That Bride: Melanie Barnish

Every month we’ll be presenting a beautiful bride who will fill you in on how she met her prince, planned her special day and honeymooned to happily-ever-after. Our very first That Bride is one of our favourite juice gurus: Melanie Barnish, the gorgeous co-founder of Genie Juicery whose amazing cleanse will have you feeling fresh in no time. We talk to her below about the best day of her life and learn more about her romantic festival-themed wedding in Spain, as well as how to choose the right dress for you and how to best enjoy your wedding day! Tissues at the ready ladies, this love story will tug on your heart strings.

All love stories have to begin somewhere. How did you two meet?
We first met on a junk boat in Hong Kong through a mutual friend. We hit it off and he followed me around all day. 

Where was your first date?
Our first date was that following week. We met for dinner in Soho and then he took me for a surprise art jamming session. We could tell our personalities were completely different straightaway- he was drawing these perfect shapes while I was having a great time just throwing paint everywhere. I threw paint all over his canvas! We still have our paintings at home.

Can you tell us about the first time he said he loved you?
A month after we first met, we went on a long weekend away to Guilin in China together (Sassy loves Guilin too, see why). On the first day, he actually wore a Ksubi t-shirt with a huge love heart on the front. Obvious much? Later that night after a few drinks, he dropped the L bomb.

Every bride has a proposal story. What’s yours?
We flew to my home for Christmas two years ago. Once we arrived on the Gold Coast and settled in, he popped the question on the beach. We had actually already organised a big dinner with all of our friends that night, so that turned into a huge engagement celebration.

Tell us about the ring.
He did good! The whole process took him around six months and he worked on it with a HK jewellery designer. He took my favourite pieces of jewellery and handbags to her studio and she sketched up some ideas. I LOVED IT! It came with a book of the whole design process as well, which is super cute.

What did you do for your hen party? We want the dirty details.
The Hong Kong girls arranged a great day out– boating to Millionaire Row with a big barbecue on the beach (hosted by the Castelo Concepts event planning crew). We had a DJ and our own bar and kind of ended up taking over the whole island. We also had custom-made Genie juices (check our review here!) mixed with alcohol and a stripper actually came onto the island to give us a class.

How did you go about planning your wedding? Did you go the DIY route or did you hire a wedding planner to help you out?
We had a festival themed wedding in Spain. We wanted to make a week out of it, especially seeing that our families had never met and mine had travelled a long way. We did a meet and greet night, bucks and hens dinners, the wedding, a pool party after the wedding, and then we went to Ibiza with a group of friends! We had a wedding planner, but only for the wedding day.

You were glowing on your wedding day, can you share your beauty secrets?
GENIE JUICERY of course! I drink juice everyday, which helps me look and feel amazing from the inside out. I also did a juice cleanse before I left. I trained with the awesome Bikini Fit crew as well. (Sassy reviewed Genie Juicery’s cleanse here and Bikini Fit here too!)

Tell us about the dress.
I had it made in HK by a great couture designer. I make decisions easily and quickly, so I tried on dresses in the morning and then confirmed what I liked with her that same afternoon. I did a lot of research online prior and had a good idea of the style I wanted. I also knew I wanted to get it made for me so that I could add my own creative flair. It was more fun that way- and not to mention a lot cheaper!

What was the wedding like?
I know this will sound cliché, but it was the best day ever. We were married in an old fishers’ church in the port, then drove up to a beautiful heritage listed casa in the mountains.

Everyone remembers their first dance. What song did you choose?
We danced to Hey Ho by the Lumineers, which then mixed into Happy by Pharrell Williams to get everyone on their feet.

What did you learn from planning a wedding?
That it’s the people that make it.

Any tips and tricks for brides-to-be?
Just enjoy every moment. So many girls put themselves under immense pressure! I had no expectations, no run throughs, no hair and make up trials, nothing. I just went with the flow and it was incredible!

The thing you remember most?
Definitely how it felt to be there. It was just magic!

Anything you would have done differently?
Nope!

Where did you go for your honeymoon?
We did a mini moon in Ibiza, but are planning to travel around Central America at the end of the year.

Can’t get enough of our real-life wedding stories? Watch out for our other That Brides!