Real Wedding – Alva & Hayden, Yarra Valley VIC
Melbournian Hayden and Swede Alva always knew that a wedding would disadvantage one of their families, but it was easier to sell the idea of a summer wedding in Australia to Swedes than vice versa!
After finding Stones of the Yarra Valley, they overcame the ten-hour time difference to plan a stunning celebration encapsulating the sweeping surrounds and Swedish wedding traditions.
For this dream duo, authenticity mattered more than convention. They chose to walk down the aisle together rather than follow the traditional handover, embracing the Swedish approach that celebrates partnership from the very first step.
Their commitment to genuine moments extended to their photography choice – Ben from These Wild Eyes captured their entire day in nostalgic artistry on analogue film, via video shot on 16mm and photography on 35mm film.
The relaxed Swedish style translated beautifully to their Yarra Valley setting. Guests enjoyed traditional games, multiple heartfelt speeches from friends and family, and the uniquely Swedish tradition of snapsvisor – songs followed by shots of Swedish schnapps.
But perhaps the most memorable moment came during their own speech to guests, when Alva and Hayden surprised everyone with news of their pregnancy, adding an extra layer of effervescence to an already captivating celebration.
With Kezia from Cassia Floral Designer, herself a former Stones bride, creating florals that enhanced rather than overwhelmed the venue’s natural beauty, a soundtrack by music masters Melbourne Entertainment Co, and custom Swedish pieces completing the newlyweds look, every detail reflected their cross-cultural love story and commitment to celebrating the real love and real life they have created together.
The meeting.
Alva was backpacking in Australia in 2017 and 2018, and by a stroke of luck, Hayden met her at a house party. They barely uttered a word to one another, but after a few back-and-forth texts, had our first date a month later down on the Peninsula, and eight months later, Hayden had his bags packed and moved over to Sweden.
The one.
Hayden – I think I knew within those first eight months in Australia. I left my job, family and friends to roll the dice on a life in Sweden with Alva, not because I thought it was going to be easy and fun, but because I knew that I wanted to be with Alva and have a life with her.
Alva – I think I knew from our very first date. After just a month of knowing each other, Hayden invited me on a two-day camping trip down to the peninsula. Everything that could go wrong, did – from lost car keys, not one but two flat tires, to sleeping on the literal ground. But somehow, I didn’t want it to end for a single second. From the start, we’ve brought out the best in each other. There’s a kind of peace I’ve only ever felt with him. He makes me feel whole in a way I didn’t even know I was missing.
And that’s when I knew—he’s it.
Planning process.
So, we got engaged at the start of 2023, right before we had plans to return to Australia for the first time since 2018. Being there allowed us to decide whether we’d have our wedding in Australia, Sweden or somewhere in between.
After a month in Australia, we decided to have it in Australia (it’s an easier sell to Swedes to spend a summer in Australia than for Australians to have a summer in Sweden), and then began the hunt for the right venue. We originally wanted to have the wedding somewhere on the Peninsula, but it was difficult to find a venue that had everything at one location – ceremony, reception and accommodation, but then we stumbled on The Stones of the Yarra Valley.
We had our invitations sent out by June 2023, giving all of our international guests plenty of time to plan and decide, as well as get the ball rolling of how many guests would be in attendance and who would need accommodation, etc. We think that by having almost a two-year lead time between securing the venue and the wedding was a luxury that allowed us to really hand-pick every aspect of our wedding, as well as give us plenty of time to find the right suppliers to help fulfil that.
After browsing tagged photos from the Stones of the Yarra Valley’s Instagram, we found a floral arrangement that we really loved, and by chance, the bride of that wedding was also a florist – Kezia from Cassia Floral Designer. Over the course of a year, Kezia spent hours on late calls with us to discuss flower choices, designs, and even tips for the area, giving us full confidence in her ability to execute on the day.
In terms of photography, we also knew that we wanted everything captured on analogue, eliminating a lot of potential photographers/videographers from our supplier list. After hours spent searching for a photographer that we felt could capture our day, exactly how we wanted it, we found Ben from These Wild Eyes. We loved the aesthetic of all of Ben’s work and his ability to capture moments, not just document a day full of staged photos and “fridge-magnet photos”. Looking back, we hardly remember seeing Ben on the day, which echoes his style of simply being a fly-on-the-wall, and capturing organic moments.
In addition to booking these two well in advance, we were fortunate enough to also find Michelle La to be our pianist on the day. We had some pretty obscure songs that we wanted played at the ceremony, and Michelle went through so much effort to learn those songs, send us samples and on the day, did an outstanding performance.
All in all, it was easier enough to book vendors, have a vision on what you want and how you want it to go, but in our case, the execution of each of our vendors was what made the day a complete success. Once we had finalised our vendors, it was a simple handover to the staff at The Stones of the Yarra Valley, and they operate like a well-oiled machine, so no stress was had at all!
Style inspiration.
From the outset, we knew we wanted to have a more formal wedding in terms of clothing, but a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere for our guests. Part of the reason for choosing The Stones was that we really loved how it looked inside and outside, so we knew that anything we supplied (flowers, details, styling) should not detract from that, simply complement it.
So, we chose a color palette that came directly from the venue and the surroundings (i.e. the terracotta tones from the bricks, the greens from the vines on the chapel, the greens of the vineyard, the whites of the reception brick work), which made every decision thereafter very straightforward.
The result of this was a very soft, pastel colour palette, which echoed through to the flowers, which we wanted a minimal look but with intention (i.e. whatever worked for the ceremony had to work in the reception, and vice-versa).
In searching for style inspiration, we benefited through every different source in different ways!
In terms of venue selection, we knew that we wanted to get married in Australia, but we lived in Stockholm, Sweden, so real-weddings and social media were what helped us find our venue. It gave us a perspective of how the venue would look across all seasons, all styling and all types of weddings – large and small! We found social media to be really helpful here, because we would dig through tagged photos of the venue as opposed to professionally shot photos, so we could see how the venue would look from both perspectives.
Coincidentally, we found all our suppliers this way as well! Tagged photos from the suppliers who had previously worked at the venue allowed us to discover them as well as see their work. For us, this was what worked best, as our search engines are bound to Sweden, so you don’t get necessarily get as good search results when looking for suppliers in Australia.
The ceremony.
Hayden – What I loved most about our ceremony was how it all turned out! My Swedish isn’t the best, but I opted to do all my vows in Swedish, which I thought would turn out terribly and none of our Swedish guests, let alone my wife Alva, would even understand. It was also a special moment for me getting to hear Alva say such heartfelt and special vows to me on the day. Truly unforgettable.
Alva – To me, the most special part was walking into a room where, for the first time, both our families were together. I’m not usually a big crier, but that moment really got to me. It warmed my heart in a way I didn’t expect—to see all the people we love, from different parts of our lives, brought together in one place.
The outfits.
Hayden – I knew from day one that I wanted to have two tuxedos: a traditional single-peak lapel tuxedo for the ceremony and a cream dinner jacket for the reception. The reason was that it was going to be February in Melbourne, and I knew it would be really hot, so wearing solid black all day could be too much. That, and since I was seven years old, I always wanted to grow up to be James Bond, so this might be my only chance to be him for the day! I had both suits Made to Measure from the outstanding team at Suitsupply in Stockholm.
Alva – Once we got engaged, I knew I wanted a dress from By Malina—one of Sweden’s most popular wedding dress brands. There was one dress that caught my eye more than a year before the wedding. When I finally tried it on, I really liked it—and the model happened to be called “Alva.” It felt like fate. So, I bought it, along with the matching veil, before we had even booked the venue!
As the months went by, I started searching for a second dress to wear at the reception. I thought I’d go for something shorter since the Alva dress had a long train, but none of the shorter options really resonated with me. Instead, I ended up going in a different direction and looking for a second wedding dress.
That’s when I found the “Mathilde” dress—also from By Malina—and it actually became my favourite of the two. It felt more timeless, elegant, and truly me. I’m so happy I ended up with both dresses. They had completely different vibes, and I felt beautiful in each of them.
Favourite moment.
For both of us, our favourite moment of the day was our final speech to our guests. We had found out that Alva was pregnant with our first child on New Years Eve and had kept that to ourselves in the lead up to the wedding. With that came its own complications, like swapping alcohol to non-alcoholic, swapping some of the menu to cater to Alva, etc. (all of which the staff at the Stones happily catered to). We told our photographer Ben only a couple of hours before the speech to give him time to plan, and the reactions and photos from everyone were a joy to look back on.
Meaning of Marriage.
Hayden – Marriage, to me, feels less like a fairy tale and more like signing a long-term business contract with your most persistent rival. Alva and I were together for eight years before we decided to make it official, and I can confidently say our relationship was never about candlelit dinners, sunsets, or long walks on the beach. Those clichés don’t apply to us.
What we have is more like a relentless, day-in, day-out partnership. Alva challenges me constantly – mentally, physically, and emotionally. She’s the kind of person who’ll cheer me on during a run, but also point out how I could’ve shaved off another few seconds. And I do the same. It’s not always pretty, but it works.
She gives me the kind of confidence that makes me think I can take on the world, and then reminds me I’m not as special as I think I am. She’s taught me how to slow down (mostly by forcing me to), how to be patient (a work in progress), and how to appreciate the mundane – like a cup of tea that’s actually hot or a weekend with no plans.
Honestly, without her, I don’t think I’d be half the man I am today – though some days I wonder if the old version was less tired. But here we are. So yeah, Alva isn’t just my partner; she’s my co-CEO, my toughest critic, my most loyal friend, and somehow, the person I chose to sign up for a lifetime of this with. No spreadsheets needed – it was the easiest decision I ever made.
Alva – To me, marriage isn’t about perfection or grand gestures. It’s about having someone who truly gets you. Someone who sees all the sides of you—the tired, the silly, the stressed, the excited—and doesn’t flinch. It’s about building a life that actually fits us, not anyone else’s idea of what it should look like. Supporting each other’s weird ideas, big dreams, and everyday routines. It’s knowing that even when life shifts—jobs, places, plans—we’ll figure it out together, the way we always do. It’s not about always agreeing. It’s about always choosing each other and never walking away from the hard conversations. Marriage, to me, means doing life with my best friend—and finding joy in the chaos, comfort in the quiet, and love that keeps evolving as we do.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Love is True by Duce Williams
Signing: Lay, Lady, Lay by Bob Dylan
Recessional: Just the Way You Are by Billy Joel
Reception entry: Hush by Deep Purple
Funny stories (or near disasters).
It was a stressful experience having to juggle both the Swedish healthcare system and Australian one at the same time, in terms of Alva’s pregnancy. The day before the wedding, as we were packing the car to drive to the venue, we got a call to confirm an ultrasound appointment, and we asked about the blood test which we also needed to get, only to find out by chance that it was due THAT DAY, so we had to bolt to the nearest pathologist to beg for an appointment ASAP. It all worked out fine, but that day when we met up with our friends and family, and everyone was curious why we were so stressed, we had to do the cliché “oh, wedding planning is so stressful”.
Planning surprises.
We both would say that the biggest surprise was how easy it was to plan the whole day! Maybe it was because we had been planning it for over a year, or because The Stones of the Yarra Valley run like a well-oiled machine, but considering we planned it all from Sweden, never met a supplier, nor ever saw the venue, it couldn’t have turned out any better. We always had this fear of “imagine if supplier x just doesn’t show up” what’re we going to do then? But no, it all panned out lovely.
Words of wisdom.
Besides the classics like “have fun with it” and “enjoy the ride,” I’d say one of the best things you can do is make a list of what actually matters most to you. If the venue and the photographer are your top priorities, then it makes sense to dedicate a larger portion of your budget there. Don’t try to make everything a priority—it’s not realistic, and it’s not worth the stress.
At the beginning of our wedding planning, Alva read a quote that stuck:
“No one cares about your wedding as much as you do.”
It might sound a bit harsh at first, but honestly? It became a helpful reminder whenever things started to feel stressful or overwhelming.
People love going to weddings. They don’t care if your place cards are handwritten or printed at home—they’re just happy to be there, to celebrate you and your love. So let go of the tiny things, focus on the moments that matter, and make sure you’re having fun too.
Love the nostaglic look of analogue? The talented Georgia Verrells sat down with us to enlighten us on the beautiful medium that is Super 8 Film, and how it can capture your wedding with textured artistry.
ALVA & HAYDEN’S VENDORS
Ceremony venue: The Chapel at The Stones of the Yarra Valley
Reception venue: The Stables at The Stones of the Yarra Valley
Celebrant: Sam Lavery
Photography & videography: Ben from These Wild Eyes
Florist: Kezia from Cassia Floral Designer
Hair & make-up: Emily from EKH Artistry
The dresses & veil: Ceremony dress; “Alva” and reception dress “Mathilde” both from By Malina.
Shoes: & other stories
Rings: Cartier
Suits: Suitsupply MTM Stockholm
Bow ties / ties: Blugiallo MTM
Catering & bar: Stones of the Yarra Valley
Cake / Cake topper: Sister-in-law
Entertainment: Melbourne Entertainment Company
Honeymoon: Two weeks in Japan.
