Real Wedding – Cherise & Thomas, Melbourne VIC
Stunning Italian summer-inspired scenes underpinned the sweet celebration of Cherise and Thomas, across two elegant Melbourne settings.
Bathed in shades of green, pastel pinks, and butter yellow, their day was filled with garden-countryside charm, limoncello toasts, and personal DIY touches crafted by the bride herself.
Opting for an early ceremony to make the most of the day, they created a relaxed yet chic atmosphere where guests savoured home-style Italian fare, danced under the summer sky, lingered in the beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens backdrop, and experienced the other-worldy grounds of Pietro Gallus Estate – a perfect beginning to their forever.
Captured beautifully by Lou Lou Memphis and a talented creative team, Cherise and Tom’s sweetly considered celebration invites you to step right into their own special slice of Italian sunshine.
The meeting.
Tom and I met in 2016 whilst both on holidays with our friends, on our sail Croatia boat. We were drawn to each other instantly. It’s a funny story as for years prior I would drive past Tom’s house every day as I worked in a building off his street, but had never met!
We had the cutest little summer romance together for a week before coming back home to Melbourne and officially started dating! I spotted Tom on the plane to Split, and thought, ‘hmm this boy is good looking!’. I asked him for directions to the baggage pick up when we landed, but he doesn’t remember this, haha! When I saw him on the boat as we boarded from the pier I looked at my bestie and was like, OMG. We were inseparable all week and couldn’t believe we had to fly halfway around the world to meet each other! Meant to be, that’s for sure!
The one.
When we started dating it was so easy, there were no games and we felt completely ourselves and at ease with each other. Both our families embraced us so warmly and it felt like we were where we were meant to be! We shared the same love for old music, travelling, Italian cuisine and love of the beach. For me, the day we first made homemade pasta together I envisioned our future life together doing this when we were old and grey and I knew Tom was the one. We have been renovating our first house together for the last three years which has definitely tested us and brought us so close together!! Seeing Tom as a daddy to our dog Millie shows me everyday what an amazing father he will be with our future children. We dream big, work hard and are determined to curate the life of our dreams together!
The proposal.
Tom told me he was going for a run, so my sister (who was in on the plan) picked me up and said let’s go to Williamstown, we’ll go for a beach walk and have breaky! We started walking along the sand and in the distance, I saw Tom on a picnic blanket with our dog Millie running towards me! She had a little bib on saying ‘will you marry my dad?’. It was the cutest surprise ever.
Tom had waited until it was a perfect sunny morning to do this as he knew I loved the beach so much, it was our special place, so he wanted it to be perfect. I never pressured Tom, I wanted him to ask me when he was ready. Our siblings jumped out of the bushes and were recording us, it was beautiful! We went on to The Commons to have a beautiful lunch together and stayed the night at Crown. The next day all our family and friends popped into our house for drinks to celebrate!
Planning process.
After we got engaged, we were unsure what we wanted for our big day. We were convinced we were going to elope in Italy, just us two, or have a small wedding in Italy with our immediate family. However, the more we thought about it the more we realised we couldn’t do that without our beautiful grandparents, family and friends there with us. So, we decided to marry in Melbourne! We were super lucky obtaining all the vendors that we wanted, even when it was only a 9-month lead time! It was stressful leading up to the day when working out the logistics, as we were styling and coordinating ourselves, however, on the day everything was perfect!
Style inspiration.
We wanted our wedding to resemble an Italian summer countryside wedding, be chic and elegant but relaxed so our guests could have fun and feel at home! Bright florals, gold/ivory décor. We wanted an outdoor wedding, to take advantage of the beautiful summer weather. We utilised Italian hand-drawn fonts with quirky drawn illustrations for our stationery. We wanted a very simple cake, so the raspberry top frosted cake was perfect! We wanted home-style food, so opted for a huge antipasto table with deli cuts, cheeses, oysters along with roaming handmade pizza’s, meatballs, arancini, and pasta at the reception! Then, the handmade limoncello bottle favours were just the perfect addition.
I found Instagram and TikTok to be so useful when planning, Ivory Tribe and The Wed in particular. I researched thoroughly to gain inspiration from heaps of different weddings! Real weddings were the main inspiration! DIY girlies who posted their ‘how to’ videos on TikTok were super helpful.
The ceremony.
It was so different, the venue made the garden ceremony so much more elevated. The violin playing brought the romance, and the fresh cannoli and prosecco after the ceremony was so special. The guests absolutely loved it and really felt the love as we did! The guests loved the walk in and being able to mingle outdoors. It was risky not knowing what the weather would be like when we booked, but in the end, it was a classic sunny summer’s day and it allowed us to have the ceremony outdoors and with the Royal Botanic Gardens and Gardens House as the backdrop! As we had an early (12pm) ceremony, we had an hour after the ceremony to mingle and take photos with our guests, which was so nice as they didn’t have to rush off but could enjoy the gardens with us. After this we had time to do our bridal party portraits and lunch.
The outfits.
I researched online for elegant minimalist gowns and stumbled across Eva Lendel, in particular the Rouge gown. I wasn’t sure if it would suit me as I am quite short and the model was quite tall, however, when I tried it on I was like ‘yes, this is the one!’. It complemented the style of our wedding completely and was so comfortable and light. The soft buttery satin was a dream to wear, blowing effortlessly in the wind with the detachable neck scarf that fell to the floor. Double pearl drop earrings, hair up and ivory pointed sling back heels. I removed the neck scarf and replaced it with a pearl necklace for the reception for a ‘second look’! I didn’t feel restricted or hot all day. I always knew I wanted a simple gown, nothing extravagant. I shopped around to a few other boutiques but always came back to the Rouge! Simply stunning and I felt better than I ever have!
Tom went with a classic black tux, he looked so handsome. Black Jacket, classic white shirt with black buttons as a point of difference from his groomsmen, black bow tie and glossy shoes. We went to quite a few commercial and custom tailors before we stumbled across B.K Wolfe. They were so attentive to details, professional and their packages for grooms and groomsmen are unmatched.
Favourite moments.
Walking out of Gardens House for the first time, seeing all our beautiful friends and family there and looking at us, seeing each other for the first time down the aisle! Also, having our beautiful lunch together with our bridal party at Bar Rosella was so much fun as we could relax and unwind and talk about the morning and night before!! Our entrance was also a lot of fun, we had a limoncello shot with everyone as we walked in and just danced the night away. It really was the best day of our lives!!
Meaning of marriage.
Marriage means total commitment to each other, to give ourselves fully to each other and to officially start our little family. We come from traditional European families, where marriage is something we all dream about and look forward to. We always talked about marriage and knew it was our future. We want to raise kids with both parents having the same surname. Marriage to us is forever.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: You Are The Reason by Callum Scott (violin version)
Reception Entry: Jubel Kingande (with the live sax playing it was incredible!)
First Dance: Disclosure by Sam Smith (slow version, then went into the fast version where the guests joined us to dance!)
Funny stories (or near disasters).
I was steaming my dress the night before and badly burnt my leg – literally a second degree burn that blistered within a few hours!!! I was devastated and in so much pain! Strapped my leg in fresh aloe vera and bandages overnight and nobody knew! I walked down the aisle completely and then after the ceremony at our lunch I pulled up my dress and showed tom and he was like OMG!! Also, the week before, the forecast was rain! We were so stressed because majority of our day was meant to be outdoors!! However, by some miracle the day before the forecast changed to 37 degrees and sunny!!!
Planning surprises.
The guest list was probably the hardest to navigate since we were having a small intimate wedding! Also, the logistics of having the ceremony and reception at different venues! We worked this out but did bring lots of late nights planning how it all was going to work. We were pleasantly surprised at how wonderful our vendors were on the day and took all our stress away! They all pulled it off seamlessly and we both didn’t have a worry on the day!
Words of wisdom.
Just stay true to yourself. Don’t be too taken back by big lavish events you see on social media. You can have the most beautiful wedding on a budget too; you just need to put lots of effort into planning, choosing the right vendors and being on top of everything! A small guestlist is great as you can really have a good time with everyone. Cocktail receptions are lots of fun, they encourage everyone to dance and mingle more than traditional sit down weddings. Have fun with it all because it will be the best day of your life and feeling completely elated after your wedding is truly magical and once in a lifetime!
Last words.
My two sisters were my bridesmaids. I am super close to my sisters and wanted just them by my side. Tom had my brother, his brother and his cousin. It was beautiful as everyone was super comfortable with each other! Bridal parties don’t have to be even numbers!
Continue the Italian summer wedding dreaming with a dive into the details of Yasmin and Eric’s magical Tuscan wedding here.
Cherise & Thomas’ Vendors
Ceremony venue: Gardens House, Royal Botanical Gardens – We walked past this venue and enquired online, it then started popping up everywhere on Instagram and we were obsessed. Our Events Coordinator was Melanie Manansala, she was incredible!! She made sure the venue was set up exactly how we had imagined, she met with us numerous times prior to go through mapping out the layout we wanted. She made sure everything ran smoothly on the day with all our vendors! Such a private and stunning venue in the heart of Melbourne, it was truly magical. Being a summer wedding, we were worried about the heat but even on a 37-degree day all the guests felt comfortable, the beautiful air-conditioned house catered for our elder relatives and small children and the endless Prosecco and water station provided by Gardens House was perfect. Being able to have the venue from 10am to 2pm meant that we could mingle with our guests straight after our ceremony, then take some portraits and relax. It isn’t common that the bride and groom get to mingle with everyone for so long after their ceremony and still get to take photos after. It meant we could simply dance the night away once we entered our reception!
Reception venue: Pietro Gallus Estate – We found this venue on TikTok. Stunning. What else can I say. This venue is phenomenal. A 35 min drive from our ceremony, and you feel like you are in Tuscany. We stumbled across this venue and thought wow, how had we never heard of this place before! The tall Italian pines as you drive in are just magical. Bridget Selier was our event coordinator as was so professional and accommodating, she answered our many questions leading up to the day and catered to all our requests, she was fabulous. She ensured the layout was exactly as we had imagined, and worked with us to make sure the menu was perfect for our guests who could rave more about it. We have guests with all sorts of intolerances and she made sure they were looked after. Everyone had plenty to eat and for a cocktail reception we were over the moon as we had not attended a cocktail wedding before! She made sure the estate made wines were flowing all night, it was truly magical and made our Italian Countryside wedding dream come to life.
Celebrant: Celebrations by Rosalie – What a beautiful woman inside and out. We could not recommend Rosalie more, she delivered our ceremony exactly as we had wanted, she wasn’t too much and didn’t make any cringy jokes or comments as some do. Rosalie just told our story beautifully and let that be the star of the show. She dressed beautifully and matched the vibe; she was always in touch with us too checking in to see if we were okay. She helped us write our vows and was so organised.
Photography: Maddy & Brian of Lou Lou Memphis – INCREDIBLE. Just amazing, this team is one of the best in the country. We were ecstatic when they were able to fit us into a busy Saturday in February! We are so happy with all our photos, their effortless, candid style is second to none. We aren’t big on attention and being in front of the camera but on the day, we felt so comfortable, they just blended in with the background and captured the happy moments. They are so special and I will continue recommending them to anyone. They took both film photography and digital photography for us and did an amazing job. An investment well worth it! Maddy and Brian are so sweet, and we had so much fun with them.
Videography: Bek O’Connor, Bridal BTS – a true angel found on Instagram. I don’t think I’ve ever met a more beautiful human, she was always there for me. She knew everything I needed when I didn’t even know I needed it myself! So effortless, we didn’t even notice she was filming most of the time and the content she made for us was perfect. We didn’t want a traditional wedding video, but raw unedited moments from the best day ever! She captured so much more than we ever thought! I have recommended Bek to so many and will continue to as I believe she is the best in the business!
Styling: DIY! Yes, this was very risky and caused a lot of stress but it all paid off in the end. I asked a beautiful friend to help me on the day with the set up. I printed images of each location and drew where I wanted everything set up, purchased all the décor and styling pieces myself and labeled everything for her. I made some detailed instructions, and she followed it to a T! A behind the scenes life saver! We had a few meetings prior, and I gave her a rundown of all the styling in had in mind, she was an absolute angel. Considering we had a few venues the logistics was difficult, but we were able to drop off items to the reception and ceremony location the day before, which really helped!
Florist: Pepperberry Flora – Ruth was incredible, she worked with my mood board delivering the most beautiful flowers!! I loved my bouquet so much, all the arrangements were perfect! They were on top of everything and ensured my precious flowers made it through a hot summer’s day. They repurposed all the flowers from the ceremony to the reception and even packed them down at the end of the night and handed the flowers out to guests! They are so good at what they do and I would highly recommend them. I explained the types of flowers I loved and the colours I had in mind, and they worked with me to create a stunning mood board that they delivered perfectly on the day. Hydrangeas, Dahlias, Orchids and Amaranthus in shades of green, pastel pinks and yellows! We also added in fruit table scaping which really made the Italian countryside vision come to life! Lemons, figs, grapes and pears, it all came together perfectly.
Hair: Tiana from Salon Gabrielle – incredible. I had been following for years on Instagram and knew I had to have them for my wedding! Tiana is so sweet, calm and relaxed and made me feel so comfortable. I Trusted Tiana so much and knew she would so an amazing job. I had a few trials and changed my style leading up to the big day and she did an amazing job!! I loved my hair, and it stayed beautiful throughout the day! Tiana is so punctual and continues making changes to make sure I was happy and was just so professional! Would highly recommend.
Make-up: Karla Roccuzzo – hair and makeup dream team! Again, such a beautiful person, painted my face to perfection! We had a few trials prior including my Bridal Shower and we perfected the look. She is so calm and funny and really puts us all at ease!! So punctual and on time, she and Zoe did an amazing job with us all.
The dress: Eva Lendal gown from The Bridal Curator – I found this bridal boutique online and the team worked with me to alter the dress to fit me like a glove, even two weeks before we were making more adjustments! Could not recommend The Bridal Curator highly enough!! Another amazing thing was that alterations were all done in-house something that made me feel relaxed. The dress was perfection, and I received so many compliments from so many people online!
Veil: Curator the Label veil from The Bridal Curator – we went with a beautiful round cathedral length veil. It was minimalist and complimented the dress so well!
Shoes: Berksha slingback Strap Heels in ivory from the Iconic – the best purchase for my wedding!! I wore these shoes from 10am to 11:30pm and didn’t even feel the need to take them off!! They are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn, and the beautiful ivory complimented my dress so well. Minimalist perfection!
Rings: Top Image Jewellery – Esther is fabulous and worked with Tom to design my engagement ring, then our wedding bands. She is so lovely, and honest helping us design the perfect rings. I also wore double pearl drop earrings from JT Luxe and a double pearl choker necklace from an online Etsy boutique called Pearls and Beyond.
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Billy J – I knew I wanted the girls in a butter yellow, to represent happy summer vibes. I wanted the girls in different styles to complement them but the same colour. We looked online and came across Billy J who had lots of different pale-yellow styles. The dresses we chose were really comfortable and affordable that looked great on my two sisters.
Menswear: Black Tuxedo’s for the Groom and Groomsmen from B.K. Wolfe. Very professional working with the boys to have their custom suits perfect!
Catering:
Cannoleria (cannoli after ceremony at Gardens House) – these guys are incredible!! The guests could not rave more about the fresh cannoli after the ceremony; I mean how perfect on a summer’s day!! Prosecco and freshly piped cannoli – a match made in heaven.
Bridal Party Lunch – Rosella | Dining Room and Bar. Rocco was such an amazing host, he created a menu for us that was easy to eat and not messy to ensure we didn’t dirty our gowns! He had limoncello spritz waiting for us on arrival and set up the outdoor courtyard for us so we could have a private lunch with our bridal party along with Maddy, Brian and Bek. This is so important, to have time with the bridal party to debrief about the morning and just relax together!! It was one of the highlights of the day!
Pietro Gallus Estate in-house catering for the reception – incredible food
Bar: Gardens House for the ceremony (Prosecco after ceremony) and Pietro Gallus Estate wines for the reception.
Favours: we made small Limoncello Bottles as favours. I created custom lemon-shaped labels with ‘Lauricello’s’ on it, such a cute play on words that was so fitting! Tom and I love limoncello so they were a perfect fit for our theme. All the guests were given a bottle by the bridal party, and they had a shot with us as we walked in, it was epic!
Cake: Yarra Valley Cakes – Rasberry Topped Round Frosted Vanilla Sponge with Lemon Curd. Could not recommend these girls more highly! Everyone loved the cake and we even had matching gluten and dairy free cupcakes made to cater for guests who had intolerances.
We also had mini chocolate/caramel and Lemon tarts made by Tarts Anon for the guests, they were picked up on the morning of and delivered to the reception and were a hit!
Stationery / Signage: All DIY and I am very proud of it!! I purchased a Cricut machine and made the linen signage, the mirror decal for the large welcome mirror at the reception, the bar sign and invites! I purchased a template from Esty and printed my invites through Canva. Everyone was amazed that I had created all this myself. I’m a creative person and this was so much fun and let me add my personal touch to my wedding. I wanted everything to match and be in line with my Italian Countryside inspiration and knew that it would cost a fortune so taught myself!
We also had a vintage camcorder that went around all night taking video messages from guests and filmed everyone dancing, it was one of the best decisions we made! To watch this back and feel like we are back on the dance floor was special! I would highly recommend this as an option compared to a traditional wedding signing book.
Entertainment: Rob Muir Music – DJ and saxophone, he was the best!! We partied all night, non-stop dancing, we have never been to a wedding like that!! It felt like a mosh pit, it was crazy. When we pictured our wedding we didn’t want it to be boring with guests sitting down eating their bread rolls all night haha, we have been to many traditional weddings like this and wanted ours to be different. We wanted everyone up and having the best time, singing and dancing all night. The sax really elevated the mood from the moment guests walked in. We had some 70’s disco, Italian classics and modern dance songs, the vibes were there from start to finish! He was punctual, on time and professional and delivered a set that matched what we had wanted.
We had Dorota Swart play the violin at our ceremony. It felt like a Bridgeton set, it was exactly what we wanted!! I would recommend Dorota to anyone, she is a beautiful performer.
Transport: Signature Chaffeured Cars – would recommend!! They were so punctual, the drive was easy and all the cars were immaculate!
Décor:
Ceremony – I had a large linen welcome sign on the front entrance gate plus another as guests arrived at Gardens House door. Infront of this I had florals and lemons and to the side we had two wicker baskets with white parasols and hand fans from The Whole Bride, which were a nice touch and all were used and taken home by guests. I added decals to each hand fan to match my theme. I made a small ivory sunscreen bottle as guests entered as it was extremely hot. I tried to think of everything I would want if I arrived at a garden ceremony! We had flowers and fruit table-scape set up on the water station and prosecco table, lemons, grapes fix and pears, so beautiful!. We had two white plinths on the alter with large arrangements on both! I didn’t want too big of a floral set up on the alter as I wanted Tom and I and the gorgeous botanical gardens plans as the focus point. We stood in front of the beautiful oak tree with lush plants all around us. I made some reserved linen bows for the front two aisle chairs.
Reception – we had a gold frame large mirror with personalised decal for when guests entered to take photos with. I purchased some gold lamps online for the outdoor reception tables and some pillar candles and holders. Along with the repurposed plinths, florals and fruits were all that was needed as both venues were decorated immaculately to begin with!! Again, why the venues were so special as they needed minimal styling. Something we really opted for when venue hunting. There were a few bar tables with bud vase florals and candles on each. I had a gold frame on the bar with a menu sign that matched my invites, and a floral arrangement beside this. The la terrazza room is stunningly built and feels like it is an old Italian home (as it once was!), it didn’t need much additional styling. As it was a cocktail stand up event, it really made styling a lot easier.
Honeymoon: Minimoon at The Continental Sorrento. We will be heading off to Europe in late July for our proper honeymoon, back to where it all began! A week in the French Riviera followed by an Italian road trip from Santa Margherita, through Tuscany, Verona, Amalfi Coast, Puglia, Calabria and Sicily with a week in Mallorca to end it off! Dreamy! We cannot wait.
