Real Wedding – Tilly & Jordan, Fitzroy VIC
From designing their own fits and including their golden retriever Honey in the key moments of the day to walking down the aisle hand-in-hand, Tilly and Jordan forgo tradition to make their day truly their own.
The result is a vivid kaleidoscope of sweet emotion and visual vibrancy.
Colourways of vanilla and greens accented with peach, yellow and lilac harmonised against the greenery and natural textures of Panama Dining Room, while bridesmaids in apple green dresses became an unintended nod to the green of the tram they caught to get to the venue!
For a couple that live much of their life in the inner-north, their venue choice and photo locations paid homage to the streetscapes that encompass home.
Fun, bright, and not overly fancy was the vision, and Tilly and Jordan epitomised this, evident in every dynamically uplifting frame by Motta Weddings.
The meeting.
Tilly: Kind of through work? Jordan had served me coffee for years at Standing Room at uni. He left to pursue other opportunities, and I started working there during my Masters degree. We met at after-work drinks one evening with some colleagues, after which Jordan asked for my number. The rest is history.
The one.
Tilly: I don’t think there was any one moment. When we started dating, I didn’t have any expectations for anything long-term, but I realised relatively quickly that Jordan was the person I could see spending my future with. He was funny, kind, thoughtful and fit so seamlessly into my life.
Jordan: I also don’t think it was one moment, but a series of small moments and adventures that added up to Tilly becoming my best friend, and the person I wanted to share every adventure with forever.
The proposal.
Tilly: Our engagement was a conversation that stretched across a few months. It was important to me that there were no surprises or grand gestures, as I think that can sometimes put unnecessary pressure on the person being asked. We designed a bespoke ring together using the diamond from my grandmother’s engagement ring and some beautiful sapphires, supported by the team at Black Finch. The main surprise was that the ring was ready earlier than we anticipated!
Planning process.
We broke the planning into stages, which made it less overwhelming. From the beginning, we wanted the wedding to be no fuss. Venue and photographer first, and then chipping away at other tasks as the date grew closer. Most of our vendors were local to the inner north of Melbourne. This wasn’t necessarily intentional in the beginning, but it felt fitting given we spend most of our lives in the local area. The last couple of months became busier as we neared April, but we made sure to set aside dedicated time for wedding tasks each weekend.
Style inspiration.
We wanted our wedding to feel like us. Fun and bright, but nothing too fancy. Honestly, Pinterest was a huge help to get started and work out what we liked. In terms of colour palette, we loved the combination of white and bright greens, with pops of peach, yellow and lilac throughout. Our venue, Panama Dining Room, was already so beautiful with the big arch windows and greenery, so we didn’t need to go overboard with flowers or décor.
The scope of wedding blogs was challenging to sift through at first, especially since we weren’t aiming for a particularly traditional or formal style. However, spending the time to find real weddings where couples did something a little differently or unexpectedly was worthwhile and affirmed that we really could put together our day in the way that was unique to us. Articles that gave practical tips were the best help, whether that was putting together a planning timeline or drawing attention to costs that we might not have anticipated.
The ceremony.
It was important to us to be married by someone we knew. We had asked our best friend Pat to be the celebrant, however, unfortunately, life got in the way and he didn’t get the course completed in time. We reached out to another celebrant, Archie, who married some of our best friends in 2023, and he was able to help us out, though not on the Saturday. We had an intimate ceremony in Fitzroy Gardens on the Wednesday before the wedding, accompanied by our two witnesses and our dog Honey. With the legal part out of the way, Pat led the Saturday ceremony, and we got to be a bit more relaxed in front of all our family and friends. Of course, Honey was the ring bearer for both ceremonies.
The outfits.
Tilly: I found finding the perfect outfit incredibly tricky. I knew I wouldn’t wear a gown or anything too formal. After what felt like I had trawled the whole internet, I decided to visit local makers Suncana and Tesa at Honest Studios to see if they had capacity to take on a custom project. They were nothing short of brilliant and worked with me to design a custom two-piece set in a beautiful raw silk. I paired this with orange pumps from LMS and changed into my trusty gold Gorman heels later for comfort. Adding on the short veil was a decision I made on our wedding day, and I think it really completed the look!
Jordan: I was lucky enough that one of my best friends had recently been married, and we all went to see Thomas at Tomba to have some suits made for his wedding. The experience was so fantastic I knew I wanted to take my groomsmen there for our wedding too. I had a meeting with Thomas where I showed him some inspo and discussed what I was looking for, and he absolutely smashed it out of the park with my suit. I went for a somewhat 80s-inspired classic brown suit, paired with some RM Williams burnished brown boots. My groomsmen also were in brown suits from Tomba, but in a slightly different fabric, and with whatever small customisations they all wanted.
Favourite moments.
How can we choose! A few standout moments:
Walking down the aisle together: Equal partnership is really important to us, so walking in together was the natural choice as we didn’t want any sense of being ‘given away’. It was also a moment to take in the joy among all our friends and family who were there to celebrate us. We felt so loved.
Sunset portraits: After a whirlwind of hugs and congratulations from our guests, it was nice to be able to step out and walk around the streets of Fitzroy together to take a breath. We took a disposable camera with us so that our photographer could take some shots of us taking portraits of one another, which was a very fun touch.
The dancefloor: Our friends Laura and Andy slayed on the DJ decks. We had supplied them with quite a varied playlist to draw inspiration from so that there was something for everyone in there, and they pulled together a brilliant set. Think Kylie Minogue, Close Counters, Meatloaf, Chappell Roan, ABBA and Mylo.
Meaning of marriage.
So many people have asked us how married life is, and to be honest it is the same. It’s love and respect, understanding and friendship. We’ve always been a great team and we’re so happy to continue that in marriage.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Real Love Baby by Father John Misty
Recessional: Birds of a Feather by Billie Eilish
First dance: I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany (This was our lockdown song that kept us upbeat)
Funny stories (or near disasters).
We had joked about getting the tram to our wedding, given Panama Dining Room is two stops away from our house. Timing worked in our favour as we left our house to go to the venue, so we jumped on board what was a (very) full tram and tried to get a few shots among the crowd. We realised as we were getting on that the bridesmaid dresses were tram green – a funny coincidence?
Planning surprises.
Tilly: I genuinely enjoyed the creative side of bringing our vision together. I designed all our stationery – from the save the dates and invites to the welcome sign and menu. This was really fun and meant that we could add a personal touch to our wedding. I do think that I underestimated the time that this would take, however, so bear that in mind if you’re thinking of DIY.
Words of wisdom.
There’s no right or wrong way to do things, so stick to what you want. Just because someone else did something doesn’t mean that you have to. One of the best things our guests said to us on the day was that everything felt like us, so we’re happy that we listened to our gut on the decisions that we made and cut out all the noise.
Looking to locate your dream day celebrations in an urban location? We’ve curated some stunning real weddings set inner-city, from streetscape surrounds to edgy venue options, here for your inspiration.
TILLY & JORDAN’S VENDORS
We found most of our vendors through word-of-mouth – we had either seen them in action at our friends’ weddings or they were local to the inner north of Melbourne. We would like to give a few people an extra special shout-out:
Photography: Motta Weddings – we were so delighted that Alex Motta was available to be our photographer – he is brilliant. He made us feel so confident and comfortable on our day, and the photos turned out so much better than we could have imagined! Alex was very helpful in the lead up to the wedding, particularly around planning the run sheet for the day, and the turnaround to receive our full gallery was unbelievably fast. We also added on a 35mm film option too which made for some very special photos.
Pet chaperone: I Do Paws. As classic inner-north millennials, our golden retriever, Honey, naturally had to be part of our day. Initially, we thought that getting a wedding chaperone for her was a ridiculous concept, but we couldn’t be happier that we had Kelly from I Do Paws minding her for the day. This meant that we could fully relax and trust that Honey would be looked after and taken home for dinner and a sleep after the ceremony.
Ceremony & reception venue: Panama Dining Room
Celebrant: Patrick Abraham (friend); For the 2nd (legal ceremony) Archibald the Celebrant
Florist: Flowers Vasette
Hair & make-up: Kim Tavares, Tonic Agency.
Bridal outfit: Custom set designed by Honest Studios.
Veil: Etsy
Shoes: Tilly – LMS (orange) and Gorman (gold). Jordan – R.M. Williams.
Rings: Tilly engagement ring – custom Black Finch. Tilly wedding band – Natalie Marie Jewellery. Jordan wedding band – Temple & Grace.
Bridesmaid dresses: Wynn Hamlyn. Bridesman – Suit from Politix.
Suits: Groom and groomsmen – Custom from Tomba.
Groom’s watch: Seiko
Groom’s Earrings: S-Kin Studio
Catering & bar: Panama Dining Room
Favours: Boozie’s custom stubby holders
Cake: Casa Nata
Stationery / Signage: Designed by Tilly, printed by Peterkin
Entertainment: Andy and Laura (friends).
Transport: Yarra Trams!
Honeymoon: Planned for June – Broome, Darwin and surrounds, and Bali.
