Real Wedding // Sasha & Roshitha’s Fig Tree Restaurant Wedding

On a magical spring day, Sasha & Rosh celebrated their dream wedding at the stunning Fig Tree Restaurant. Their celebration was a breathtaking fusion of cultures and personal style, highlighted by a heartfelt Poruwa ceremony honouring Rosh’s Sri Lankan heritage. From their days as junior doctors to a dreamy proposal in Broome, their love story set the stage for a vibrant, fun and modern celebration. Leaning naturally into a maximalist approach, Sasha & Rosh embraced a fabulous vision of ‘lush modern romance,’ featuring a white, peach & blush palette with subtle gold and oak tones throughout, a show-stopping hanging floral installation by The French Petal, and a bright dress code encouraging guests to embrace colour and express themselves! We can’t get enough of this incredible day — read on to hear more!

Tell us about your story, how did you meet and where did the proposal happen?

We met as junior doctors in a big teaching hospital in Perth. Rosh was working as part of the general surgical team, and I was working in orthopaedics. I can remember seeing him around the wards with his scrubs on, bright red shoes and always with a group of people gravitating towards him. I thought he was very clever, a little arrogant and (of course) very handsome. We had seen each other around the hospitals and chatted briefly for a while but our first proper interaction occurred at a big party in the doctor’s common room. He told me about his photography blog, fascinated me and made me laugh and then, as they say, the rest was history.

Rosh planned the most incredible proposal. I was three months pregnant with our beautiful baby, Xavier, when we travelled to Broome for a holiday. Rosh proposed in Broome on a sunset cruise. I remember all day he was so excited and happy, and I kept thinking I never realised how happy boats made him! I was completely clueless and even remarked that it was such a funny coincidence when our song came on at sunset. It was the most perfect proposal and I love looking back at the photos and knowing our son was part of that day with us.

We’re in awe of your stunning traditional attire! What did your cultural ceremony involve?

As part of our wedding celebration Rosh and I wanted to celebrate his Sri Lankan heritage by having a Poruwa ceremony. This was held in a beautiful garden and we wore traditional dress and were blessed by a Buddhist Monk. It was such a special day for us and I really felt it join both of our families together and was an incredible way to celebrate the union of two cultures. It was particular special for us to see our son celebrate and embrace his Sinhalese culture by being part of the ceremony and wearing traditional dress. 

What were the reasons for choosing Fig Tree Restaurant in Byron Bay as the venue for your special day?

Rosh and I were engaged for over a year and hadn’t made any wedding plans. I had looked at and researched several venues but never felt that I had found ‘the one’.

We were on a working holiday to the East Coast when we decided to book a weekend away to Byron Bay. I’m not sure exactly why but I suddenly had the idea of a wedding in Byron and impulsively called Byron Bay Weddings. I can still remember Che answering the phone and being the most warm, inviting and humble person, I had spoken to in the wedding industry. He invited us to view several venues that he thought would suit what we were looking for.

I think we viewed 4 venues that day and at each one, we were blown away and thought we could get married there. Our last venue was Fig Tree Restaurant and as soon as we drove up the Jacaranda-lined street and saw the incredibly beautiful restaurant and gardens, we both knew – this was ‘the one’ we had been waiting for. We were invited in by the staff present on the day as if we were family. It was love at first sight.

What style were you striving for with your florals, table settings and reception? Was there a certain look or vibe that you wanted to create?

Both Rosh and I are maximalists. We have a bit of a reputation for enjoying extravagant things and loving to get dressed up. We really wanted a modern, sexy, fun vibe to our wedding. We both decided that we wanted our wedding to reflect this side of us and we were less worried about it being classic/timeless.

When we saw the Paloma Styling range on The Wedding Shed‘s website we knew this was perfect for us. We were also both set on having a hanging floral installation and when we saw Estelle from The French Petal’s hanging installations on instagram we knew she would capture our bright, fun modern florals perfectly.

We really wanted our guests to have fun at our wedding and to be able to wear whatever they wanted and express themselves and so we set the dress code as ‘out peacock Rosh’.

I am so glad we decided to go with our gut and style our perfect wedding, and we’re so grateful that our incredible vendors and wedding planner (Laura) understood and executed our vision perfectly.

Were there any Byron Bay vendors that you particularly loved working with and why?

All of our vendors were incredible, and we could not fault them.

In terms of standouts, we absolutely must mention Estelle from The French Petal who did our flowers. I adore flowers and I knew they were very important to me for setting the theme and tone for the wedding. She was so lovely to work with and continued to tweak and perfect our vision until it exceeded my expectations. I remember on the morning of the wedding she walked in with the bouquets, and I burst into tears of joy – they were the most beautiful bouquets I had ever seen! We had a full circular arbour for our ceremony and the most incredible hanging floral installation. If anyone is considering hiring Estelle, please do I could not praise her highly enough.

We also must mention our videographers, Goldbear Films. Rosh and I weren’t sure if we were going to have a videographer for our wedding when we were initially looking into it. When we decided to go ahead, we were recommended Goldbear. I am so glad we chose to have them capture our day – the wedding video captures the spirit of us and our wedding perfectly and we must have watched it hundreds of times. They are so skilled and wonderful at their jobs and were also the loveliest people to have around on our wedding day.

We had Bradley Stone as our musician and he blew us away! Ironically we were out in Byron Bay a few days before our wedding when I heard a busker that stopped me in my tracks. I went to see who it was and it was Bradley. His voice and talent is incredible and he was very professional throughout.

Finally, we have to give a huge shoutout to the incredible waiters, bartenders, chefs and floor staff at Fig Tree Restaurant. All of our guests were raving about the food and drinks and every member of staff treated us and our guests like family.

What were your favourite parts of the wedding planning process with Byron Bay Weddings?

Rosh and I had a very busy year the year we were planning our wedding – we were both working very busy jobs in the hospital, raising our 1-year-old and living apart. Our Byron Bay Weddings wedding planner, Laura, was a total godsend. She guided us through each step of the process and was so kind, professional and organised. She really helped us with our planning and ensured we stayed on track. She also gave us lots of helpful advice and feedback and every suggestion she made ended up working out perfectly. We can not thank her enough.

We also loved the on-the-day coordinators who made everything run seamlessly. 

Tell us what were the most important aspects of your wedding day and which moments really stood out to you?

From the start to the end of day was incredible. We loved having our son be part of our big day and having a venue that allowed us to have all of our closest friends’ little ones there too. 

We also really loved having one venue for our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. This made it so easy for us and guests to just sit back and relax and Fig Tree Restaurant offers the perfect venue for the whole day.

What would be your biggest advice to other couples currently planning their wedding?

Make it your special day and don’t get too worried about traditions, what you should do or what other people might think. If you possibly can have a wedding planner as they make the world of difference and really help to make it a fun process. Oh and, of course, book with Byron Bay Weddings you will never regret it!

Sasha & Rosh xo

Suppliers
Venue: Fig Tree Restaurant // Hair & Makeup: Alex Ouston Beauty // Celebrant: Andrew Michael // Photographer: Nina Claire // Videographer: Goldbear Films // Florals: The French Petal // Musician: Bradley Stone // Cake: Rebellyous Cake Co. // Transport: Byron Bay Double Deckers // Stationary: Signed by Shaun // Childcare: Little WIld Things // Catering: Fig Tree Catering // Lighting:  Byron Audio // Furniture & Styling: The Wedding Shed // Planning & Coordination: Byron Bay Weddings