Real Wedding – David & Alex, Port Melbourne
For two people persons, having all their friends and family together in one place was the most important part of David and Alex’s day.
To set the scene for this gorgeous celebration, they leant into the elements that reflected their country roots – pub vibes, a big open warehouse, puntoon lighting, and an autumnal colour palette.
To ensure the dance floor met the brief, Tim the DJ was the only choice. Add to the party a divine Italian-style spread, a giant cannoli cake and a late-night toasties food truck delivery, and all the ingredients for a truly epic party were in place.
And wow, did this day unfold with epic feels and effervescent emotions, all captured with candid artistry by superstar photographer Tess Follett.
Scroll on to delight in it all.
The meeting.
Back in October 2022, Dave and Alex stumbled upon each other’s profiles on a popular dating app. The journey started as a casual fling before they realised they had a lot more in common than they thought.
Messages began to flow effortlessly, leading to plans for their first date at the end of March in 2023. At a cozy Pizzeria and Wine bar in Melbourne, Dave was struck by Alex’s warm smile and effortless banter, and Alex found Dave’s laughter and company contagious. Over slices of pizza and glasses of wine, they discovered a deep connection, feeling as if they had known each other for years.
Their whirlwind romance took flight from that moment on. Their social calendars exploded as they merged their circles of amazing friends and family, every moment filled with love, laughter and adventure.
The one.
Not too soon after the first date! Everything about our relationship has been so natural and effortless!
The proposal.
On New Years Day 2024, after months of planning and anxiety, Alex got down on one knee in a little spot in Southern WA, in front of some close friends and asked Dave to be his forever. Not expecting the proposal, with tears of joy streaming down his face, Dave, of course, said yes!
Years may pass, but the love between Dave and Alex will remain as strong as their first date at that Pizzeria and Wine bar, brought together by the magic of a modern-day dating app.
Planning process.
David had a vision and took control of most of the planning process leading up to the big day, Alex was happy to let Dave take the lead. David was a bit of a Groomzilla leading up to the big day…!
Style inspiration.
We had the wedding in Autumn, and David had a vision for the colour scheme from there. Alex wasn’t too fussed on the style. The venue and décor reflected our country roots growing up—pub vibes, open area, warehouse, pontoon lighting, etc.
The biggest thing we found helpful in terms of blogs and inspiration was the dos and don’ts for things that came at a significant cost, ways to save money, DIY, etc.
The ceremony.
The best part to us was the people. We are both very much people persons – having all our immediate family and friends from both sides in one place, celebrating us, meant everything to us.
The outfits.
We got custom-made suits via InStitchu; we didn’t have to look too far for those, as we weren’t too fussy. Dave was fixed on having an olive green suit (very Italian), and despite initially wanting to put Alex in a rust-colored suit, Dave compromised and let Alex decide on a navy suit. Dave admits (sometimes) that that was a great choice.
Favourite moment.
For Dave and Alex it was walking into the ceremony with Alex, hand in hand and seeing everyone there celebrating them.
Meaning of marriage.
A long-term commitment to one another and having someone by your side, always. We married our best friend, and for us, it was the biggest loving commitment to each other.
Wedding soundtrack.
Two Strong Hearts – Ainslie Wills (friends of ours did an acoustic set)
We Go Together – Grease (the live musical version)
Break In – Halestorm ft Amy Lee (from Evanescence)
Funny stories (or near disasters).
The only minor issue was forgetting to get lapels for each other. We had organised them for the wedding party, but not us! The florist was an absolute superstar in getting them sorted for us within the hour!
Planning surprises.
None – we had attended so many weddings over the last few years and had so much support in getting everything together.
Words of wisdom.
Take the advice from your friends/family who have gone through the same journey, but don’t let it overwhelm you or dictate what you do for your special day.
Locked in your main wedding vendors, but wondering if there’s anything you’ve missed? Check out The Wedit, our guide to all those extra services for the dream day and beyond.
DAVE & ALEX’S VENDORS
Ceremony & reception venue: The Timberyard in Port Melbourne – Alex attended a music festival event at this location (as a responding paramedic that he is) for a case. As he was looking after the intended patient he looked around and thought the venue looked amazing, so we went and looked at it a week later.
Celebrant: Celebrate with Liz – Alex has known Liz for a few years from weddings he has attended, and we both see Liz regularly. There was no doubt we were going to ask her to be our celebrant.
Photography: Tess Follett. We attended two weddings at the end of 2023/start of 2024, and Tess had captured some amazing and funny photos of us at both events. We had seen her in action and vibed with her so easily. We also learnt later on that she had been the photographer for Alex’s brother’s wedding ten years ago! And is from Shepperton where Alex is from. It’s these moments that solidified that asking Tess to be our photographer was meant to be. It also worked out very well that she also knew our videographer (who she suggested) and our celebrant, Liz!
Videography: Ryan Adams was recommended by Tess, and we cannot rave about him enough. He captured all the right moments just as Tess had and made our day come to life with his content.
Styling/Wedding Planner: One of our closest friends, Ash, stepped in to help with the planning and styling. She is not a wedding planner, but she is the most organised and efficient person we know and she kept us on track the entire time. The day was a big success thanks to her.
Florist: Babylon Flowers. Tess had also suggested Babylon flowers in Brunswick, also another great choice, they were so easy to work with, and they truly captured the style of what we wanted on the day. Such amazing work and lifesavers on the day for the additional lapels.
Hair/make-up: Alex used makeup and hair stylist Stefany Morales who was suggested by one of his groomsmaids. Dave used makeup and hair stylist Julie Bekiri who is the senior hairdresser/makeup artist at Network 10 Melbourne who was suggested by his cousin’s wife. Both were amazing and easy to work with!
Suits: Romea Kumar from Institchu in Melbourne. Romea was such an amazing person to work with, he made the tailoring process easy and was always warm and welcoming and gave us pointers on what would work and what wouldn’t. We would not have had the suits we ended up with without his help.
Shoes: Aquila. This one was easy, we knew the store and we knew what we wanted.
Rings: Alex – Temelli. Alex wanted something simple, classic and… easy to pick. He ventured out into Melbourne with a member of his wedding party and settled on his wedding ring in an instant. Dave – MDT Design. Dave had his late Father’s wedding ring given to him by his mum and had the ring melted down and infused into a modern ring using the same small white diamonds and materials with the addition of small black diamonds to remind him of his dad. MDT Design created the perfect wedding ring.
Groomsmaids’ dresses: Shona Joy. Alex and Dave’s team of Groomsmaids took control of this early on and did all the research and provided suggestions to us eight months out from the wedding. What we thought would be the hardest thing to organise turned out to be the very first thing we ticked off the list, thanks to our wedding parties. The same style dress fit all our girls perfectly!
Wedding party suits: Suit Vault. Given most of Dave’s male wedding party were in Perth, he used the Suit Vault which he had been to for his other friend’s wedding previously. They are super easy to work with and managed to get suits for the 3 people who were not based in WA to fit perfectly. They also do small modifications, even for hire suits!
Catering: The Catering Company. Alex’s friend had used the catering company before, so they came recommended. There were zero complaints about the food, there was so much, and it was amazing! They put on an Italian-style grazing table pre-reception for our guests, and it was honestly the best thing I have ever seen – such a great job!
Bar: Provided by the Timberyard.
Favours: The gifts for our wedding parties were a mix of Etsy, Myer, and OTAA.
Cake: Brunetti Classico. What is an Italian wedding without some Cannoli’s? Why not go bigger and get a Giant Cannoli Cake. Zero complaints here, and it turned out amazing! No topper needed!
Entertainment:
The Ceremony – The Gooldlife. Long-time friends of Alex, Ri and Alex (her husband) had their acoustic set for our ceremony and played into the post-ceremony and pre-reception period. Love their voices, and they were amazing. We are so lucky to have them in our lives!
The Reception: Tim the DJ. Tim came recommended also! And what another amazing recommendation he was! He was so easy to work with and did such an amazing job with all the music during the night, there was little we needed to organize, he did all the heavy lifting for us!
Transport: Melbourne Vintage Kombi Hire. For the Grooms and their wedding parties, Minty and Eleanor, the two Kombi vans were the perfect size for our wedding parties. The drivers were incredibly lovely, and we were able to move to our pre-ceremony photo locations in style in something a little different before we went to the venue. Dave wanted something classic – and he found them online!
Hire:
Heartwood Hire. Heartwood Hire had the right style of décor we were after to fit the aesthetic of the venue. They provided the signing table, arbor and wine barrels for the event.
Leonie from Love Light Letters. Leonie came through with the MR & MR letters, which made our reception space POP. She was so easy to work with and also did all of the heavy lifting, working with the venue for pickup and drop off, despite living in Geelong!
Locations for Photos: Fitzroy Gardens and the Conservatory building were stop one! Our second stop was our favorite and local pub – Hardimans. They were also where we had recovery drinks the following day!
Accommodation: Meriton Suites. Super lovely apartment rooms that we also used to get ready the day of our wedding. We managed to get two apartments on the same floor, which made it super easy to get ready. One Party in one room, one party in the other.
Toastie Van: Toasta Food Truck. We had organised this to come toward the end of the night so people could grab a snack on the way out. They went out of their way to make a whole heap of toasties up and hand them out during the night to those who wanted them – great service and easy to work with!
Photo Upload: Kululu. We sent out a link post our wedding day and asked everyone to upload their photos and videos from the evening, and with 196 guests, we got a lot of content back to add to our amazing memories of the day!.
Wedding Website: Say I Do. Highly recommend to anyone planning a wedding. Between this website and a shared Excel spreadsheet, we kept everything well and truly organised.
Honeymoon: Not until October, but we are heading to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico!
