Vanessa and Phillip met working in Milan in 2009 but It wasn’t until 2015 that the two took their romance global embarking on a two and a half year world tour. The grand finale? Their Australian wedding! These globe trotters took inspiration from the red carpet and James Bond films to create the classy and decadent day they were after with the help of the talented Shonel of Nomad Styling, king of urban venues Twotonmax and superior flower wranglers Georgie Boy. For some seriously luxe vibes scroll down for captures by Lucy of She Takes Pictures He Makes Films…
THE VENUE “We really wanted something with an urban feel, and Twotonmax met all our needs in terms of size and style. We fell in love with the polished concrete floor, which reminded us of our apartment in Mexico and of course, the two-ton maximum load crane, from which the venue takes its name. Picking a venue is a lot like choosing a home, you know pretty much as soon as you walk in if it’s right for you.”
THE VIBE “One of the first things we told Shonel [Nomad Styling] was that we wanted something that wasn’t too ‘weddingy’, not a real word we know, but she got it. We wanted to create a rat-pack, fifties, James Bond vibe with some old-school Hollywood glamour. Terms like bold, luxe, impactful, moody and dramatic all described what we were after. We wanted the look and feel of the day to be orchestrated and considered, reflecting the attention to detail we give to everything we do!”
FAVOURITE DETAILS “We loved the neon art installation, which was a focal point of the reception design, drawing the eye to the bridal table. The design was a collaboration between Shonel at Nomad Styling and the team at Sketch and Etch Creative. We chose the phrase “La Vita é Bella” from our favourite movie of the same name (Life is Beautiful). The phrase really encapsulates how we feel about our life together. Shonel tied the installation in beautifully with the colours, décor, florals, and table settings, striking the perfect mood and drama we were looking for.”
THE DRESS “Working with someone as talented as Anthony Montesano of Signor Mont Couture was a huge pleasure. He is more than just a dress designer, he is a rock and an invaluable resource for all his brides. My brief was both detailed and fluid. I wanted the dress to be bold, sleek, sophisticated, dramatic and sultry. I spent almost as much time with Anthony in the build-up to the wedding as I did with Philip, honing every detail to create an amazing look, including that beautiful cape. A text from Anthony summed up the collaboration when he asked, “do you want the cape long long, long, or short but longish?”, my answer was “long as fuck” and that awesome, 3D floral cape was born. Anthony agreed, responding “go hard or go home”.”
A WORD OF ADVICE “DO sweat the small stuff – the devil is in the detail, and can be the difference between a wedding that is uniquely you and something that’s a little cookie cutter. But at the end of the day it’s all about you, try to enjoy the ride, because not everything will go as planned. Remember it’s a marriage, not just a wedding; the day can take over but it’s a celebration of the start of your life together.”
WE’RE GLAD WE “We are really glad we got married! We’re very pleased we swapped the cake for the glorious rosé Champagne Tower; you can have cake anytime, but a Champagne tower is a bit much for a Sunday lunch at home! We’re also over the moon we decided to have film [Bottlebrush Films] taken on the day. Initially, we toyed with the idea of not having a cinematographer, but in hindsight, this would have been a big mistake.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Our cinematographers, Bottlebrush Films, were awesome; Grace and Andrew are both extremely talented and delightful to work with. They are both masters of their own crafts and the results tell the story of our day beautifully. We particularly love the way that Bottlebrush wove our funny little comments, parts of the speeches and our vows into the film. We’ve watched this film a hundred times and I am sure we’ll never tire of it. Also, Our photographer, Lucy Spartalis, of She Takes Pictures He Makes Films, really went the extra mile, bringing to life our idea to have a Vanity Fair style shoot for our family portraits. Lucy went to the trouble of getting a backdrop, especially for this shoot to produce those amazing pictures. She also captured some to die for shots of us dancing in the carpark as the sun went down during golden hour. Lucy was such a positive vibe merchant to have around us on the day!”
If you fancy checking out some more handiwork by photographer Lucy Spartalis of She Takes Pictures He Makes Films then click through to the directory listing where you can see more Real Weddings featuring her work. We also have listings for flower wranglers Georgie Boy, sensational urban venue Twotonmax and Lover the label if you would like to do a bit more perusing there too. For more venues like Twotonmax pop on over to our Top 15 Urban Wedding Venues post.
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Lucy Spartalis of She Takes Pictures He Makes Films Cinematographer Bottlebrush Films Stylist Nomad Styling Florist Georgie Boy Stationery Tipografia Pezzini Milano, Peterkin Ceremony Venue St. John’s Anglican Church, Toorak Reception Venue Twotonmax Catering Tommy Collins Hire Items Dann Event Hire, Harry the Hirer Lighting Hire Technical Events Signage Sketch and Etch Entertainment Callisto String Quartet, Claire Patti, David Cotter and the Jazznix, Rutherford Entertainment Celebrant Revd. Dr. Peter A. French Rings Jean Dousset Transport Carwood Wedding Car Hire Champagne Tower Champagne Towers BRIDE Dress, Veil & Cape Signor Mont Couture Hair Accessories Kela Shoes Sergio Rossi Earrings Swarovski Clutch Reiss Hair Caterina Di Biase Makeup Mae Taylor BRIDESMAID Dress Lover Shoes Contigo Milano GROOM Black Tuxedo Boggi Milano White Tuxedo InStitchu Shirt Abelard Bow Tie T.M. Lewin Cufflinks Declic Shoes Christian Louboutin Watch Gucci Barber Sweeny Todd’s GROOMSMAN Suit Charles Tyrwhitt
