Real Wedding – Georgia & Micah, Red Hill VIC
What do you do when your plans for a tropical destination wedding are pulverised by an unprecedented global pandemic? You be like Georgia and Micah; reset, reengage and recreate the whole stunning celebration closer to home. And while you’re at it, why not choose two divine destinations instead of limiting yourself? From a sweet ceremony-scape, complete with rolling hills and lush greenery, to a sleekly stylish poolside soiree, this is a day to delight.
Creating cohesion between the two stunning scenes was the theming choices, textural layers of white on white, accented with soft rose gold in sleek minimalist lines. Florals form clouds of velvety vanilla, dotted with echoes of apricot and muted blush. The wedding party in shades of ivory and cream emphasise the tropical chic meets effortless elegance style.
Micah says he knew on their first date that Georgia was the one. And his expression throughout the day, from the first glimpse of his bride to their sweet romance evident in every twilight drenched moment, says he knew it all over again on his wedding day. There to capture every achingly radiant moment was Allumé Weddings.
Scroll on to experience Micah and Georgia’s epic event!
The meeting.
We met on Tinder in 2015. Georgia cancelled the first date and only rescheduled because a close friend said, “you will marry him”.
The ‘one’.
Micah is a romantic and ‘knew the day we met’. I am more of a pragmatist and don’t recall a ‘moment’ but knew early on that I could see Micah fitting into my future and me into his. We ticked each other’s boxes, and although we were opposite in many ways, we complemented and challenged each other in the best way possible.
The proposal.
Micah surprised Georgia with a helicopter ride to a winery in Coldstream for a wine tasting and three-course lunch. Afterwards, we went for a walk through the vineyards in the rain, where Micah got down on one knee and popped the question. By this point, we were both a few wines deep and very emotional; Georgia cried the whole flight home then we celebrated that night with our families.
Planning process.
Cancelling our original overseas wedding plans in Bali got us off to a bumpy start. We felt a bit defeated but knew we didn’t want to wait years to get married, so we began the search for a local venue. After looking at countless venues all across Victoria, we settled on Panton Vineyard for our ceremony. The property owner Karen understood our vision from the get-go and helped us pull everything together for the ceremony in a matter of months (including a plan b, c, d, e, as restrictions were changing so regularly).
Planning the reception proved to be more difficult, with very few venues offering outdoor options for receptions in Melbourne. Having our hearts set on this, we chose to host a more intimate reception following our ceremony and cocktail hour at a private property nearby. We took a risk in planning the dinner outside with no wet weather option, but it paid off when we were able to have a dreamy long table dinner under the stars overlooking Port Phillip Bay!
Style inspiration.
We knew we wanted the whole wedding day to be outside, and once we secured both venues, the styling was largely influenced by them. As both venues required us to bring almost all hire and styling items in, we were able to create our vision of a timeless and romantic yet relaxed affair, from scratch. We kept the colour palette and styling elements minimal with simple white florals and light blush and white table decor. The real heroes were the views at each venue, and we didn’t want to detract from that.
Directories and real weddings via websites like Ivory Tribe were a real help when choosing our venues and vendors because it was great to hear about other couples’ personal experiences and stories.
When it came to deciding on the details and styling for the day, we took inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram.
The ceremony.
Our ceremony was on a lawn overlooking the vineyard at Panton, on a beautiful 27-degree day. Vanessa (Just Me Plus One) performed all our ceremony songs and made every moment feel magical. Georgia walked down the (very long) aisle with both her parents to meet Micah. It felt surreal to finally be standing there in front of our nearest and dearest, and we were both so happy neither of us shed a tear whilst reciting our vows (much to our surprise). Being able to hug everyone after felt particularly special, given just months beforehand, we wouldn’t have been able to.
The outfit.
We both chose our outfits with a Bali wedding in mind, back in late 2019. I took longer than expected to find my dress and ended up going against what I thought I would like. After trying on close to 50 dresses with my mum and sister, I saw the Pronovias Albiorix dress online and went in after work to try it on at Raffaele Ciuca. It ticked all my boxes; it was light, sheer and whimsical and perfect for a Bali Villa wedding. After our Bali wedding was cancelled, I added on the tulle wings to give the overall look a softer and more romantic feel. I never saw myself in a traditional veil, so these worked perfectly! I knew I wanted to be able to dance later in the night in a dress that showed off my ceremony heels, and I fell in LOVE as soon as I saw the Noosa dress from Stone Cold Fox – I can’t wait for an occasion to wear it again.
Favourite moments.
Seeing each other for the first time at opposite ends of the aisle and having all the stress and nerves from the hours, days, weeks, and months leading up to that moment melt away.
The spontaneous group Zorba by the pool was also a highlight!
Meaning of marriage.
Marriage is a commitment to each other, to trust, love, celebrate and challenge each other through good times and bad.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Love by Lana Del Rey
Signing: Fade Into You by Mazzy Star
Recessional: Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer
First Dance: Video Games by Lana Del Rey
All performed by Vanessa (Just Me Plus One)
Funny stories or near disasters.
Aside from cancelling our original wedding plans and coming close to having to cancel or reschedule our second due to private gathering restrictions in Melbourne, most of our day went to plan, thanks to detailed spreadsheets and instructions given to our very capable vendors!
The only thing that didn’t quite go to plan was Micah’s buttonhole. I noticed something was missing when we met at the end of the aisle, but it wasn’t until the next day when I saw it sitting neatly in its box in our room that I realised he completely forgot to put it on!
The table runner on our cake table also caught on fire during the evening after a gust of wind blew it close to a pillar candle (luckily, there were plenty of liquids around to put it out quickly).
Planning surprises.
We knew planning everything ourselves wouldn’t be easy but were surprised with just how much there was to do in the months and weeks leading up to the big day. A month out, it became clear that there was too much for us to do on the day ourselves, so we hired an on the day coordinator to help out. This relieved a lot of the stress in the final weeks, knowing we had someone else to watch over everything on the day.
Words of wisdom.
In the early stages, think about what is most important to you and focus your energy and resources on those things. It is so easy to get caught up in making EVERYTHING perfect, which will stretch your budget and time thinly across all elements. When you look back, you will remember the moments and aspects that were the most important to you and your partner, so invest in those.
Set aside some time for just the two of you on the day. We spent some one-on-one time together after our guests left for the reception; we had a drink and celebrated being officially married before driving to the reception together. The day went by so quickly, and we’re so glad we had this moment to take it all in together!
Trying to find the perfect locale for your epic event? We have curated collections of our fave Australian venues, from intimate interiors to expansive open spaces. Whether you’re more urban explorers or open-air adventurers, we have something to suit, here.
GEORGIA & MICAH’S VENDORS
Ceremony venue: Panton Vineyard, Shoreham
Reception venue: Private property, Red Hill
Celebrant/Officiant: Steven Alphine, Pastor at Neuma Church
Photography & videography: Joey Willis, Allumé Weddings. Joey was the only vendor we had booked for our Bali wedding that we could still use in Melbourne – the Allume team were so helpful in finding a new date that worked for everyone.
Planning & Styling: Bride
Florist: The Petal Project
Hair: Tori, Blisque Salon
Make-up: Carla Dyson
The dresses: Pronovias (purchased via Raffaele Ciuca) and Stone Cold Fox.
Veil / headwear: Wings and bows via Etsy
Shoes: Loeffler Randall and Aje sneakers
Rings: Anthony’s Jewellers
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Third Form
Suits: M.J. Bale
Catering: MoreISH
Bar: The bar at the ceremony and cocktail hour was supplied and staffed by Panton Vineyard, the bar at reception was DIY (we purchased pre-mixed spritzes and espresso martinis that the bar staff we hired were able to prepare for guests throughout the night, which were a huge hit!)
Cake / Cake topper: The Butcher’s Daughters Cakes
Stationery / Signage: Invitations via Appy Couple, menus via Mila and May, signage via Fox and Hart.
Entertainment: Just Me Plus One (Vanessa was a DREAM to work with. Although we never met face to face before the big day, our regular emails discussing the vision, song choices, timing etc., meant that she felt like a close friend by the time the wedding came around. She performed during our ceremony, for cocktail hour and during dinner, including our first dance, and all our guests raved about her! Her relaxed and romantic style really set the mood.)
Décor: The Hire Co (cutlery, candles and candle holders), The Small Things Co (candles and candle holders), Cloth and Confetti, (napkins and table runners for cake table), Simmons Linen Hire (table cloths), State of Elliott (wishing well).
Hire: Peninsula Party Hire (furniture, bar, lighting, heating, glassware and crockery).
Honeymoon: Hayman Island and Hamilton Island
On the Day Coordination: Dream Catcher Weddings
