Real Wedding – Hannah & David, Melbourne VIC

When Hannah and David began discussing their wedding plans, they initially toyed with the idea of eloping—a city-hall style ceremony followed by drinks at one of their favorite bars. However, upon reflection, they realised that their wedding wouldn’t feel complete without every friend and family member who had supported them along their journey.

Their wedding vision shifted to become a guest-centred event, a love letter to the city of Melbourne where they had met and fallen in love.

For their attire, Hannah stunned in a custom-made silk gown with a cathedral-length lace veil, expertly crafted by designer Holly Butler. The process of creating her dream dress was a collaborative journey, with Holly bringing Hannah’s vision to life with care and attention to detail. Meanwhile, David opted for a classic silk black tuxedo, tailored to perfection, after exploring various options to find his signature style.

Their wedding day was a celebration of love, shared with cherished friends and family in the vibrant city of Melbourne—a true reflection of their journey together and captured to perfection by Lei Lei Clavey.

The meeting. 

We met in 2014. Neither of us are from Melbourne originally so we both lived at University College while attending Melbourne University. When Hannah moved in David was already there for his second year as an O-week leader. One of Hannah’s good friends from high school moved at the same time as here and was in David’s O-week group. That’s how we ended up meeting each other.

As you must do, we all went out clubbing in the city and the rest plays itself.

The one.

It’s a good question. There wasn’t any one particular moment. Our relationship wasn’t a swift progression but a long windy road of hanging out. We didn’t place a lot of labels and expectations on it and so I think we fell into it naturally more and more until eventually it just seemed so obvious that of course we should get married.

The proposal.

The ring was something that we both were involved in. It was lockdown and we ordered from Louise Jean – a jeweller in QLD. They were amazing throughout the whole process and made ordering online without seeing the ring in person so comforting.

Before the ring was due to arrive, I gave Hannah two choices: 1. We wait until lockdown ends and we throw a big party with all our friends, or 2. We do it now just us two. Hannah chose impatience. On a sunny Thursday afternoon, we set out on our bikes and I took Hannah on a tour of the city – to all the places on our relationship that were the most significant to us. We went past University College, the place we first moved in together, the dog park where we decided to get our dog, Frankie, and finally to Catani Gardens: the place where I first told Hannah I loved her.

She said yes. We popped a tiny Moet bottle. Called our families and watched the sunset over the bay. One of our friends got us a framed map of Melbourne that shows the route (I recorded the ride on Strava – or else it never happened).

Planning process.

We took two years to get married after being engaged. The first year it was all about having fun with it. Deciding on a venue and major vendors at least, but the rest of 2022 was all about enjoying being engaged. We had a big engagement party to finally celebrate with friends and family, and then spent months just poring over wedding content deciding what we like and what we didn’t and chatting about what create the most amazing day for us, our families, and our friends.

The actual year leading up was execution phase. We booked the rest of the vendors and made our decisions. Hannah created amazing save the dates, invites, menus, table numbers, and origami thank-you letters to all our guests.

It all came together because we took our time and discussed the options together. Both of us were engaged in the process and happy to speak our thoughts with candor. We took time to recognise the effort each of us were putting into the big day.

Style inspiration.

When first discussing wedding plans we strongly considered eloping. Our initial thoughts were a city-hall style wedding followed by drinks at one of our favourite bars. However, when we really thought about it, we just couldn’t imagine getting married, without every single friend and family member that had helped us get to this point.

The wedding then became about creating an event that was guest-centered, and that felt like a love letter to the city we had met in and grown to love so much, Melbourne.

We chose venues that felt iconic to the city, and that were already dear to our hearts, and worked with local vendors whose work inspired us. We have loved the relationships that wedding planning allowed us to build and hope to continue to use our vendors for other meaningful moments in our lives.

Hannah spent endless hours on Pinterest and various wedding blogs. We wanted our wedding to feel extremely personal to us so reading stories of other couples and how they incorporated their own personalised moments was really inspiring.

The ceremony.

It was extremely Melbourne. It was on the Melbourne Town Hall Portico Balcony. You could hear the trams ding and rush by. The bustle of a warm Saturday evening was just below us. The sun glistened on the stunning white and green flower arrangement behind where we both stood for the vows. We let the space do its job, but coloured the air with a string quartet. Nothing beats live music.

The outfits.

Extremely classic. David wore a silk, black tuxedo with a bowtie and Hannah wore an incredible silk gown with a cathedral length lace veil.

Hannah’s dress and veil were both custom-made by Holly Butler. I had reached out to Holly on Instagram after falling in love with her designs. I had tried on dresses at several different stores but was yet to find one that felt right. I took the different aspects of what I liked (and didn’t like) to Holly and she was able to sketch up the perfect dress almost immediately. Holly was an absolute dream to work with. She listened so intently and took so much care. I couldn’t recommend her highly enough.

I wore a Rachel Gilbert mini dress for the after-party. David and I were actually out shopping together when we spotted it. My wedding dress featured a long, relaxed bow on the back of the train, whereas the bow on the back of this dress was outrageous. It felt like the perfect complement to my first look.

David went to a couple of different tailors but didn’t feel like they were his style. He eventually found Oscar Hunt, specifically Marcus Ham, who were incredibly welcoming and helpful in their choices and discussions. He had that with the other tailors beforehand which did help in understanding what he wanted once he went to them. It is worth shopping around not just to see a price and their options, but to also learn about the process and to truly think about what you want.

Favourite moments.

For Hannah, it was right before walking down the aisle. Both my parents walked me down the aisle, and it was such a special moment to stand there together with one on either side. Nothing can compare to the nerves we all felt before that moment. I’ll never forget the way I felt as they finally opened the doors, and I could see David at the other end.

For David, finishing the first dance. We were so happy that we pulled it off. We did six weeks of dance lessons and practiced as much as we remembered. When we finished the dance in front of everyone that was the itinerated day complete, we embraced each other and did a small celebration just us two. We could celebrate knowing the day was amazing and went smoothly. We could dance the night away with all our friends and family.

Meaning of marriage.

It means that we are on this journey together for the rest of our lives. And so it is an undying and resolute aspect of our lives – something we always know will be there and can forever rely upon. It means we can take risks and be vulnerable knowing that we are there to support each other. We can go further in what each of us wants to do because we are doing it together.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Love by Lana Del Ray played by our String Quartet

First Dance: Unforgettable by Nat King Cole

Words of wisdom.

Create a different email for all your wedding stuff that both of you can access. There were some things the other couldn’t help with because it wasn’t sent to them, and you’d have to communicate with intent to update to each other, so you don’t miss anything – just being another task to do. Shared email and notifications on so you both know what’s going on at the same time.

There’s something truly enchanting about a Melbourne wedding, with its picturesque cityscape serving as the perfect backdrop for unforgettable moments. Join us as we delve into the breathtaking celebration of Pippa and Andrew, where love, elegance, and the beauty of Melbourne intertwine to create a day to remember.

HANNAH & DAVID’S SUPPLIER