Real Wedding – Ivy & Callum, Richmond VIC
Is there anything more uplifting than a groom’s favourite wedding moment being when he hears his bride giggling softly moments before seeing her for the first time? The moment of Ivy and Callum’s first look reveal was a sweetly stunning vision captured with artful magnetism by photographer Fern and Stone.
To help ease their decision fatigue, these high school sweethearts leant into their ethos of keeping their soiree authentically true to them. Glasshaus Brücke provided the perfect combination of inner-city contemporary class with warm, oasis-like vibes. To elevate the styling further and bring that touch of the personal, Cloth and Confetti added a wash of soft neutral linens, crisp taper candles in soft pastel hues, and feature vaseware. Florals by Val Kretchet gave lush summer meadow in elegant arrangements to complement the overall effect.
Ivy looked effortlessly exquisite in her gown by Khya Studios, with a structured bodice in a perfectly on-point silhouette.
There to ensure every increasingly effervescent guest memory is captured in audio perfection were our friends at Off the Hook – not only providing a one-of-a-kind memento but looking the uber-cool part at the same time.
The meeting.
We met in our first year of high school when we were in the same class, and instantly became best friends. After a couple of years of teenage angst (Ivy’s version of events), we finally made it official in Year 11, and we’ve been together ever since. It’s been 14 years. Safe to say, our family and friends were elated for the wedding day.
The ‘one’.
Both of our memories are a bit fuzzy after so long together, but we both knew pretty early on that we were in this for the long haul, and it felt right to do life together forever.
The proposal.
We were building our (now) house in 2021, and we made it a weekly ritual to visit the building site every weekend. We were getting close to the finish line in December when Callum surprised me with a beautiful photobook that documented the house build at every stage. It was so thoughtful and made me so excited to start our new chapter in our new house. Just as I went to close the book, Callum said there were more photos to go through. He had included photos throughout our entire relationship (14 years = a lot of pages). It was at this moment, flicking through each page, that I could feel my heart rate get faster and my eyes well up as we drew closer to the end. On the final page, it was his favourite photo of us, with the question, “Will you marry me?”
Planning process.
Ivy: I’m an indecisive Aquarian, so planning a wedding was not always a relaxing experience for me. As excited as I was to marry my soulmate with our nearest and dearest, I was equally as excited not to plan a wedding anymore! Let’s just say I’m in awe of event planners.
Style inspiration.
It was super important to us that our wedding felt true to us. Choosing our venue first really helped us narrow down our vision (e.g. we’re not big wine drinkers, so a winery didn’t feel right. I wouldn’t describe us as ‘beach/river people’, so something by the water didn’t make sense either, etc). We quickly realised we wanted a chic inner-city wedding with a venue that felt contemporary yet full of charm. For us, Glasshaus Brucke had this in spades – and more. Within the first five minutes of seeing the space, we knew it was where we wanted to say “I do”.
I think all of our research came exclusively from real weddings on Ivory Tribe and trusty Instagram.
Ivy: I’m an extremely visual person, so I needed to see a vendor’s work at real weddings to gauge if they were the right fit for us or not.
The ceremony.
To our pleasant surprise, our ceremony was one of our favourite moments of the day. That’s not to say we weren’t looking forward to it, but we were both a little nervous to stand in front of 100 guests and declare our love for each other.
Our instructions to our incredible celebrant, Linda Hamill, were we wanted something short and sweet. She swayed us to consider nothing less than 20 minutes – after all, it’s a pretty special moment in your life.
But on the day, after a very emotional start (bride, groom and at least 50% of our guests), once we were standing together at the top of the aisle, the nerves and what felt like ‘the rest of the world’ melted away for a moment and we were in our own bubble.
Linda created the most beautiful ceremony for us. She took such care in telling our story and gave us the space to shine and be ourselves.
There were tears, laughter, and so much love in the room pouring out of our beautiful guests. While we might not be able to recall every word off-by-heart, it’s the feeling we had during the ceremony that we will never ever forget. It was electric.
The outfit.
Ivy: I jumped at the opportunity to try on a heap of styles to narrow down what I was looking for. Finding ‘the one’ was definitely a tough decision because nearly all the dresses I tried on were beautiful. So, I really had to trust my gut and choose the dress that I felt the most amazing in. I didn’t cry when I tried on ‘the one’; instead, I felt PUMPED for the big day. My beautiful dress was the Lumley from Chosen by KYHA. It was everything I was looking for – sleek, timeless yet still modern and not a dress I had seen other brides wearing. The team at KYHA were so accommodating and let me change the colour of the dress from nude to white, and I couldn’t resist adding detachable tulle sleeves to complete the look. A big priority was also making sure my dress was comfortable because I knew I wanted one dress for the whole day and a night of dancing. I truly felt a million dollars in my dress.
Callum: From the outset, I knew I wanted to purchase my wedding suit (rather than hire), and a few friends had recommended the team at The Suit Concierge in Richmond. I can’t recommend them more. I went for a classic black tuxedo and couldn’t be happier with the result.
Favourite moments.
Ivy: I’ll never forget standing together, looking at Callum while he read his beautiful vows to me. I also wasn’t convinced he’d cry on the day, but he actually choked up at this very moment. I was thrilled to spare my own tissue to wipe his heartfelt tears.
Callum: Our first look is so special to me. We were on one of the main paths of Fitzroy Gardens. I had my back to Ivy, and I remember my heart rate getting quicker as I could hear her walking closer to meet me (she was giggling with nerves). It took everything in me not to turn around instantly, but I’m so glad I waited for Ivy’s tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see the most beautiful bride with the biggest smile.
Meaning of marriage.
Ivy: Building a life together with your soulmate, creating a home filled with love, laughter, and joy. It’s a journey that we embark on together, hand in hand, with the promise to grow, learn, and evolve together forever.
Callum: It’s another step we’re taking together that solidifies the love and feelings we have for each other, as well as the acknowledgement that we’re continually growing.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: How Long Will I Love You by Ellie Goulding
Recessional: Alive by Empire of the Sun
Reception entry: Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe by Barry White
First dance: Electricity by Silk City x Dua Lipa
Final song: All The Small Things by Blink-182
Funny stories or near disasters.
Nothing disastrous, thankfully. One thing that comes to mind (we both remember giggling to ourselves at the time) is that the aisle song that played on the day was actually our backup aisle song. I (Ivy) was standing outside the entrance to Glasshaus (Callum at the end of the aisle), and we could hear Ellie Goulding’s How Long Will I Love You playing when we both realised – “Omg, we forgot to update our DJ that we had changed our minds from the first version of songs we sent!” The good thing is, no one has any idea except for Callum and I. Plus, we still loved our backup song.
Planning surprises.
How many options there are, for just about everything! The choice fatigue was real. It was hard to drown out the noise initially, but quickly, we realised we should just stay true to ourselves and do what’s going to make us the happiest.
Words of wisdom.
Do. You.
It can be really easy to get caught up in what everyone else is doing or wanting to keep family members happy, but at the end of the day, this day is all about you and your partner and your love for each other. Your friends and family want to celebrate you as a couple, so we highly recommend giving them a day that’s authentically you!
Hot tip – If you’re not fussed about having an outdoor portion of your wedding, we highly recommend getting married in winter. Melbourne is spoilt with a heap of stunning indoor venues. Often, venues have discounted winter rates, and popular suppliers had more availability in this period, too. Another motivation for us – it meant we didn’t have to wait too long for a Euro-summer honeymoon.
We love seeing what styles and trends are unfolding each wedding season – and this season is a true treat. Read on at the blog for our summary of our favourite on-point elements.
IVY & CALLUM’S VENDORS
My favourite places to find suppliers were supplier lists from Real Wedding features like Ivory Tribe and from Instagram and TikTok.
Ceremony venue: Glasshaus Brucke – Downstairs
Reception venue: Glasshaus Brucke – Upstairs
Do not overlook this stunning Melbourne venue. So many of our guests have since mentioned to us how incredible the space was for a wedding. Shoutout to Georgia, the Events Manager – she was a total dream come true and eased all our nerves for the management of the day. A total professional and all over what’s involved in executing a wedding.
Celebrant/Officiant: Linda Hamill. From day one, Linda was warm, professional and supportive. We will cherish the beautiful ceremony she created for us forever.
Photography: Jess Mitchell – Fern & Stone Photography. We cannot recommend Jess enough! For a couple who can be quite awkward in front of the camera, she made us feel at ease instantly and guided us every step of the way. We are beyond obsessed with our wedding photos – I think Ivy looks at them every day.
Styling and hire: Cloth & Confetti Events. If your budget allows, I highly recommend an on-the-day styling package. It took so much planning and stress out of our day, knowing that Jaz and her team would set up and pack down all the styling elements of our reception. Jaz also offers an amazing range of hire items which made it so easy for a busy bride to tackle multiple jobs with one supplier.
Florist: Val Kretchet. Val and her work is unbelievable. The florals for our day blew my mind – I still can’t get over how stunning they were. She went above and beyond anything I could have imagined.
The dress: Kyha Studios
Alterations: Tania Stokes Design
Shoes: Tony Bianco
Engage and Wedding Rings: Saphira Diamonds – Adriana is the real deal and has a heart of pure gold (and diamonds). She will forever be our jeweller now.
Bridesmaid’s dresses: My bridal party of one chose her own dress from One Fell Swoop.
Suits: The Suit Concierge
Hair: Natalie Jaye – Miss Jaye Salon. Any other hairdresser may have stopped me, but Nat was the ultimate hype-girl and totally supported my decision when I decided to cut almost two inches off my hair two weeks out from the wedding. The brief was for a chic, bouncy blow-wave, and she knocked it out of the park. Nat is also the exact person you want around on the morning of your wedding – I think we laughed all morning.
Make-up: Velvet Thi. My make-up has never looked better, and that was all thanks to the magic hands of Thi. I highly recommend a bridal trial because we made some important changes that made all the difference on the big day.
Spray tans: Beauty & Bronze
Nails: Miami Nails. The best in the biz. I’ve religiously been getting my nails done here every month for the past five years.
Bow ties / ties: David Jones
Catering: Fourside Food Design + Events. Fourside was a staple catering vendor I kept seeing come up across Ivory Tribe’s real wedding features, all with glowing reviews. So when Glasshaus’s all-in-inclusive package included Fourside, we were all in. We loved working with Katie to build our menu, including market-style hot jam doughnuts for dessert in place of a cake. The food was top-tier, and no one went home hungry.
Favours: Home-made chilli oil
Stationery / Signage: My beautiful friend, Maddy Young, is an amazing graphic designer. She created the stationery of my dreams – complete with our very own couple monogram.
Entertainment: itsalot music – I’m so lucky to have such talented friends, including Anna, who doubled as our guest and our DJ. From day one, I knew Anna had to be our DJ. She reads the room perfectly and creates the most joyous and vibey atmosphere.
Transport: My Limo Mate
Audio guestbook: Off The Hook – We’re guilty of not signing wedding guestbooks and tend to find them a bit of a chore. So, an audio-guestbook was the perfect alternative. We were crying from love and laughter from the mix of messages we got from our guests.
Minimoon: To avoid going back to work straight away, the week after our wedding, we stayed in Richmond for another two nights to stay in the bubble before driving down to Jackalope for one night, and we finished off with a few nights down the Great Ocean Road in Grey River.
Honeymoon: Perks of a winter wedding, we planned for a summer ‘Euro-moon’ for September. It was a heavenly four weeks in Italy and Malta.
