Laura and Ben knew they had stumbled upon something special after their impressively long seven-hour first date ended in a kiss. Oh, and a high-five from the Uber driver, the sole witness to their sneaky smooch!
The couple admits that the intimate nuptials they had initially imagined quickly grew into “a large, boisterous wedding of 240”. But despite the shindig’s epic size, it was important to Laura and Ben that the day be “fun, inclusive, and easy breezy,” with plenty of DIY and personal contributions from their nearest and dearest.
You can feel the joy radiating from these photos by Lucy of She Takes Pictures He Makes Films. Take a look for yourself, but first, scroll down to hear from these cool cats…
FAVE DETAILS “We had STUNNING flowers done by our close friend and bridesmaid, Gina Lasker of Georgie Boy. We also had Ben’s dad create our Chuppah (wedding canopy) from various meaningful materials, including tree branches that had been used by our close friend, Maddy, at her own wedding, as well as timber from Ben’s childhood dresser. We also had one of Ben’s ex-students, currently in year 8, bake our wedding cake. It was delicious and beautiful.”
MEMORABLE MOMENT “The ‘first look’ at Thornbury Picturehouse (the locale of our second date). We had our immediate family members and our bridal party there with us. It was one of the most special parts of the day to see each other for the first time and to be surrounded by our favourite people. The second best moment of the day was being sung down the aisle by Ben’s sister, Eliza, and one of our groomsmen, Dean, who was on the keys. They were just the best!”
TOUCH OF TRADITION “We wanted to have a ’Jew-ish’ wedding with cultural and traditional elements from my Jewish background, a healthy dose of modern elements, and representation from both of our families. So Ben’s godmother, Christine Walton, who is a legal celebrant, married us. My sister, Kate, took on the unofficial role of ‘Jewish Master of Ceremonies’, joining in during the ceremony to add in the important cultural elements we wanted included. And finally, we kicked off the dancing with a wild set of ‘Horas’ (Jewish dancing), which included Ben and I being flung into the air by our guests. It was super fun!”
A WORD OF ADVICE “Something will go wrong. And it honestly just doesn’t matter. Try not to aim for the perfect day. Just identify a couple of things that are really important to you, and the rest will simply fade away!”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Lucy from She Take Pictures He Makes Films was so relaxed and fun to be around. She put us (and our awkward photo hands) at ease and captured the best parts of the day.”
In love with Lucy’s work behind the lens? Pop on over to the Hello May Directory and say ‘hey’ to the She Take Pictures He Makes Films team. Or browse even more dapper ‘fits from Oscar Hunt here in our recent editorial round-up. Manifesting your own Melbourne nuptials? Visit the Hello May Directory to discover our favourite VIC-based vendors.
