Real Wedding – Alexis & Marc, Ravenswood VIC
Alexis and Marc drew their wedding inspiration from stories of 1970s parties in old English castles. The combination of modern glam among Victorian antiques makes for a dream juxtaposition of epic celebration and dramatic detailing, the perfect backdrop for a true modern romance.
Pillar candles in gold stands and lavish arrangements of deep pink floral and rich greenery in antique style porcelain vases transition seamlessly between the exposed brick and wooden beams of Ravenswood Estate.
For Alexis, one gown was never going to cut it, so she chose custom couture creators d’Italia to design a unique piece to transition from ceremony formalities to dance floor antics. We love the Bridgerton style cascading cape and flattering wrapped bodice, perfect for a contemporary queen who understands the importance of ceremonial moments, but knows how to kick up her heels as the night cools down and the dance floor heats up!
Marc describes seeing Alexis across the room on the night of their first kiss and being completely entranced, in true rom-com style. This sweet romance and charming captivation between the newlyweds overflows from every image by superstars Ada & Ivy photography. Scroll on for the rest of this sweetly hilarious story.
The meeting.
Alexis: Oh no, I do not come off well in this story! When I was working at Chirnside Park, I saw a cute guy in a suit, and I knew I wanted to date him. It turned out he worked at Chirnside Park too (Michael Hill Jewellers), so I got to work. I would strut past his shop looking cute, hoping he would notice… he did not.
One day I noticed he wasn’t there. Luckily, whilst shopping at a neighbouring shopping centre, I spotted him again, and the strutting recommenced. Every week I went shopping when I knew he was working – my bank account suffered, but I was a woman on a poorly planned mission.
My sister, Bianca, got sick of my ridiculous parading and decided it was time to make contact. We bought something from him, and I did my best to be cute and flirty. When I checked my receipt, I was disappointed not to see his phone number. I figured he wasn’t into me.
Then on a night out with Bianca and my cousin Katelyn, I declared I wasn’t interested in kissing any boys, I was too busy, and they were a hassle. Bianca challenged my dramatic declaration saying, “but what if he’s really hot” I said no, not interested – then she pulled out the big guns, “what if it’s that guy from Michael Hill?” I replied, well, yes, he’s the only guy I’d kiss. Well, who should I spot that very night across the dance floor – the cute guy from Michael Hill!
It took about six months of dating before we were officially together, and I’d say we continued on this glacial pace for most of our relationship!
Marc: We initially met when I was working at Michael Hill Jeweller but didn’t exchange numbers, as much as Alexis was hoping I would.
We then met by chance while I was out for my birthday. We shared our first kiss and started seeing each other. Shortly after that, I wasn’t invited to her 21st birthday, and she then went on a trip to Egypt.
We then started dating more on her return and became more serious. A few years later, we moved in together down in the shady suburb of Boronia. We both changed jobs and eventually moved into South Yarra with a friend of ours, Trav.
After another six months or so, we went to England, Ireland and Iceland to see my family, which was our first major trip together. I was actually thinking of proposing in Iceland under the Northern Lights, but that’s pretty cliché, and I think she was expecting me to.
Alexis then bought an apartment in Richmond which we moved in to and in the same week, we headed off to Borneo and Bali for our friends Hayden and Lisi’s wedding. Then lockdown hit.
That was tough. Both of us working from home in a one-bedroom apartment. We made it through quite well, though, so we thought we would up our challenge and adopt a dog, so we got our beautiful boy Scotch.
The ‘one’.
Alexis: This is so tough! We can be quite a pragmatic couple, so some of our big life decisions are logic-based rather than emotional. However, sometimes I’ll look over at him, and I just see our lives together. I feel so much love, and I know I don’t want to be without him.
Marc: It was pretty much when we first actually met. I was out for my birthday and saw her across the room. It sounds silly, but I actually had one of those rom-com movie moments where everything slowed down, and she was glowing; everything was blurry except for her beautiful smile through the crowd. I hadn’t even approached her to say hi, but that was it. We locked eyes, and I then went over to say hi, and her response was, “do I know you?” – terrific start! I replied, “I work at Michael Hill; we met the other week, can I buy you a drink?” Pretty smooth, I know.
The proposal.
Marc: So, I couldn’t plan any trips because I wanted it to be as big of a surprise as possible, so I waited until I had an opening.
Fortunately, Alexis got a night’s accommodation for her birthday (I think) at the Notel in the city (the Notel is a rooftop where they have dropped a bunch of old silver bullet trailers). I knew this would be my moment, so I hatched a plan with Bianca (Alexis’ sister) and got to work.
Alexis was working in the city that day, so I met her in town and had a set timeline that I needed us to adhere to. Alexis finished a long, exhausting day of work and wanted to just hang out for a little bit, making me very anxious.
I got us ready, and we headed out to Holy Moly for a round of mini-golf and some drinks. All the while, Bianca was setting up our trailer with flowers and fairy lights for when we went back before dinner. Bianca was running late, though, and mini-golf finished a lot sooner than expected.
So what did we do to buy some time? Alexis wanted to go on a pub crawl and get drunk. Which I couldn’t have us doing for obvious reasons. We got to the first bar; I sat on my drink for a very, very long time; I also excused myself multiple times to go to the bathroom and buy more time while I got constant updates from Bianca. Still, Alexis wanted to do shots. Again, not ideal. I kept saying that I wanted to get changed before dinner, so we needed to head back, “why, you look fine, it’s just dinner” – once again, not ideal.
Finally, Bianca gave me the all-clear to head back to the accommodation. I had no reason to as Alexis had foiled my every attempt to go back there. So, I told her that I was having some sort of allergic reaction and needed to wash my face and get something for it. Not exactly romantic. I’m also not sure washing my face would help with a reaction!
We get back to the accommodation, Alexis opens the door to a wall of flowers and fairy lights, and I am on one knee.
I completely forgot what I wanted to say at that moment and just asked, “will you marry me?”.
Alexis: I had booked us a night at the Notel for his birthday, which we were finally redeeming a few months after the fact. It was the end of a massive work week for me, and I had been working non-stop since 7am at an event and had not really had anything to eat or drink. I arrived late at the Notel, where Marc was waiting for me with a nervous energy not totally out of character. But I wasn’t going to let that bring me down – I wanted to celebrate the great work I’d done and have a drink – or many drinks!
We went out and played holy moly; I was still distracted, sending out tweets for work but also trying to drink lots of cocktails which Marc kept denying me. I suggested we do a bar crawl before dinner, but it was cut short when at the first bar Marc complained of an eye irritation and needed to wash it out but didn’t want to use the bar toilet; he wanted to use the one back at the Notel. Again, this would be strange to some people, but for Marc, completely normal.
On our way back to the Notel to flush his eye, we saw a wedding car, and I said that it was good luck to see a bride. He scoffed and asked if it was because you’ll get proposed to. I laughed it off and said no, just good luck.
Finally, we arrived back at the Notel, and he gave me the keys to get in the little caravan, and it was filled with fairy lights and flowers. Me, being an idiot, thought, “wow, the service here is truly wonderful; what an amazing surprise” then I turned to Marc, and he was on one knee. The penny FINALLY dropped. Of course, I was so excited and overwhelmed and said yes immediately. I wanted to tell everyone but also just stay in our love bubble; it was the most beautiful night which I’ll remember forever.
Planning process.
Alexis: CORONA VIRUS! Initially, we were flying along making decisions together, no fights and no stress. We would joke that we didn’t understand why couples found wedding planning so difficult – famous last words!
We had booked our wedding for November 21, 2020, at a particular venue and had most big things locked in when that pesky virus shut down the world. On the day stage four lockdown was announced, we received an email from our venue that he no longer wanted to do weddings because of covid, and we’d need to find a new venue. Ouch.
We picked ourselves up and quickly decided on Ravenswood Estate. Best. Decision. Ever!
It was difficult working on decor as everything had to be done online, plus there were shipping delays, but it all came together in the end. Oh, and our original photographers and videographer were from Queensland, so we had to find new suppliers four-six weeks out from the wedding.
Style inspiration.
Alexis: Marc doesn’t remember this, but when we were visiting Warwick Castle in England, the tour guide mentioned that the lords and ladies that lived at the Castle during the 60s or 70s would have these epic parties with none other than the Rolling Stones! I loved the thought of these socialites partying in amongst the Victorian antiques and thought it would be a great vibe for a wedding.
I wanted everything to look cohesive with the venue, which was built in the 1800s at the beginning of the Gold Rush in Bendigo. Then Bridgeton came out on Netflix, and I used the show to brief suppliers!
For inspiration, I love looking at real weddings and seeing how they had executed their day. It made the whole planning feel more achievable reading about other couples and their process. We made a physical pinboard with cut out images from magazines or swag bags from wedding expos which helped keep everything cohesive as it’s easy to get distracted by all the amazing ideas out there.
Interestingly, we ended up getting a lot of good ideas from TikTok too!
The ceremony.
Alexis: The ceremony is the most important part of the day, everything else you can have if you want, but the ceremony is really unique. Some people might find this hard to read, but it was so special being walked down the aisle by my dad. I got so nervous before I walked out, so it was amazing to have dad with me holding my shaky hand. After waiting so long to get married, standing up there with Marc and sharing our vows was just amazing.
Second to that was everyone dancing before entrees! There was a palpable sense of joy and excitement amongst everyone.
Marc: Given that I didn’t have to walk down the aisle, I got to greet all the guests as they came in. That was really special, seeing their first look at a place that would forever hold a special place in our hearts.
Then the anticipation as the bridesmaids walked down the aisle, then getting to see Alexis for the first time looking absolutely beautiful.
Reading our vows was amazing; what she wrote for me, and I hope, what I wrote for her really hit the feels.
The look.
Alexis: The dress was the item I was most fussy about; I didn’t want to be a “basic bitch bride”. Bit ridiculous! However, my strategy was to try on as many different styles, colours, textures etc., to figure out what I liked and what I felt suited me. I tried on such a range of dresses, from plain satin fishtail to a ball gown made of feathers! There were asymmetric necklines, gold sequins, wings – the works!
I realised that I couldn’t decide and would have a ceremony look and an evening look. Of course, two dresses is really expensive, so I went to the dressmakers d’Italia to create my dress wedding look.
With the help of my bridesmaids and the d’Italia staff, I handpicked the fabrics and described how I wanted the dress to look. Then, we went into lockdown. From there, it was an uphill battle trying to organise fittings. I think my poor dressmaker only had a month to create it in the end!
For the bridesmaids, I also really struggled. I wanted them to look unique and themselves. I ended up picking a shade, and the girls picked dresses they liked from the Shona Joy website. We didn’t see the dresses together until the day of the wedding, so thank goodness they looked good!
Marc: I always wanted a green suit, so I got a green suit.
Favourite moments.
Alexis: It’s cheesy but the ceremony, seeing Marc for the first time, being surrounded by loved ones, sharing our vows. It was just magical. I had so much fun during the ceremony.
Marc: I second that. Seeing Alexis for the first time and seeing everyone’s love for us was special. That and us nailing our first dance.
Meaning of marriage.
Alexis: I think it’s important to want marriage without a wedding. During the pandemic, I realised that’s what I really wanted. I suggested getting married at the registry office and celebrating later, but Marc wanted to do it right. All I wanted was to be committed to Marc and take time to say all the things I feel but never say.
Marc: Marriage to me is an extension of the love and commitment we show each other every day.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Home by Aaron Taylor
Entry song: picked by our MCs for each set of bridesmaids and groomsmen. Ours, we can’t remember!
First dance: Helpless by Ashanti (Hamilton mixtape)
Funny stories or near disasters.
Well, we thought it was going to be 18 and rain, so we told our guests two nights before to pack coats and umbrellas. It ended up being over 27 degrees and full sun. Whoops!
On the day we were getting sunset photos by the Scottish highland cows, and the male decided he’d had enough photos with us and charged us! Thankfully, he stopped before the fence!
Planning surprises.
The little bits were endless; there are so many small details that are easily forgotten, especially when you can’t be out and about being inspired.
Words of wisdom.
Alexis: If you can, hire a wedding planner! Especially in covid times when everything is harder. But in all seriousness, remember why you’re doing this. When you’re arguing about fonts, remember that none of this is the be all end all.
Marc: The little things you think matter in the lead up don’t really matter.
Last words.
One other thing is we had half of our guests stay on-site, which was so nice! We had a big brekky the next morning, nursing hangovers and chatting about the night before. It was the best.
Bridesmaid gowns can be a total hidden stressor for so many couples. Finding glam gowns that suit your style, yet make your gals feel like true superstars, can be a challenge. So, we’ve done the research for you, showcasing some of our favourite brands to help you nail the look and minimise the stress. Grab your girls, pour yourself a bubbles and get browsing, here!
ALEXIS & MARC’S VENDORS:
Ceremony & reception venue: Ravenswood Estate
Celebrant: You’ve Got the Love – Shelley Amar
Photography: Ada and Ivy – Brenna Matthews
Videography: Dan Carson
Styling / furniture hire: Good Day Club
Styling / florist: Styled by Ashleigh K
Hair & make-up: Amelia Mills
The dresses: d’Italia. Made by Eva Tomala.
Shoes: Shoes of Prey
Rings: Michael Hill. Engagement ring by MP Jewellery
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Shona Joy
Suits: YSG
Bow ties / ties: Otaa
Favours: Three Foxes Distillery
Cake: The Mill Castlemaine
Stationery / Signage: Paperlust
Entertainment: DJ Eddie Murko, Rutherford Entertainment
Transport: Tour Local
Décor: Ali Express, Early Settler.
Dance lessons: Siobhan Power