Real Wedding – Ashlee & Andrew, Yarra Valley VIC
Sometimes when viewing a real wedding, we find we just can’t get the smiles off our faces – as was absolutely the case with Ash and Andy’s epic Yarra Valley celebration. Whether it’s the picture-perfect imagery by lens legend Motta Weddings, the emotions overflowing from every frame, or just the fact we can tell everyone present had the very best time, this day is a true treat to witness.
Surrounded by her bridesmaids in cool ice blue, Ash glows in her beautifully minimalist gown by Jane Hill. We love the subtle boning detail on the bodice and Ash’s choice to pare back the look to elevated elegance with a slicked-back updo and chic, barely-there accessories.
Unsurprisingly, Andy’s face when he first catches sight of his glowing bride is nothing short of heartwarming.
Underpinning all this infectious emotion is the styling by our friend and floral visionary, Sugar Bee Flowers. Stunning blooms are arranged in cascading towers, elevating the sleek natural landscape of Hubert Estate and adding tonal vibrancy to the chic interior.
For every dreamy detail and fun-filled frame, scroll on.
The meeting.
We met back in 2015 at a mutual friend’s birthday gathering. We were introduced as I (Ash) was about to start at the same university where Andy went. We remember chatting felt so easy and like we had known each other for years. As I didn’t have a license yet, Andy ended up picking and dropping me off at uni that very next week, and we have been together ever since!
The ‘one’.
I don’t think there was a definitive moment but rather just a sense of complete ease being together. Our lives seemed to perfectly fit with each other, and we just loved spending time together. Andy had a Europe trip booked with a mate when were three months into our relationship, and we both remember how long that month felt! I guess we knew pretty much from then that we were pretty serious about each other.
The proposal.
We were away in Noosa in September 2022. I was a bit suspicious as Andy had surprised me with the holiday and planned and booked it without consultation, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up! I remember thinking he was way too relaxed at the airport with his luggage and was thinking that if a ring and a proposal were coming, he would be a bit more nervous. On the second day, Andy told me to ‘wear my nicest outfit’ and that he had booked a restaurant for lunch. When we left the accommodation, there was a massive sign, candles photos, rose petals and champagne! I remember being so shocked that he had somehow fit all this in his small bag of luggage! We then went out for a really nice lunch, polished off all the champagne and enjoyed FaceTiming our friends and family with the news!
Planning process.
We moved quickly into looking at venues as we knew we wanted to get married in peak season. Hubert Estate was one of our favourite wineries/lunch spots, and we knew we didn’t want to have a destination wedding as we wanted as many of our Grandparents, family and friends to attend as possible! When we toured the Harriet space at Hubert Estate we fell in love with the modern elegance and loved that all key suppliers (e.g. wedding coordinator, food, beverage, furniture) were included as well! Once we locked in the date and venue, the rest was pretty easy! We knew that we had to lock in the big stuff first to get exactly who we wanted on the day (photographer, videographer, florist, make-up) and booked these immediately, but then chipped away with the small and finer details as the months went on!
Style inspiration.
I would say our styling inspiration was modern, simple and elegant! Our vision was a modern, summer winery wedding. We wanted to be as classic and timeless as possible, so we tried to stay away from new trends and just tried to pick what we genuinely liked best and trusted that it would all tie in together! Youki from SugarBee Flowers brought our vision to life with the colour palette of her gorgeous flowers, and she did all our table styling too! We cried when we saw how beautiful the Harriet space looked when we entered!!
For inspiration, I found reading real wedding stories on Ivory Tribe super helpful and the directory for excellent for finding vendors too!
The outfits.
I wore the Jane Hill Fairmont gown and Andy had a tux from MJ Bale. My dress was actually the second dress I tried on and I think I knew as soon as I put it on it was the one! I wanted something simple and classic. As cliche as it sounds, you definitely want to find something that feels most like you! A big tip that lots of my friends gave me was to unfollow dress accounts after committing to the dress, but I didn’t (whoops). I think it’s impossible not to overthink the dress, but on the day, with makeup, hair and the tan, it just all comes together. I also was glad that I had a mini dress from Eliyah the Label to change into to maximise dance floor ability!
Favourite moments.
For us, it was seeing each other at the aisle (will never forget that moment!) and listening to each other’s vows. We also loved seeing all our guests and listening to our family and friends’ beautiful speeches!
Meaning of marriage.
For us, marriage means loving and choosing each other, every day, forever.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: No One by Alicia Keys (Accoustic cover)
Recessional: Love Really Hurts Without You by Billy Ocean
Reception entry: Fireball by Pitball
First dance: L.O.V.E by Nat King Cole
Funny stories and near disasters.
Thankfully, there were no disasters on the day! It was an absolute scorcher (35 degrees), and I remember being SO HOT in the Rolls Royce car (thank god it was only a 15-minute trip to Hubert Estate from the Airbnb). The lovely driver from Always Classic Cars gave me a battery-operated fan to use, as I just didn’t want to sweat off my makeup!
Planning surprises.
We were surprised by how many details and coordination there is that goes into a day. Although, with that being said we think we would’ve been lost without the support of all our vendors who helped us feel at ease and were with us every step of the way! They absolutely are seasoned professionals, and we asked them lots of questions and just trusted in all their suggestions, which I think led to us having a very smooth, fun and enjoyable experience!
Words of wisdom.
As mentioned, absolutely trust and invest in your vendors! Know that they do this every day and are all across what they’re doing and want you to have the best day possible. Also, as a naturally indecisive person, I found it really hard at the start to commit to certain decisions – but I found it got way easier when you take the pressure off and think back to what is truly important on the day! Be present, happy and take it all in!
For an equally exquisite take on abundantly stunning florals and chic, modern style, visit Katrina and Ryan’s epic celebration.
ASH & ANDY’S VENDORS
Ceremony location: Hubert Estate
Reception venue: Harriett at Hubert Estate. We cannot rave more about Hubert Estate as a venue and would recommend everyone to get married there! The support we received planning in the lead-up was fantastic, and they were SO thorough in ensuring the day was exactly what we wanted, and our exact vision could come to life! Both Carissa and Ali were so, so lovely to work throughout the entire process. All our guests raved about the food, ambience, and vibes!
Celebrant: Marry Me Megan. Megan went above and beyond to get to know us as a couple, and we felt so warm and comfortable in her presence. She was the perfect cocktail of fun, sentimental and serious!
Photography: Alex Motta, Motta Weddings. We cannot even begin to articulate how amazing Alex is at what he does, and we couldn’t recommend him any more highly. Not only did he capture our day so beautifully, but he was such a fun, upbeat and genuinely lovely person to spend so much of our day with! Alex made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera, was so thorough in all his images, and worked SO hard to get the shots. We were so fortunate to also have his assistant, Jeff, tag along to capture iPhone content, which we had instantly and were able to share! Alex also works SO quickly, and we had 150 photos available to us the very next morning and our full wedding album in a week or two. He is incredible!
Videography: Annette and Dani Films. Similar to Alex, we felt so grateful for our video team and absolutely loved having both Annette and Dani as part of our day. They, too, made having cameras in front of our faces feel so natural, and we are so excited to see the final product they created for us!
Styling: Youki, Sugar Bee Flowers and Alli Louise Weddings at Hubert Estate. We loved that at Hubert Estate, we had a wedding coordinator and operations team to help us style everything on the day. They worked hand in hand with our florist, Youki!
Florist: Youki, Sugar Bee Flowers. Youki was fantastic to work with and was very helpful in the lead-up and on the day! She was thorough in getting to know what the ceremony and reception spaces, bridesmaid dresses/signage, etc, looked like so she could really complement everything with her arrangements.
Hair: Darian, A Hairstylist Secret.
Make-up: Laura Difrancesco
The dresses: Jane Hill, Eliya The Label.
Veil: Chosen by KYHA
Shoes: Tony Bianco
Rings: Louise Jean
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Bec + Bridge
Suits & bow ties / ties: MJ Bale
Catering & bar: Hubert Estate
Cake / Cake topper: Melbourne Cake Studio
Stationery / Signage & hire: State of Elliott
Entertainment: Unplugged Entertainment, Angus Legg. We couldn’t recommend Angus more! He did all acoustic and vocals for us during the ceremony, even learning our aisle song for us specifically. He then continued for the reception and into the night as our DJ. He brought the best vibes and is so good at what he does!
Transport: Always Classic Cars
Honeymoon: Noosa for a mini moon and then Europe Summer mid-year!
