Real Wedding – Alex & Max, West Melbourne VIC
After a rom-com-worthy proposal that involved a list of 111 reasons why Max loves Alex, this darling day was bound to be vibrant, vivid and boldly fun. With wedding experts and tastemakers Nudo and The Goodsmiths at the planning and styling helm, the process and the wedding day itself gave a relaxed, effortless feeling and visually exquisite aesthetics.
Exquisitely abundant florals by Anatomy of Flowers in an uplifting palette of rich summer shades contrasted perfectly with the sleek white setting of Gather & Tailor’s warehouse vibes, while suspended disco balls give pure party feels.
With beautiful layers of personalisation, from carefully found and curated decor by Alex and Max to Alex’s custom gown by Danielle Grace Carbone to incorporations of cultural traditions, this day is a stunningly seamless reflection of the couple.
We love the artfully upbeat, effervescent journey Art of Grace led these gorgeous lovers on during their portrait session, capturing a sequence of images that will undoubtedly be enjoyed on repeat.
For a visually uplifting treat, scroll on.
The meeting.
We met at work about nine years ago, when we were both selling menswear for competing brands in Myer. From day dot, we hit it off.
The one.
It didn’t happen smoothly, exactly – we were good mates for a couple of years before some awkward kisses and hi fives. I think for both of us the time of “the one” came when I was away overseas for six months. We couldn’t understand how someone being removed from day to day could turn down the dimmer on life by so much.
The proposal.
We were on a boat on the Murray River at sunset. Max played The XX (a band who we’d gone to a super magical gig of) and read a list of 111 reasons why he loves me. It was really quite incredible.
Planning process.
We got engaged late 2020 and booked a venue in 2021. It meant that we had a lot of waiting around time before we could really do much ourselves.
By booking with a company (Nudo and The Goodsmiths) that offered all elements included, we found that it removed sooooo much of the stress. We didn’t know a florist! We wouldn’t have known where to start with design or pricing etc. Having it all at our fingertips with Nudo was honestly the best decision we made leading up to the wedding – it also helped that everyone we spoke with at Nudo was beyond friendly and helpful and made us feel excited, and never negative, about any of the elements of our big day.
The same definitely couldn’t be said for some of the other venues we checked out before landing on Gather and Tailor.
Style inspiration.
Fun and colourful was always going to be our vibe. We’re pretty silly and loud, something refined wasn’t going to do it for us.
Pinterest became our best friend – we’d never had account before leading up to the wedding but it became the backbone of all design planning for each element.
The ceremony.
I’m Ukrainian and Max is Polish Hungarian Jewish, so we incorporated a whole lot of traditions into our ceremony from both cultures. We had a hand embroidered cloth made by my mum, we were married under the chupah, and stepped on the glass, we had herb crowns, and we sipped from the Kiddish cup. It was pretty cool to include so much of both of our background without being married in a church – neither of us is religious but both our cultures have had a big say in who we are.
The outfits.
Alex: I went shopping with my mum, mother in law and close friends to a few spots with very different aesthetics. When I found each of the elements I loved, I combined them and had my dress custom made. It was important to me that it wasn’t too traditional, so a little bit of colour was a natural choice. I loved working with my dressmaker, Danielle Carbone, to make the dress exactly how I wanted it. The scary thing about custom is you can do *anything* so she helped me to narrow down options and try different looks in calico in the design process.
Max: A classic first try and you’re done. I went shopping with my best man, fell in love with the first jacket I tried but kept looking just to be sure. Coming from a sales background in menswear I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for but I knew the vibe I wanted. It came to me just like that!
Favourite moments.
Hand down, without a doubt walking down the aisle. Max has described it as skydiving and I think that’s exactly it. The memory is so clear in both our minds – it’s unlikely that’s ever going to change.
A close second was our time just us at Pepe’s before the ceremony. We hadn’t seen each other in a couple of days and it was such a pleasure to just BE with each other and get to hang out.
Meaning of marriage.
We chose to get married because we love tradition. We’ve been together for years and had already been living together for some time. The engagement was also three years before our wedding. Marriage itself hasn’t changed much for us – but we love being referred to as the other’s husband or wife.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Angels by The XX
Recessional: Love is in the Air by Stella Donnelley
Cake cutting: Escape (the Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes
First dance: Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers
End of night: Never Tear Us Apart by INXS
Funny stories or near disasters.
Our first dance was definitely memorable. Max was adamant he can’t dance, I told him it’d be fine we could just hold arms and slowly turn. On the day, Max started spinning me around in the air – without a plan to lower me back down. I got a bit too high and a bit too fast and next thing you know we crashed in front of all our guests. We’ve had more people than not tell us that it was exactly the kind of thing they could never expect somewhere but our wedding!
Planning surprises.
You can’t really do much before a year or so out! Location was booked, but everything else was seasonal or something like that. We definitely had a bit of crunch time at the end but that was all part of the fun!
Words of wisdom.
Feeling stressed at an element? Get rid of it! Planning your wedding shouldn’t lead to a heart attack. It’s your day so do whatever you want with it.
For equally colourful and uplifting real wedding inspiration, we love Hannah and Tim’s gorgeous Coburg celebration.
ALEX & MAX’S VENDORS
Ceremony & reception venue: Gather & Tailor, West Melbourne
Family portraits: Abbotsford Convent
Couple portraits: Pepe’s Italian and Liquor
Celebrant: Teresa Mallon – Heartland Ceremonies. Teresa was perfect – she combined all our tradition with explanations and yet kept it light. She spent a fair bit of time with us getting to know our story to make sure she told it right. Can’t recommend enough!
Photography: Art of Grace – Sissi. What a person to capture the wedding! Sissi was everywhere and yet invisible, but there to guide whenever we needed it. You can see from some photos we’re a little awkward in front of the camera, but Sissi just made it all fun!
Styling: us! With the help of some friends to set up on the day.
Florist: Anatomy of Flowers
Hair: Close friend
Make-up: Steph Ke via Tonic Agency.
The dresses: Danielle Grace Carbone. Dani is a gem to work with, from design to sourcing fabrics and going for something a little left of centre – she’s a gem and would be an incredible catch for anyone looking to go custom.
Shoes: My old faithfuls from Wittner that were bought about four years ago for the first dress, then my second dress’s shoes I bought from Charles and Keith.
Rings: Mejuri
Suits & bow ties / ties: 105 Shades of Black
Catering: Refresh Catering
Bar: Refresh with spirits from us
Favours: Magnetized photo magnets. Way better to do than something that everyone throws out at the end of the night. We love seeing the photos on all our friends fridges when we go to their place.
Cake / Cake topper: A close friend, and the tiramisu cart was made by another close friend
Stationery / Signage: Nudo
Entertainment: A whole bunch of friends had sets to DJ throughout the night
Décor: Found in Op Shops across Victoria by us, with a couple online where we needed more. Fairy lights and flowers by Nudo/Anatomy of Flowers
Honeymoon: Yet to head but we’re going to ski in Japan then head to Sri Lanka for a month.
