Sign up to our newsletter<\/a><\/p>\nThe most important thing for Rainbow and James was that their wedding felt grounded and fun, and filled with personal touches\u2014\u201cfrom a photo montage playing on an analogue TV, to handmade thank-you cards and bonbonni\u00e8res,\u201d the bride says. As a performer and artist, planning an intimate, art-filled wedding came naturally to the bride, who painted all the decor herself, blending traditional wedding motifs from both her and her grooms\u2019 respective cultures\u2014\u201cJames has Sicilian heritage and I\u2019m from Hong Kong with Weitou heritage, who are Hong Kong\u2019s first settlers,\u201d says Rainbow.<\/p>\n
One of the bride\u2019s favourite styling details was the \u2018double happiness\u2019 symbol, a traditional motif in Chinese weddings representing the joy of two lives coming together. \u201cI wove it through our invitations, welcome sign, thank you cards, and even had a bespoke seal made in Hong Kong\u2019s famous \u2018Chop Alley\u2019 featuring the symbol alongside our names,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The rest of the day became a DIY affair, too, with the couple drawing on the talents of their creative community. \u201cMy eldest sister, Kitty, who once organised her own extravagant wedding in just five weeks, was my go-to advisor, while our sister-in-law Judy, an avid gardener, helped with the native floral design,\u201d says Rainbow. \u201cWe wanted the day to be celebratory, laid back and full of life. With so many musician and DJ friends, the night turned into a mini music festival.\u201d The line-up? The likes of Alex Ward, Okin Osan, Big Bao DJs, Tennis Boys DJs, Simon Winkler DJ, and Rainbow Chan herself.<\/p>\n
Such a celebration called for a festive series of bridal looks. Three, to be exact: a modern qipao for the tea ceremony, a white silk dress for the aisle that she made herself, and a pink party dress for the reception. The qipao, by Hong Kong-based label Yat Pit, was a sheer red design Rainbow had previously worn in one of her music videos. \u201cFor the aisle, I made my own mini shift dress from white silk dupion, wanting something I could later dye and repurpose,\u201d she says. \u201cI love its timeless silhouette and subtle slub texture, which paired beautifully with James\u2019 custom seersucker suit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Along with vintage crepe chiffon opera gloves from Etsy, the bride wove pearls\u2014a symbolic motif in her artistic practice\u2014into this look, with a pair of baroque pearl earrings and a choker by local designer Pei Yi, and a pearl headband and veil by Made With Love.<\/p>\n
For the reception, the bride borrowed a hand-marbled silk dress by her friend and fashion designer Amy Lawrance, which she\u2019d worn before to perform at the Museum of Old and New Art. \u201cIn Weitou culture, brides traditionally wear pink and green, so Amy\u2019s stunning dress felt like a modern echo of that tradition,\u201d Rainbow says.<\/p>\n
After their traditional tea ceremony, the bride and groom walked down the aisle together in the convent gardens hand-in-hand, as their friend Marcus Whale performed an acoustic cover of their favourite Sufjan Stevens song, \u2018Mystery of Love\u2019, before heading inside for the reception, which included a performance by the bride. \u201cThe weather was perfect\u2014unusual for Melbourne\u2014and the afternoon sun lit up the faces of our loved ones as we stepped toward the next chapter of our lives,\u201d Rainbow recalls of the day. \u201cIn that moment, time seemed to slow, and everything felt truly magical.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead, see inside Rainbow and James\u2019 creative Abbotsford Convent wedding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Musician and artist Rainbow Chan, and actuarial consultant James O\u2019Keeffe didn\u2019t really have a proposal. The pair\u2014who met…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":598498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,75407,134,30329],"class_list":{"0":"post-598497","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-brides","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-weddings"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598497","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=598497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/598497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/598498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=598497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=598497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=598497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}