This couple were keen on leaving tradition at the door on their wedding day, and boy did it make for a beautiful wedding. But surprisingly, they also don’t believe much has changed since. “When people ask us how married life is, we can honestly say that it’s exactly the same, except now we have to remember to wear rings!” However, they add, “the phrase ‘happy wife, happy life’ carries more weight now…” Too right guys! Scroll down for all the pics by one of our preferred vendors Caroline Sada Weddings and check out their celebrant Megan Thompson – she’s on our directory, too.
THE VENUE We had been researching wedding venues sporadically but not very seriously, and we hadn’t found anything we loved. One night I was out at UNCLE in St Kilda for dinner when I suddenly thought what a great place it would be to get married. We really just wanted everyone to have a great time and great food at our wedding, so it was the perfect venue for us. They were sensational on the day. The manager, Emma, was beyond helpful. The team really went above and beyond for us, and nothing was too much trouble.
FAVOURITE DETAILS We loved everything about our wedding, so it is really hard to pick! Overall, I think the Bistro Morgan donuts we ordered in place of a cake were a massive winner. They were stunning to look at and tasted even better (we ate left over donuts for breakfast for three days after the wedding!). It was so nice to have a “cake” that everyone was excited about and enjoyed eating, because too often wedding cake goes uneaten. Our other favourite detail was the wedding car from Gold Star– a stunning 1958 pink Cadillac with enormous fins! I always wanted to elope to Las Vegas and get married at the Little White Chapel with a pink Cadillac, so this was a surprise from my mum since we had the wedding in Melbourne.
DIY Oh god yes, and there were certainly times I wished we hadn’t along the way! I have experience with some graphic design work, so I decided I would design all our invites, thank you cards, and signage. This meant a lot of time on illustrator, countless trips to the printer, and numerous weekends spent spray painting in my Mum’s garage. We also struggled to find a wishing well we liked, so we decided to buy a mailbox and spray paint it white to match, too.
THE DRESS I actually bought my Alice McCall dress off the rack before we had set a wedding date and had the slip altered to make it a bit more bridal. We were away in Japan when I first saw the dress online. A week later, I called the store from Hong Kong airport on our way home to see if they could hold it for me, and ended up buying it the next day. It was the first dress I had tried on. I will admit I did start looking for a new dress when I saw the weather forecast for the wedding, but I couldn’t find anything I liked as much, so I ended up just going with the long sleeves despite the 41 degree heat!
A WORD OF ADVICE You don’t have to spend a tonne of money to have a great day. We certainly didn’t spend a fortune on our wedding, and while it was not the fanciest, we could not have had a day that was more “us”, and ultimately that’s what we think a wedding should be about.
WE’RE GLAD WE… Didn’t have official bridesmaids or groomsmen- probably controversial! We were both still able to get ready with our friends and we still involved our friends in the day, but for the informality and relatively small scale of our wedding it was nice just to have us during the ceremony. Plus, we didn’t feel like we had to rank our friends or exclude anyone.
STANDOUT VENDORS Our photographer, Caroline Sada Weddings was superb too. She made us feel very relaxed about the day, especially because I am not super comfortable having my picture taken. She was everywhere she needed to be in the most unobtrusive way, which was just perfect. We also absolutely loved Megan Thompson, our celebrant. From the first time we spoke we knew she would be the perfect celebrant for us, with her sharp wit and kindness.
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Caroline Sada Weddings Florist Style Me Petal Printer Print Express Ceremony & Reception UNCLE Donuts Bistro Morgan Photo Booth Boothalicious Celebrant Megan Thompson Transport Gold Star BRIDE Bridal Gown Alice McCall Robe Peter Alexander GROOM Suit Ben Sherman Tie The Tie Bar Shoes Windsor Smith Watch Nixon Grooming Rockit Barbershop