018. Tom proposed at 7.30am in the morning at the dog park and caught me completely by surprise. So much so, I couldnt speak and just stood there in shock while the poor love was on one knee! He had a photographer hidden in the bushes, had my parents flying in later that day, had booked a dinner at one of our favourite restaurants that night, and had pre planned a special bottle of wine to be there and just went above and beyond what I ever imagined! For someone not super romantic, he absolutely nailed it and it was perfectly us.

FINDING YOUR DRESS

I have had the joy of working for KYHA Studios for the last two years, and when I got engaged I was so excited at the prospect of possibly working with Kyha and the team for my wedding gown. When I sat down with Kyha and showed her my mood board, she was nervous I might be a bit tricky as I wanted something that really pushed the boundaries and was something completely different. However, with her creative brilliance, this was never going to be an issue.

When I first started at KYHA Studios, I remember seeing a swatch of the dripping rose beading hanging in Kyhas office and I secretly fell in love with it. As time went on, I never saw it in any collections and when I sat down with Kyha she suggested using that for my gown and I screamed inside. I was beyond excited and honoured that beading which had been in development for over two years was going to be part of my gown.

I knew from the beginning that I didn't want to wear white for my ceremony gown, and the colour that Kyha and the team came up with was the most perfect nude and blush mixture of tulle that cascaded into a stunning pleated tulle skirt.

For my second look, I loved the idea of a super fun mini dress. I love the relaxed feel of a T-Shirt style dress but elevating it with a structured stitched corset style bodice and a layered feel with the separate-but-attached top made it super modern. The fabric was the most luxurious Duchess Satin and it felt like a dream putting it on.

Being able to see my dress come to life at our head office, seeing the detail the team went to, hand beading extra details the day before, even seeing the tulle being cut for my huge skirt was just so special and a privilege and honour I will never forget.

THE INSPIRATION AND AESTHETIC FOR THE DAY

I wanted our wedding to feel truly like us, and a big celebration and party for our family and friends. I wanted everyone to feel a part of the day, to feel like they were a part of our family's and for it to be authentically us. This led to us not having flowers as I don't really like flowers and there were no fancy menus or seating charts. I can't really say I had a planned aesthetic either, I just made decisions on what I liked and hoped that it all looked nice together! I also did a lot of it myself, the seating chart I made the night before with my sister and my niece and my brother-in-law helped me ice the cake the day before too! Our venue was a beautiful, decommissioned chapel, and a big beautiful hall which held so much charm so we kept everything quite minimal so the venue could shine.

THE NON-NEGOTIABLES

For the day to be filled with amazing memories, storytelling, and honest love. We were advised by multiple married couples to try and sneak away just the two of us for 15 minutes to soak it all in together, which we managed to do after powering through our photos in thirty minutes and that will be a treasured memory I will have forever.

A HIGHLIGHT FROM THE DAY

Seeing all of our loved ones come together and celebrating us gives me goosebumps just thinking about it, so it has to be the highlight. Seeing Tom cry as I walked into the chapel and feeling all my nerves disappear is also another one! Also seeing how chuffed my Uncle Sinjon was when the wedding cake he made for us was passed around the room and loved by everyone. I could go on and on, there is too many!

HONEYMOONING

We only had a few days after our wedding to get away, and we had both never been to Queenstown and after hearing rave reviews from our friends decided to head there. It was incredible, and we had the best fun adventuring and eating our way through Queenstown for 4 days after a day of well-earned rest!

A WORD OF ADVICE FOR BRIDES TO BE

Dont sweat the small stuff!! If the day has details that are uniquely yours, and feels like you and your partner, it will be amazing. Don't select styling or do things on the day because you feel you 'have to'. Share your love story, celebrate your families coming together, and soak it all up as that is what it is all about.