REAL WEDDING – Emily & Luke, Coldstream VIC

After assembling an A+ team of vendors, Luke and Emily relaxed into the planning process and allowed their impeccable dream day vision to be realised.

And what a vision it is.

Taking inspiration from weddings she had attended, Emily leant into fresh, contemporary elegance, with a white-on-white colour palette accented with perfect pops of deep russet brown, realised in dreamy cloud like elegance by Love Alfalfa florals.

We can’t get enough of Emily’s combination of statement veil by Dove Grey Bridal from Twelve South and stunning Mariana Hardwick princess gown. The chic embossed veil perfectly elevates the simple silhouette – and the look on Luke’s face hints that he is equally blown away. A switch to a Rebecca Vallance bow-detailed mini to dance the night away is a true style move.

Captured in true visual poetry by the legendary Kinship by Kristy, we dare you not to keep on scrolling these breathtaking images.

The meeting.

We were lucky enough to meet through mutual friends- they both suggested we meet up, so we had a double date at TGI Fridays over six years ago now and the rest is history.

The ‘one’.

Emily: When I discovered he shared the same obsession for dogs, quite early on!

Luke: our first dinner date!

The proposal.

Luke was wanting to wait for our anniversary to pop the question, but was too anxious having a ring lying around the house for a month and decided the likelihood of me finding it were too high, given I’m apparently a blood hound with sniffing things out that I shouldn’t. So, he proposed on Christmas Eve (my favourite time of the year) with our dog Kevin, wearing a bandana that read “Will you marry my dad?”. It was perfect.

Planning process.

The planning process was longer than I expected – I was so shocked with the engagement that I had started the process with zero idea on what type of wedding we both wanted. My sister bought me a wedding planner book which was a godsend – it gave me ideas on what was needed and specific timeframes things should be booked.

After that it was a lot of research to find our vendors – I feel so lucky that I had seen some of my amazing suppliers working at previous weddings. My other vendors were found through Instagram or by following wedding accounts or blogs. We met most of them through zoom meetings and we instantly clicked with our first choices! The process was so smooth after that, we just listened to our amazing vendors and were guided by them up until the big day.

Style inspiration.

I had a lot of help and inspiration through my beautiful friends that married before me and with the addition of exploring social media/magazines, it all just tied together nicely. I just couldn’t go past timeless whites/greenery to tie in with our beautiful modern venue. We also had browns and cream colours to match the autumn vibes. My bridesmaids wore brown and our signage/invites were also brown.

I found viewing real wedding blogs most useful for inspiration, it is always great reading about the tiny little details that make each wedding so special. Ivory Tribe is great for getting ideas from real couples.

The ceremony.

We wanted a ceremony that was lighthearted and straight to the point – I think it was under 30 minutes in the end and it had the perfect amount of love and laughter. Our amazing celebrant Megan nailed it. We included both our mums and our two dogs in walking down the aisle, which was very special to us.

The outfits.

My dress was a custom made gown from Mariana Hardwick. I was open to trying any style of dress and luckily I did because the one I selected was not the usual style I would pick. So, I would encourage everyone to try some different styles, you might be surprised. For me, it took visiting six different boutiques that day and it was the last dress I tried on. I could tell by my sister and mum’s face that it was “the one”. My veil was a statement piece and I will forever be obsessed with it!

My second dress was a white mini from Rebecca Valance – it had the cutest bow on the back which is why I chose it!

The guy’s suits were black and white from MJ Bale. Luke’s was a little different with a shiny lapel. We went to one suit shop with all the groomsmen and bought them that day. So easy.

Favourite moments.

That is so tricky, the whole day was amazing but the key things we both will remember are sharing our vows and the dance floor with our amazing DJ/Saxophonist.

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage is legally agreeing to be with your best friend forever!

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Our singer Harry did an amazing acoustic version of Have I told you lately by Rod Stewart.

Reception: We found love by Rihanna and Calvin Harris (Live saxophone version – so fun)

First dance: acoustic version of Simply the Best by Tina Turner

Funny stories (or near disasters).

The groomsmen all had a sleep over the night before the wedding. After a few too many drinks, they decided to make a dance routine to a well known trumpet song (Trumpsta) for their entrance. Our DJ agreed to change the song at midnight the night before and it was hilarious!

Planning surprises.

I think the main thing is how much organising it actually entailed. For example – we had to book three Airbnbs for myself and Luke to get ready, as well as a dog friendly Airbnb for our dogs. There are a lot of costs that you just don’t account for at the start.

A positive surprise is how amazing your wedding comes together when you select incredible vendors- it made the day so easy!

Words of wisdom.

Try not to stress about the small stuff – you realise that when you have an amazing group of vendors, it will always run smoothly! They really know what they’re doing! With that being said, good quality suppliers are worth their weight in gold. I will forever cherish the amazing memories and the photos/videos are with us forever now. Gee I’m so grateful for my amazing photographer Kristy and videographer Rachael who captured the day perfectly.

It’s true what everyone says- it is the fastest day of your life! Soak it in and have so much fun.

Want to follow Luke and Emily’s lead and get super-organised? Along with our sleek and sassy book, Wedding Plans, we’ve got a suite of downloadable resources to help you find your way through the planning maze, whatever stage of the journey you may be at.

EMILY & LUKE’S VENDORS

A lot of suppliers were found through previous weddings we had attended and witnessed first hand. It’s really handy following as many wedding-related pages on Instagram, these can be found through blogs like Ivory Tribe, who list vendors by category and state.

Ceremony & reception venue / location: Hubert Estate – Coldstream. A stunning modern venue that accommodated to all our wedding plans. Brilliant staff and amazing food. Our guests were dying over the delicious food.

Celebrant: Marry Me Megan. Wow Megan was incredible, she really felt like we knew her forever. The guests loved her and she just made the ceremony so perfect and special.

Photography: Kinship by Kristy. As you can see from these amazing photos, Kristy is just amazing. Not only that but she made us both feel so comfortable and it never felt forced or awkward. She’s so lovely and professional.

Videography: Rachael Mary Films. Rachael is so talented and amazingly managed to make two awkward humans look natural on video. What a lovely and talented videographer.

Styling: Myself

Florist: Elle, Love Alfalfa. Elle was so amazing and easy to deal with, very prompt with her emails and tied my vision together so nicely.

Hair: Creative Director Nat Miss Jaye Salon. Nat is just so incredibly talented- she adds such a fun vibe to the morning of your wedding. My hair did not move.

Make-up: Ashleigh Evans. An amazing and incredibly lovely make up artist who also brings such a fun vibe to your wedding morning- she is so good at what she does and made me feel so amazing. My makeup looked the same when I got home.

The dresses: Mariana Hardwick and Rebecca Vallance

Veil: Dove Grey Bridal from Twelve South Bridal.

Shoes: Mi Piaci

Rings: Seahorse Boutique

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Dissh

Suits & bow ties / ties: MJ Bale

Favours: take home pizza from Hubert Estate in custom Pizza boxes from Rebel Reflect

Cake / Cake topper: Amy, Lola Catering & Events

Stationery / Signage: Briar Rose Celebrations and Polkadot Paper

Entertainment: Harry, Deus Sax

Décor: Etsy and local shops

Honeymoon: Europe!