Real Wedding – Cait & Josh, Melbourne VIC
When the time came for wedding planner and stylist Cait to marry her long-time love Josh, the vendor list read like a roll call of some of the industry’s best creatives.
While Cait almost exclusively partnered with suppliers she knew professionally, she made a deliberate choice to wed at a venue she’d never worked at before.
The unique setting – coupled with her dream gown from The Bridal Curator – allowed her to step out of work mode and into the Cinderella-like shoes of bride for a day.
The sumptuous interiors of Le Méridien’s Dolly Restaurant echoed a modern yet vintage, ‘Old Hollywood’ aesthetic, which inspired the cascade of styling decisions to follow.
Arch shapes, metallic details and maroon and navy tones were woven into everything from the invitations to the bridesmaid dresses and flowers, providing a cohesive visual narrative from beginning to end.
The couple bucked tradition with words from friends – rather than formal readings – during the ceremony, injected personality into the reception with an animated seating chart displayed via projector and adopted only the trends that spoke to them – like a collection of white bows as a ceremony backdrop.
A trifecta of talent – Love Bomb on photography, Apertura on videography and Bridal BTS on content creation – were there to capture every moody, artful moment in photo and film.
Scroll on to learn more about how they did it all with only a six-month lead time.
The meeting.
We worked together! We started in a Graduate Program on the same day and became friends over the course of the first year, along with others who are still our close friends today.
The ‘one’.
After a year of friendship, we found we enjoyed the days we didn’t see each other a little less and once we started dating, we were inseparable, moving in together after only a few months and immediately planning adventures.
The proposal.
At our local beach as the sun set, wearing daggy activewear with no one else in sight.
Planning process.
Being a wedding planner by trade, I found it pretty easy to plan everything pretty quickly! After getting engaged at the end of February, we quickly locked in a date at the end of August (the same year) for a few reasons. I’d seen couples plan weddings over years and years and know that people lose momentum and excitement! I also knew that the style of wedding we were going for wasn’t overly traditional, and so we weren’t going to be waiting for a date at a popular venue – in fact, it was very important to me that the venue we chose wasn’t one I’d worked at before, as I felt that would take some of the magic away. We also opted for winter because I knew it was a time when our guests wouldn’t have as much going on socially, and hence I thought there might be a bit more excitement for an event. We also both had siblings overseas at the time, so wanted to make sure it was a time that would work for both of them.
In terms of choosing vendors, it didn’t involve a lot of research for us as pretty much everyone we chose to work with, I’d worked with previously, so it was more a matter of double-checking their availability and then locking things in rather than comparing quotes and doing a lot of research. Being in the industry, I was also super conscious to not waste anyone’s time enquiring if I wasn’t planning to go ahead. Our date in August really helped – no one we asked was unavailable! I often have couples ask how long it takes to plan a wedding, and that’s super dependent on the date you choose. The tightest turnaround I’ve worked with was around eight weeks, which wasn’t an issue at all because it was a Thursday. If you’re looking at a Saturday in peak season (November – March) you should definitely be prepared to have a few back-up options. I digress! The planning part of things was also made easy by the fact that, after being together for around seven years, we know each other really well, and so we both were able to plan with each other front of mind rather than disagreeing over what each wanted for the day.
Style inspiration.
I always wanted to find a venue that had its own style, which surprised a lot of people I think. Being a planner and stylist, I think a lot of people thought I’d want to dress up a blank canvas, but honestly, when I found Dolly, it really had a chic, modern, yet vintage feel. It felt a little ‘Old Hollywood’ with sumptuous interiors that worked really nicely with the time of year.
Maroon and navy tones were throughout, with a lot of arch shapes and metallic details, so as soon as we had locked in Dolly, I used the space as the launch pad for all of the rest of the styling, from bridesmaid dresses to flowers, and even from the very beginning with initiations and save the dates. I really wanted the wedding to have a consistent “branding” feel from the first touchpoint to the last, and I feel we achieved that by tying everything back to the feel of the venue.
One thing I had in my mind and quickly overcame was a desire to do everything differently. I think a lot of us who have worked in the industry feel this way, but honestly… it was exhausting. I was questioning everything, wondering whether I liked things just because they were on trend at the time or because I really liked them! And then I decided: it’s not that deep. I tried to make sure I was looking at inspiration from other countries as well as Australia to keep things fresh, but aside from that, I just loved looking at as many photos as possible in the lead-up to making decisions, but equally importantly, not reconsidering. That’s something beautiful about a relatively fast planning window; there’s no time to second guess things. Once something was locked in, I stopped searching alternatives.
The ceremony.
The ceremony was actually one of my favourite parts of the day to plan, surprisingly! I think a lot of people overlook the opportunity to make this your own and feel there’s a formula that has to be followed. We kind of tipped the structure out of the box and put it back together in a way that worked for us. Firstly, we were so lucky to have one of our best friends, one of the friends we met the same day we met each other, Greta Drane, training as a celebrant and already a brilliant speaker. We never second-guessed the fact that she was the perfect one to officiate our wedding, and she was. Though she was in training, she wasn’t officially ordained, and so, again, very luckily, we were able to have my mum legally marry us, as she had studied to be a celebrant during lock-down boredom! We knew that it was too much of a loaded occasion for her to have to do the whole thing though, so the combo was perfect.
We’re not religious so we didn’t want to include readings in the day, and felt the genuine words of our friends would be more impactful, and so we asked a friend on each side to make a short speech during the ceremony as to their take on why they sort of supported our marriage. We found this to be a really special way to break things up and have others be involved without doing something that didn’t feel authentic. Lastly – well, actually firstly – while my bridesmaids walked down the aisle, I came down the stairs at the front of the space, which surprised quite a few guests and gave me a really nice chance to take a good look at everyone’s faces from in front and above before things started!
It was also really special to me to walk with my Irish dad down the stairs accompanied by a song by the (Irish) Cranberries sung beautifully by our Australian musician, Luke Joseph. It felt all very fitting and special to me, and very us.
The outfits.
Firstly, we never considered going anywhere other than Made by Otto for Josh’s suit. I’d met the team previously and knew they did an incredible job and really care about what they produce. The process was really enjoyable, and Josh was able to incorporate all of his preferences into the look while getting heaps of advice and guidance from Danny. The suit fitted perfectly and looked stunning and Josh has already worn it again twice since the wedding day.
For my dress – honestly, I wasn’t in too much of a rush to go shopping but mum encouraged me to book in a few appointments and so I did, the first being at The Bridal Curator in Prahran which I love because they have a variety of brands and so I could try all of the different styles I’d had in mind. I actually fell in love with the first dress I tried on. We went to two other boutiques and then rushed back to The Bridal Curator to lock it in! I didn’t think it would be that easy but I think just going with mum and not a big group was helpful for me because I wasn’t that interested in getting a lot of opinions, as long as I felt great and mum liked it, I was happy! The dress was from a New Zealand brand called Saint Bridal and I adored the fact that it was a bit modern with a bit of a vintage feel… just like the venue! Something that was super important to me was to choose something that I loved on me then, and not something that I thought would only look good if I lost weight, or changed my body in any other way. It honestly took a lot of stress out of the lead-up knowing I loved the dress on the body I had!
For bridesmaid dresses, I am so lucky to have an incredible local dress rental business, Your Secret Closet Hampton, where I booked in some time for my gals to try on as many dresses as they liked and decide on a colour scheme there, based on dresses that made them feel great! I did have a moodboard but wasn’t too fixated on specific colours, my priority was them all wearing a dress they loved. Also, because it was black tie, I knew that they likely wouldn’t get a lot of wear out of the dress, so renting them was a great option to avoid waste.
We provided bow ties and socks for the boys but encouraged them to wear whatever black suit they had as we didn’t feel it was necessary that they were all the exact same. We wanted to avoid it being a super expensive day for our nearest and dearest, especially with some travelling.
Favourite moments.
It would have to be being on the dance floor. Looking around and seeing friends and family from all over the country and world celebrating together, jumping up and down, sweating and belting out bangers was a window of time I’ll never forget. I just felt so purely happy and exhilarated in that moment and it was like a dream come true. Booking Sammy on Percussion, and his accompanying DJ Stefan, was one of the best choices we made in the planning process. We had a lot of people share their adoration of the vibes they brought to the dancefloor and we’ll never forget being behind the drums banging along (as much as possible to the beat) to the music together!
Meaning of marriage.
A lot, actually. I know it’s a common sentiment that marriage doesn’t change anything at all anymore in the way we live our modern lives, but it’s as important to me as ever. I think in a lot of ways, we get caught up in the business of our lives and the chaos of everything, and time just flies by, so I think it’s more important than ever to stop and sort of say in front of the people you love that you really love this one person and that’s worth celebrating and even if home life isn’t that different, that it’s a beautiful thing. It’s a pinpoint moment in life that we’ll always be able to look back on and remember what we said and how we felt. When things can get tough and the future is uncertain, marking a love and a life together is important! I also will truly always treasure the photos and videos that our brilliant content team captured. Hailey from Lovebomb, Sash from Apertura and Bek from Bridal BTS have really given us the gift of capturing such pure happiness so that as the memories fade the ability to look back doesn’t.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Dreams – The Cranberries
Recessional: Burn Your Name – Powderfinger
First dance: No Parallels – Hands Like Houses
Dancefloor starter: Shooting Stars – Bag Raiders
Last song: Adore U – Fred Again
Funny stories/near disasters.
Something that was a bit of a kerfuffle but certainly didn’t negatively impact our day was that somehow, the cake our beautiful friend had painstakingly baked for us got damaged, and so rather than it being poised on the purpose-arranged cake stand as guests arrived, it was nowhere to be seen! And so some friends went into problem-solving mode, and the cake ended up sliced up on a wooden board that certainly didn’t fit the décor of my desires, but I’m very glad people were able to eat the cake, nonetheless!
From experience I know that every wedding has something go wrong and if that was our thing – that’s okay with me! I also definitely made a mistake in our first dance, expertly choreographed by the wonderful Amy Hogan, but I don’t know if anyone other than Josh noticed that!
Planning surprises.
Hmm… as a wedding planner, honestly not really, so I might share something about after the wedding that did! The overexposure! As someone who was posting relatively regularly on TikTok throughout the planning process and has run my own business, I thought I’d be so excited to share so much content from the day. And I was kind of at first, but very, VERY quickly, I felt a real sense that I wanted to go away from the world for a bit – not in a really negative way – just more so on social media. I just wanted to be offline and really wanted to stop seeing my face online! I don’t know if there’s any way I could have avoided this. But I did find it a real conflict of loving the photos and wanting to share the moments with others but also finding it all too much. Even quite a few months later, I still haven’t quite gotten over that feeling, but it certainly hasn’t affected the love I feel for the day.
Words of wisdom.
Do Less. So many people planning a wedding make it more complicated than it needs to be. Find a venue that you like that doesn’t need too much done to it. Pick vendors that have great reviews and you vibe with. Don’t add a million details that are expensive and a lot of effort and no one would even notice. Invite the people you love. Throw out the rule book and incorporate only the traditions that feel like YOU! By FAR the best thing about the wedding for me was the overwhelming love I felt for and from the people that made it so special, the rest are just details and if you incorporate too many details, you’ll ruin it for yourself and others.
Final words.
Logistics and friction – get rid of them! This definitely made us love our day more and gave us back time. I got ready in the room upstairs and then got in the elevator to get to the ceremony, and at the end of the night, we got in the elevator to go to bed! The ceremony was adjacent to the dining room so it was a matter of opening the doors to reveal the room rather than transporting anywhere.
If you want cocktails, have them pre-made! Don’t have people lining up at the bar while mixologists are shake-shake-shaking!! Reduce points throughout the day/night where guests are being bothered by logistics or friction to make sure the good vibes are flowing and go totally uninterrupted.
For more city-chic nuptials turning tradition on its head, read Sophie & Jackson’s real wedding.
CAIT & JOSH’S SUPPLIERS:
Venue: Dolly Melbourne at LeMeridien Melbourne. I spotted the new Dolly Restaurant on Instagram soon after it opened and instantly saved it – well before we were engaged – because I adored the aesthetic. Working with the team there was a total dream. They were “yes” people the whole time. Our wedding was the first they had and it was an adventure and a lot of fun to establish how things would work. Ultimately it was the perfect space for us and so many people commented on how much they loved it! The food was absolutely delicious and the beauty of the space meant we could save SO much on styling. I also was totally obsessed with the ability to use a projector to show an animated seating chart that I created on the wall!
Celebrant: Greta Drane. Once Greta is officially qualified as a celebrant she’s going to be instantly booked out. She balances warmth, eloquence, honesty and humour to perfection and made us feel so well understood in the lead-up.
Photographer: Love Bomb Photos. When deciding on the perfect photographer, I gravitated towards Hailey quickly because of her talents in all spaces! Having worked together before I knew she was a total natural at giving enough instruction to make everything feel effortless while being fun and not too directional so that the photos are contrived. We knew it was possible in Melbourne winter that we wouldn’t be able to go outside at all, so it was important to me to lock in someone who had proven stunner pics in a darker space and Hailey was our gal.
Videographer: Apertura. Sash is not only Hollywood-level talented as a videographer, but he has such a warm vibe and goofy smile that you’re made to feel at ease around him instantly. This was super important for our photo/video/content team because I knew we’d spend time with them on the day so vibes are just as important as talent!
Acoustic: Luke J Music. The very first time I worked with Luke I was blown away by his talent. Best of all, he was able to provide so many helpful tips and ideas around the music we used and the timing of the songs… even playing our aisle song to perfectly time with when I walked down the stairs, rather than the other way around! He’s such a talent and is cool as hell. An added gift that moved me so much was that he recorded a version of our aisle song so we could keep it forever. A rockstar with a huge heart.
Percussion: Sammy on Percussion. Sammy is an absolute star. Of all the vendors we had on the day, he had the most impact in making our memories. Sammy got everyone (even those who “never dance”) onto the dancefloor and created such an incredible vibe that we’ve both said if we have 40ths or 50ths in the future, we’ve got to track him down!
DJ: DJ Stefan Lewis Stefan was the best! We were genuinely so impressed by the way every single song he played came on after just the right amount of time and was hit after hit, suiting our crowd to perfection. We loved the way he divided the night into a few different parts, suiting the masses as the start, seamlessly aligning with Sammy in the middle, and then bringing it home with absolute tunes to finish. One of our big party friends came up to us and said he was busting to use the bathroom and waiting for a ‘bad’ song to come on but it just didn’t happen – goals!
Content: Bridal BTS. Bek is the perfect balance of talent and temperament. She’s calming and caring and so incredibly helpful, as well as filling your phone to the brim (literally, I ran out of storage) with content. The moments she caught that I didn’t even know happened were so beautiful and I’m so grateful for her work, her company on the day, and her random trouble shooting that fell way out of her remit!
Florist: Mary Norma. Elle is a wonder at creating floral pieces that are as unique and creative as they are timeless. I adore the way Elle thinks outside the box and was so enthusiastic every time I threw her a random idea. I found a picture of burgundy lilies that I adored, assuming they were out of season or not available, but she sourced them with no worries at all. I also loved that she was able to come back at the end of the night, wrap flowers and hand them to guests as they left. No waste!
HMU: Tonic Agency. Tonic is my absolute go-to agency for hair and makeup if there’s ever more than one or two people being styled. The way they can send a team without the fuss of dealing with multiple different invoices – that’s priceless. The assurance of knowing that if for some reason your artist has to cancel they’ll sort a replacement and the quality control they have in their business is why I wouldn’t go elsewhere.
Espresso Martinis: The Little Bar Cart. The only downside about the venue we chose was that we couldn’t bring the beautiful Little Bar Cart team on board to serve drinks but I knew I had to find a way to incorporate them and so we sourced Espresso Martinis pre-mixed from the wonderful Jan who is the absolute best in the biz when it comes to cocktails. Especially if you have a DIY style venue or private property – get TLBC on your team, stat!
Dress: Saint Bridal from The Bridal Curator. The entire experience from start to finish with The Bridal Curator was so much fun and a total dream. Maddie was so kind, patient and thoughtful and never once replicated those horrible scenes on TV where brides are made to feel terrible… even when I tried on dresses that objectively didn’t suit me. The fact they do in-house tailoring and are flexible with timing made it all so easy and the range they stock is just stunning.
Groom Suit: MBO Tailors. Danny from MBO is a total hidden gem. His passion and talent is incredible and the suits are top quality without the designer price tag.
Wedding Planning/Styling: CelebrAIT Wedding Co. If you like the tips I share, follow along for more at @celebraitwithcait on Tiktok – I’ll try and get over my over-exposure complex and provide more assistance.
Jewellery: Micheli Jewellery. Micheli Jewellery have the most stunning ready to wear bridal pieces, wedding and engagement rings! I adored creating custom pieces with them and then shopping the range for my necklace and earrings for pieces that are so far from once-off – I’ve already worn everything countless times and the quality is incredible!
Hired Decor: The Small Things Co and Cloth and Confetti. These two businesses are my forever go-tos for stylish, top-quality pieces with incredible customer service. Highly recommend, always.
Bridesmaids dresses: Your Secret Closet Hampton. Every single time I’m invited to a wedding this is where I go for my guest dress, and so it made total sense to provide my bridesmaids with dresses from here so that they could get a designer dress at a way more affordable price and weren’t burdened with a black-tie dress in their wardrobe that they’d never wear again! Genius hack, if you ask me, and the only place I ever go for rentals.
Dance choreography: Amy Hogan. Amy turned us from being unsure if we wanted to do a first dance to absolutely adoring this as part of the lead-up to our day within the space of about an hour and a half. I provided her with the song, she choreographed a routine, and then we filmed it so we could practice over the weeks. It was such a beautiful way to spend time together without having to fit in structured and lengthy lessons and we had a lot of fun doing the dance on the night. For anyone thinking a first dance isn’t for them – remember you might never have the chance to learn a dance together again, and it’s the best way to kick off the dance floor! Get Amy in your corner, and the process goes from overwhelming and embarrassing to fun and memorable.
