WHERE: Hayman Island, North Queensland.  We were dreaming about wedding in an exotic place. So, what can be more exotic than Australia which is thousands of kilometers away from Russia? It was a perfect place for honeymoon also, we travelled 3 weeks around the country and it was one of our greatest life experiences.

The choice of Hayman Island was obvious  - private island, luxury resort, one of the best hotels in Australia and excellent wedding service.

THEME:  Escape wedding in another part of the world. Just for two.

GUESTS:  None. That was the main idea. We didn’t want to have a formal wedding with hundreds of guests and all the strange Russian traditions (for example a couple should kiss as long as they can when somebody scream “Gor’ko!” (“bitter”) which means that guest wants something sweet – a kiss) and 3 days of celebrating.

DRESS:  It was one of the most difficult things because it’s very difficult to buy a simple but stylish dress in Moscow.  Most of boutiques are full of princess dresses with crinoline and strasses Swarovski.  But I knew this wouldn’t match either a beach wedding or my own style.  I found my dress at Pronovias.  It was designed by Manuel Mota. (By the way, in many Russian boutiques you will be charged for trying the wedding dress, the amount will be refunded only if you buy one).  The dress is light, simple and a cloud of chiffon in the train made it airy.

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HAIR:  I have a long hair and first wanted to leave it flowing but the weather was really hot and I made a knot with white orchids.  It was little bit slipshod and didn’t look too classical.

MAKEUP:  Natural and fresh.

RINGS: Tiffany & Co. Artemy found a perfect engagement ring carefully ascertaining what I prefer.  He proposed in my favorite city – Rome and there we choose the band rings together.

FLOWERS:  I wanted to have my hair styled very simply, like I'd picked up it by myself in a field with some exotic flowers that I couldn’t have in Russia.  It was a season of orchids.  I choose green orchids, they matched perfectly with blue ocean and white sand.

PHOTOGRAPHY:  It was very important thing for us because our family and friends stayed in Moscow and photos were the only way for them to see how happy we were at this day.  And by the way many of them thought it was the craziest idea to marry in Australia.  So the perfect photos taken by gorgeous Lisa Michele Burns proved to them that it’s a best thing we could do for each other.  Lisa made something special, free from common wedding clichés and full of natural feelings.  She didn’t ask us to stay in static positions, we were just laughing, kissing, running to the ocean and enjoying each other.  Lisa absolutely caught evert moment.

CEREMONY DETAILS:  The ceremony took place at Whitehaven Beach.  When I found out that one of the most beautiful beaches in the world is just near Hayman Island I decided to organize our ceremony there.  The problem of most beach ceremonies is that there are a lot of people swimming and sunbathing.  We wanted to have something very private and beautiful.  So, Whitehaven with it's tender sand and crystal water was the perfect place for this.  A sea plane took us to Whitsunday Island, where we were alone.  Our wedding coordinator Melissa Little brought an iPod station with music and champagne for toasting.  By the way, she was caring about all wedding details, about everything while we were at Hayman and did an excellent job.

The most touching moment was when I walked down the beach to Artemy barefoot step by step, I heard only the song Portishead “Mysteries” and saw only his eyes, nothing else in world existed at that moment.  The vows were in English but then we told each other the main things in Russian.  Whitehaven is really magic, it’s somewhere out of earth, a perfect place for love.

RECEPTION DETAILS:  Candlelit dinner at the Cabana on the beach at Hayman.  Very quiet and beautiful place away from the hotel (a waiter brought us meals by buggy).  The Cabana was decorated with candles and white orchids.  We were dancing, calling by skype to our family and friends to receive congratulations, remembering moments of our romance.

CAKE:  What could be better at a hot exotic island than an ice-cream wedding cake? It was decorated by flowers matched my bouquet.  The rest of the cake was served the day after our wedding with breakfast in bed.

ENTERTAINMENT:  Portishead “Mysteries” played as I walked towards Artemy.

FOOD & DRINKS:  Seafood dinner with champagne.

LITTLE EXTRAS:  Videography. It’s nice to watch a beautiful island during long winter days in Moscow.

BEST ADVICE FOR PLANNING A WEDDING/TO BRIDES:  Relax! You should enjoy every moment and don't worry about entertaining guests. It’s better to plan everything in a short time – you won’t change your mind thousand times and will get exactly what you want at the moment.  And remember - weddings are not just a great party but quintessence of love.

JULIA & ARTEMY'S CONTACTS:

·     PHOTOGRAPHY:  Lisa Michele Burns

·     BRIDE'S DRESS & VEIL:  Manuel Mota for Pronovias

·     BRIDE’S SHOES:  Manolo Blanik

·     GROOMS FORMAL WEAR:  Van Laack, Hugo Boss

·     RINGS:  Tiffany

·     HAIR & MAKE UP:  Spa Hayman

·     FLOWERS:  Hayman Florist - Maria

·     RECEPTION: Coconut Grove Cabana - Hayman Weddings

·     CEREMONY:  Hayman Weddings - Whitehaven Beach

·     WEDDING PLANNER:  Hayman Weddings - Melissa Little

·     VIDEOGRAPHER:  Garry Miller - Videos Down Under