SHADIYA & STEVE’S MELBOURNE WEDDING

Iconic Melbourne vibes meet modern Euro romance – Shadiya and Steve’s nups are such a treat! Superb food and wine were a high priority, so these soulmates had the ingenious idea to indulge in a little menu selection date night as part of their wedding planning. “We had so much fun getting a little tipsy together – it’s one of my favourite memories in the lead-up. Wedding planning can be so stressful, it was important to us to embrace these opportunities to have fun and actually enjoy the process.”

The couple fell in love with Brown Paper Parcel’s film photography and signature aesthetic; we are bloody besotted, too. Scroll on for all the delish deets!

THE VENUE “We love wine and travelling, so we always pictured a destination wedding and did a lot of research beforehand, looking at beautiful venues in country Victoria. We started to feel quite overwhelmed by planning a ‘destination’ wedding around our full-time jobs and responsibilities as parents to a toddler. We also worried about the financial implications for many of our guests. So we started to think about what a Melbourne wedding could look like. Siglo is the only venue we visited, and it felt like ‘us’ straightaway. We loved that Siglo felt intimate, relaxed, and timeless in its appeal. It has such a beautiful energy too.”

LITTLE LOL “Unfortunately, our two-year-old son Ozzy came down with a terrible stomach bug the night before the wedding. Steve and I were up all night with him (thank goodness my makeup artist was a wizard and miraculously hid the evidence of the all-nighter). Thankfully, Ozzy made it to the ceremony and Steve and I had the best night of our lives… before coming down with the same bug the night after the wedding! Not exactly our idea of newlywed bliss but we were grateful we made it through the actual wedding unscathed!”

FAVE DETAILS “I was obsessed with our flowers from Salt Flower. Being from a creative industry, I was very particular with aesthetics, and flowers played a big role. However, I wanted it all to feel natural, relaxed, and not too ‘done’. Our wonderfully creative florists went above and beyond to take my brief of ‘romantic meets modern European rooftop garden’ and make the dream a reality. My bouquet was a stunning arrangement of long-stemmed, white anthurium en masse with a trailing white silk ribbon. Love, love, love!”

THE DRESS “I knew when starting to look for my dress that the traditional bridal gown route wasn’t for me, but I wanted to wear white. The dress I ended up falling in love with was a past-season miracle find by New York designer Khaite. I loved how it looked so unashamedly feminine with the gently puffed long sleeves, delicate draping and almost Victorian-esque boned bodice, but then it also felt super cool with the severe, straight-across neckline and the thigh-high split. It was long sold out everywhere, but I had it saved on my Matches wish list. About five months before the wedding, I got a notification on my phone from Matches that the dress was back in stock and in my size. This was totally bizarre, given the dress was a few seasons old, but who am I to question a miracle?! It’s the most special dress I’ve ever worn, and I felt like a million dollars in it.”

Hungry for more fashion chatter? Feast your eyes on these gorg white gowns, handpicked by our team for their fabulousness. Or maybe you’re craving some more dreamy florals – fair enough! Get your Pinterest board ready, and click here for some beaut sunset-inspired blooms.