A sculptural sage and blush wedding at Hubert Estate
Grace and James leaned into the chic, modern feel of Hubert Estate, layering in thoughtful details that made the day feel effortlessly personal and entirely their own. Grace was drawn to a soft palette of green and blush, brought to life through sculptural forms and textural styling that elevated the space without ever feeling overdone.
Her bridesmaids wore sage, complementing the refined tonal story, while James looked sharp in a tailored Institchu suit – enjoying the freedom for him and his groomsmen to personalise their look. Grace wore a Kyha gown with delicate drop sleeves, later removed as the evening unfolded.
From the beautifully considered ceremony setting to the understated styling moments woven throughout the day, everything felt intentional yet relaxed. The celebration started on a high with a playful, role-reversed take on the iconic Dirty Dancing lift, kicking off a full dancefloor.
The entire gallery captures Grace and James exactly as they are – smiling, relaxed, and completely present. A joyful, love-filled celebration beautifully captured by Tess Follett.
The meeting.
We knew of each other through mutual friends in high school, but we properly met for the first time at a 21st birthday. I was on the dance floor with my girls and James, the gentleman that he was, asked if he could dance with me. We kept bumping into each other out and about after that and eventually went on a date. It was meant to just be a coffee date, but I ended up ditching my Uni classes and we spent the whole day together.
The one.
There were so many moments throughout the years when I just knew he was my person. But there was one moment that holds a special place for us both.
Less than a year after we started dating, we’d come home from a night out, somewhere amongst our debrief of the night James out of the blue asked me to marry him, I laughed it off thinking he was joking (we were just babies at the time) and told him it didn’t count without a ring. He then pulled the plastic ring off an empty Gatorade bottle and pretended to propose with it. Whilst that wasn’t our official proposal, from that moment we both knew there was never a question about if we would get married, we just enjoyed building our life together, travelling and buying our first home, and knew that we would eventually get married when the time was right.
The proposal.
Being together for nine years, I didn’t think he would be able to pull off a surprise proposal without me catching on. But he sure did! Thinking he had golf with the boys I made plans with my sister (little did I know she was in on it the whole time). I came home later in the afternoon to find James in our backyard with a beautiful picnic and flowers, he knows it’s my happy place. James had actually been running around all morning to set it up, he even set up a camera to film it. I came home over an hour later than he expected, the poor guy had been standing in the backyard waiting the whole time – and doing a few practice kneels to make sure he was in frame for the video.
Planning process.
We knew we wanted to get married in February 2026 and started planning about 18 months out. We’d been guests at our fair share of weddings before getting engaged, and we loved reflecting back on those beautiful days to help us choose our non-negotiables.
But ultimately, we knew we just wanted a day to celebrate with our closest family and friends with delicious food and drinks. The venue was the first big decision as I knew this would set the tone for the rest of the planning and we were absolutely blown away when we visited Hubert Estate.
Style inspiration.
Once we locked in Hubert Estate I really wanted to lean into the chic, modern feel of the venue whilst adding little touches of things we loved and felt like us. I was really drawn to a soft colour palette of green and blush but wanted to play with texture and sculptural features. Lauren and the team at Poppy Culture were amazing and truly brought it to life through our floral styling – as soon as she mentioned their Elemental range I was so excited and knew she understood my vision.
The ceremony.
Our ceremony was beautifully curated by Megan Thompson, who captured our story so thoughtfully. Sharing such an intimate moment and reading our personal vows in front of our favourite people was incredibly special. Even though it was the part of the day I was most nervous about, it ended up being one of my absolute favourites.
One of my best friends, Natasha, along with her sister Rachel and friend Laura, sang and played acoustic guitar for our ceremony. It was such a precious moment hearing them as I was walking down the aisle and it meant the world to James and I to have them part of those moments.
My niece (our flower girl) definitely stole the show as she made her way (incredibly slowly) down the aisle – but would not take any one’s help – even telling my sister to go back as she wanted to walk by herself. She had everyone laughing which absolutely eased our nerves.
After the ceremony a couple of our guests told us two black cockatoos flew over the top of us as we were saying our vows, which we learned is very rare and made the moment even more special.
The outfits.
I went into the dress search with a very open mind, wanting to try different styles to see what felt like me and make the most of the experience, but being petite I knew I didn’t want to be overwhelmed with fabric.
I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t more than one dress I loved; there are so many stunning styles, and I was really torn between lace and something more minimal. However, I kept gravitating to the same style and as soon as I tried on the Apollo dress at Kyha, I just felt so confident in it, and I loved how comfortable it was. I ended up altering the long sleeves the dress came with to drop sleeves. It was nice to be able to subtly change up the look slightly from ceremony to reception.
James was quite set on a classic and timeless black suit with a bow tie. James and his groomsmen got their suits from Institchu, they loved being able to personalise little details.
Favourite moment.
Standing together at the ceremony and sharing our vows was definitely a highlight, as well as walking back down the aisle finally married; we were both on cloud nine.
Our first dance was also one of our favourite moments of the day. We pretended to set up the iconic Dirty Dancing lift run-up, before surprising our guests with a role reversal – me lifting James instead. It was one of the most fun moments of the day and we loved seeing our guests’ reactions. We only decided to do this lift and teach ourselves the dance two weeks before the wedding. We shared so many laughs and even more failed attempts in the process, but it was the perfect distraction from the stresses of those final weeks.
Meaning of marriage.
Building a life together and getting to celebrate each and every moment with the person that means the most to you in the world. It means finding someone who you can enjoy the good times with, but almost more importantly, can also help you get through the tough times.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Bloom – Paper Kites
Recessional: Real Love Baby – Father John Misty
Reception Entrance: Feel So Close – Calvin Harris
First Dance: Ordinary – Alex Warren
Funny stories (or near disasters).
We organised a bus to transport our guests to and from the venue, which we thought would make for a seamless experience for everyone. However, it ended up being half an hour late to pick up our guests and they arrived right on 5pm when the ceremony was meant to start. The events team at Hubert Estate were so incredible throughout the whole dilemma, communicating with the transport company and giving James updates every 5 minutes. Even though we started behind schedule they managed to get us back on track by entrée without any impact on our guests’ experience.
We laugh about it now as it was the one part of the planning that I left for James to organise.
Planning surprises.
I shouldn’t have been surprised by this since everyone tells you, but wedding planning really is a full-time job. I was really shocked by how much it consumed me and the amount of admin involved at times. All the planning and little details can feel overwhelming, but when it all comes together on the day it’s such an incredible feeling.
It also made me appreciate our vendors so much more, the attention to detail they have is truly amazing.
Words of wisdom.
It’s so easy to be swept up in the planning process, but stick to your vision and what’s most important to you as a couple; you get to marry your best friend, and that’s all that matters.
Also, don’t sweat the small things on the day; the day really does absolutely fly by, and you want to soak up every moment.
Final words.
We feel so lucky to have had a dream team of vendors. They all spoke so highly of each other, which was not only so lovely to hear, but also made us feel confident throughout the entire process, knowing we were in good hands.
James and Grace’s Vendors
Ceremony & reception venue: Harriet at Hubert Estate had been on my radar for a little while before we were engaged and when we finally got to visit, we absolutely fell in love with Harriet, their events space.
Emma, Shelby and the rest of the team on the day and in the lead up were so incredible to work with and made the day feel effortless. Our guests are still raving to us about the venue, and the food too!
Celebrant: Megan Thompson was an absolute dream. She was the celebrant for my sister and brother-in-law’s wedding so it was the easiest decision to make. We had already experienced how beautiful her ceremonies were and she curated a ceremony that felt so personal and bespoke to us. Her whole process in the lead up was also so simple!
Photography: Tess Follett came highly recommended by our friends and she really went above and beyond. Her attention to detail and the way she captured so many beautiful, candid moments has been a joy to look back on. We loved how she always had a solution to any problems that arose on the day. Tess truly felt like part of the family and we’re so grateful to have had her as part of our wedding tribe.
Videography: John Kurt was recommended by Tess, and as soon as I watched his videos I was just in awe of his talent and the emotion he captured through his videography. He was so subtle on the day and quietly captured all the little moments around the chaos. We definitely tossed up whether we would get a videographer, but I’m so glad we did. As the bride and groom, there can be so many little moments you miss, like before you enter the ceremony and reception, I’m so excited to be able to watch those back and relive the day!
Florist & Styling: Poppy Culture. Lauren and the team at Poppy Culture were an absolute dream to work with. The floral styling exceeded anything I could have imagined – it felt so unique and perfectly considered. I loved how intuitively they understood my vision and were able to bring it to life so beautifully, while still working within our budget.
Hair: Carla Tedesco at Alarah Hair Studio has been my hair angel for over 15 years. She is an absolute ray of sunshine and there was no one else I would have trusted to do my hair on my wedding day. She is also a close family friend and it was so special to have her part of my wedding morning and in the lead up – she absolutely nailed my dream hair colour.
Make-up: Makeup by Annalise is also a friend I’ve known for over 10 years. She is the most beautiful human and having her glam me up for my wedding day was so precious. She made me feel like the most beautiful girl in the world and all the girls loved their make up too. She really takes the time to listen and understand what like and don’t like.
The dress & veil: Kyha Studio were so lovely. The whole experience was seamless and they were so patient when I was struggling to choose what dress fabric and veil I liked best.
Shoes: Ceremony + Reception: Billini – I wore the Quinnell Stiletto / First Dance & dancefloor: Lana Wilkinson – I changed into the Maddison Sandal as they were easy to slip off for our surprise lift. These were also my hens shoes.
Rings: Engagement ring – made by a family Jeweler / Wedding bands: Wesley Betts Fine Jewelry
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Meshki
Suits and accessories: Institchu
Catering and bar: Hubert Estate
Favours: Handmade candles
Cake: Holy Sugar – the best Tiramisu we’ve ever eaten
Stationery / Signage: I’m a Graphic Designer by trade so I designed our invites, wedding website and all of our on the day signage and stationery myself. I definitely took inspiration from Rebel Reflect and a few other incredible designers.
Entertainment: Harry Cooper – @get.harry.on.sax. We found Harry on Instagram, and I adored his energy! The dance floor was a vibe the entire night. Acoustic for Ceremony – Natasha Pinto, Rachel Pinto & Laura de Elvira
Transport: Yarra Chauffeurs – Bridal party transport.
Décor: Candles and stone decoration/styling – Poppy Culture
Hire: Signage stands – The Small Things Co.
Honeymoon: Philippines in May
