Real Wedding – Brooke & Riley, Richmond VIC
A vision of a contemporary garden party, ultra-chic bridal outfits, a stellar team of vendors, and a whole lot of love made Brooke and Riley’s wedding one elegantly emotional soiree.
Against a classic black and white colour palette, their black tie dress code coalesced to perfection, with curated modern elements adding a fresh sensibility and touch of signature sophistication – long-stemmed, simply stunning florals, soft, powder-blue bridesmaid gowns and the lush green backdrop of Butler Lane.
Brooke was the picture of bridal style in her strapless gown by Mia Atelier, with full skirts and a long train bringing that necessary touch of drama, while her second outfit by Judith Penak Couture with luxe lace gloves gave the perfect fashion-forward moment.
And, of course, every frame by Mandy Wood Studio and Annette & Dani videography is brimming with the stunningly sweet real love between the newlyweds and the excitement and affection of their guests.
This one is a true treat – scroll on to enjoy every breathtaking moment.
The meeting.
We are a modern-day romance and matched on Tinder back in 2018. We had actually crossed paths before at one of my bridesmaids’ birthdays years before and had lots of mutual friends as Riley grew up in the same area as my girlfriends. That was extremely useful for the vetting process!
The one.
Brooke – For me, it wasn’t one singular moment where I knew I’d found the one. It was a series of moments as our relationship progressed. I found myself falling slowly and then all at once.
Riley – I can’t recall a singular moment but felt from early on during our dating that Brooke was the one, and I was happily proven correct!
The proposal.
It was the first day of our big European holiday, and we had one day in Paris before flying out first thing in the morning. One of my (Brooke) non-negotiables for the day was to have a picnic under the Eiffel Tower.
We picked up champagne, cheese and croissants and headed off to find the perfect spot. Riley fully embraced his ‘boyfriend of Instagram’ duties and offered to snap some photos and even started suggesting certain poses.
When he asked me to turn around and face the Eiffel Tower, he got down on one knee, and when I turned back around to face him, there he was with a ring. I was momentarily stunned and needed a gentle reminder to say ‘yes’, which of course was always going to be my answer! That marked the start of our very own Engagement Tour around Europe as we met up and celebrated with family and friends along the way. It was so, so special and turned an already unforgettable moment into one that changed our lives.
Planning process.
We found the planning process really fun, albeit a paradox of choice. I (Brooke) am super indecisive, which is challenging when you have to make 10,000 decisions. Luckily, Riley is the opposite and was able to make final decisions easily and balance out any doubts I had, particularly when decision fatigue set in. We locked in all our main vendors fairly early, then had a lull period, which we enjoyed and then things really ramped up in the eight weeks pre-wedding. Towards the end, I joked that I had two full-time jobs between finalising details for our wedding and my 9-5.
Style inspiration.
The theme of our wedding was ‘Contemporary Chic Garden Party’. We loved the 7m green wall and courtyard at Butler Lane; it felt like a hidden gem in the middle of Richmond. Our ceremony was held outdoors in the courtyard, and we wanted to bring elements of a Garden Party to the more industrial city space to make it feel romantic and intimate. It was important to us that our wedding felt timeless, which led to a green and white colour palette and black tie dress code.
Brooke – I spent A LOT of time on social media looking at weddings and style inspo. I’m still trying to move away from the wedding algorithm! I found that lots of vendors kept coming up on my feed, and it made it easy to figure out what style I liked. I started an album on Instagram to save wedding inspo and did the same on Pinterest. I loved reading up about Real Weddings and, in particular, finding weddings that were also held at Butler Lane to see what vendors they had used and how others had styled the space as a source of inspo.
The ceremony.
Our ceremony was light-hearted yet refined; it had laughs, tears and a whole lot of love! We were so fortunate to have the incredible Natalie Drum steer the ship; she told our story so beautifully. When discussing our ceremony in the planning process, we both realised that we really enjoyed weddings where you learn more about the couple and get to share in the journey of their relationship. With this in mind, we wrote our own vows and exchanging them was such a special moment. Despite everyone looking at you, you’re only looking at your partner, and it felt like it was just us two.
The outfits.
Brooke – Planning the bridal outfits was one of my favourite parts in the lead-up to the wedding – I had a mood board going for all the fits! I knew I wanted to incorporate both gloves and lace into my bridal looks but had no clue what style of dress I wanted. I set out to try on as many styles as possible as I’d heard many brides say that they ended up in a style they didn’t expect. It was important to me that I felt like an elevated version of myself on the day rather than going for something that didn’t quite feel like me. What became clear after trying on a few dresses was that I wanted drama!
After struggling to find ‘the one’ I found the amazing Mia Ateliers and went down the custom dress route. I knew as soon as I walked into her beautiful studio and met her that it was the right decision. Mia understood the vision and helped to refine and elevate it. Because my dress featured a 1.5m train, I got a reception dress made from Judith Penak Couture to change into which was much better suited to dancing the night away! I incorporated lace into my getting-ready outfit with a pair of pants and complimented my reception dress with a pair of embellished gloves.
Riley had been a groomsman previously, and all the suits were from YSG Tailors. The guys there did such a good job, it was a no brainer to go back. After some of my pestering, he tried on a white suit jacket but opted for a classic black tux for the day.
Favourite moments.
It’s so difficult to narrow it down to just one moment, as the whole day felt like a dream! The ceremony was so special, in particular, seeing each other for the first time at opposite ends of the aisle and exchanging our vows. Our entrance into the reception was so much fun! It was high energy and turned into a dance party with our guests before sitting down for entrees. Some of our friends lifted us up, and I remember looking at Riley thinking, I can’t believe this is our wedding! It really set the tone for the night.
What does marriage mean to you?
Marriage feels like it marks the start of a new chapter of our relationship, having formalised and shared it with all of our loved ones. We found that going through the exercise of answering questions about your relationship in preparation for the ceremony & vows required lots of reflection about our relationship & what you appreciate/love about the other person. The vows also serve not only as a promise to the other person but a promise to yourself that you will hold yourself accountable to what you’ve written in your own words.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Latch by Disclosure (acoustic version) and So Caught Up by Teskey Brothers (sung live by One Plus One Entertainment)
Reception entry: Destination Calabria by Alex Gaudino
Recessional: You’re The First, My Last, My Everything by Barry White
First dance song: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli moving into Electricity by Dua Lipa
Signing: Baby I’m Yours by Arctic Monkeys
Funny stories (or near disasters).
Riley forgot his cuff links on the day, luckily I had gifted him a pair of custom cufflinks along with a card for him to open the day of our wedding!
Planning surprises.
Never underestimate the seating chart! We had three long tables and re-visited our seating chart multiple times over a few weeks, trying to ensure everyone had the right adjacencies for guests to have the best experience possible.
Words of wisdom.
Do what feels right and authentic for you as a couple, and don’t listen to any other opinions in relation to the wedding.
Focus on what’s important; at the end of the day, you are there to marry your person, and when things feel overwhelming, anchor back to that. There are 1000 little decisions to make, so trust your gut, and once you’ve made a decision, move on to the next.
The best advice we received is that the bride and groom set the tone for the day, and guests will feed off that energy. On the day, what will be will be! Spend as much time as possible with your partner and take it all in – all these people will never be in the same place at the same time, and it’s all for you.
Love Brooke and Riley’s stunningly sophisticated soiree? See another dream day with a similar flavour in Jacqui and Alex’s Gardens House celebration – lush garden party vibes, ultra-modern, chic feels.
BROOKE & RILEY’S VENDORS
We mainly utilised Instagram to find vendors and would look at posts of weddings that we liked the look of and would see which vendors had been tagged. Bridal blogs like Ivory Tribe and The Wed were helpful!
Ceremony & reception venue: Butler Lane, Richmond
Celebrant: Natalie Drum – the absolute best in the business!
Photography: Mandy Wood Photography. Mandy and Scott were incredible to work with. They have such a great eye and captured our day so well!
Videography: Annette & Dani did the videography for a friend’s wedding and as soon as we saw their wedding video, we knew we had to have them!
Having great vendors feels like having more guests on your day. Working with Mandy/Scott, Annette & Dani felt just like that!
Florist: The Petal Edition – Andy is super talented and went above and beyond to ensure that all the additional styling elements on the day tied in beautifully to our theme.
Hair: Miss Jaye Salon – Nat not only does amazing hair, but brings great vibes and energy for the wedding morning!
Make-up: Stephanie Bottrell – All my bridesmaids loved their ma,keup and Steph nailed the brief of soft glam elevated bridal makeup! Jodie Porter via Tonic Agency – Jodie did an amazing job at MOB hair and makeup.
The dress & veil: Mia Ateliers and Judith Penak Couture – Judith was so lovely and brought my reception dress vision to life in a short time frame.
Shoes: Christian Louboutin & Jimmy Choo
Rings: TLC Jewelmaster
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Bec & Bridge, Shona Joy, & By Nicola
Suits & bow ties / ties – YSG Tailors
Cake: The Cake Club
Entertainment: One Plus One Entertainment – Yas can do it all! Provide beautiful acoustics for the ceremony (with the help of Fraser) and then a pumping DJ set for the night. He is also the nicest guy ever and will be as pumped for your wedding as you are!
Hire: Linens Via Table Art
Honeymoon: Singapore and Maldives. Maldives booked via My Tour Destinations
