Real Wedding – Jess & Matt, Warrandyte South VIC

Jess and Matt made magic happen when they wed on a beautiful property, surrounded by rolling lawns, glorious gardens and an ever-impressive vineyard.

They decided early on that they wanted to keep their day minimal and timeless, so that they didn’t reflect on their celebration in years to come and think ‘why on earth did we do that?’. They steered clear of trends and kept their styling sophisticated, accented with touches of white, black and gold.

Where the real wow-factor lay was in the fabulous florals designed and executed by Ivory Tribe favourite, Pinkie Promise. Jess and Matt are still blown away by the incredible work of Dayne.

Bianca Virtue was the woman behind the lens and we think you will fall in love with this sweet celebration as much as we did.

The meeting.

Matt and I met when we were children. We both played soccer at the same local club and my dad was Matt’s juniors coach. In 2012, we ended up both returning to play at the same local club and reacquainted ourselves at a soccer function.

The ‘one’.

Matt: I already knew she was the one after a couple of dates but knew for certain when she met and bonded seamlessly and perfectly with my family and friends.

Jess: I knew rather quickly that this guy was a total keeper. We instantly built a strong connection with our humour, hobbies and values so aligned, we were inseparable after a month of dating.

The proposal.

Matt planned the perfect proposal. We took our dog Luna for a walk up in the Dandenong Ranges. We arrived at a regular spot of ours and Matt was carrying around a less than attractive backpack with what I thought were toys for Luna to play with. I was adamant that he put the backpack back in the car to save ourselves the embarrassment, unbeknownst to me that the ring was hiding inside. After walking around a while, Matt asked me to walk a little further and he would have Luna come and find me. In the time I was walking away, he swiftly dressed Luna in a bandana which said “Will you marry me?” with the ring attached to her collar. How could anyone say no to a proposal when a dog is involved? We celebrated with a picnic on the hill and champagne flowing.

Style inspiration.

We knew we wanted to keep it minimal and as timeless as possible. We avoided bold colours and went for tones which we believed to be a combination of both modern and classic. Our fear was looking back on our wedding in the future and asking ourselves, why did we dress our girls in hot pink puffy sleeves with a fluorescent blue bouquet and millinery to match?! Our vision for the wedding was to ensure the elements were timeless, modern and sophisticated. We went with a minimal colour palette with white, black and gold décor, only having colour in the bridesmaid’s dresses and flowers to ensure they popped.

The dress.

I was always searching for something a little bit different. I tried on so many gowns across so many stores in Melbourne. Dragging my bridesmaids and mum in and out of the city’s most beautiful boutiques, but never leaving 100 percent satisfied. I was scouring the internet day and night for months searching for anything that stood out. At the time I saw the Hamilton gown online, I was tossing up between a One Day design and a Jane Hill design. I thought to myself, ‘okay, one last appointment, if this gown doesn’t work I will have to settle for something else’. As soon as I put on the sample gown, albeit a different fabric than the end product, I knew it was the one. It was the perfect balance I was looking for, being a modern, fun and timeless gown. I paired the crepe gown with a pearl veil to add texture and an element of fun to my look.

Favourite moments.

What an incredible feeling it was to embrace in our first kiss as husband and wife and hearing the cheers of our loved ones while they showered us with rose petals back down the aisle hand in hand.

Meaning of marriage.

To us, marriage is a milestone in our journey of commitment in a life together full of adventure, laughter, compromise and love.

Wedding soundtrack.

Besides the Coldplay tune, these songs were recreated acoustically by our musician Joey Cirillo.

Aisle: Bloom by The Paper Kites

Recessional: How Sweet It Is by James Taylor

Reception entry: Orphans by Coldplay

First dance: I Won’t Let You Go by James Morrison

Funny stories (or near disasters).

When our original musician cancelled one month before the wedding, we were devastated. We loved his work and were so excited for him to perform, however, Unplugged Entertainment and Joey Cirillo came to the rescue with only four weeks to go and absolutely saved the day and the dance floor. Jess also chipped her tooth two weeks out, a bowl of cereal gone horrible wrong, but luckily our dentist worked his magic and nobody could tell.

Planning surprises.

There were many elements in the planning process that we found relatively easy, which took us by surprise. We thought we were in for an exhausting and tedious process however once we made a checklist, broke down what we wanted and started looking for vendors one thing at a time, it became incredibly manageable.

Words of wisdom.

Work with your partner to figure out what you like and what you want to prioritise in your wedding. We were open and discussed our dreams, ideas and vision for our day. We also encourage other couples to think outside the box and question traditions. If you don’t enjoy it, you don’t need it at your wedding. Put your money and planning into more important things for your day.

Need a directory of suppliers that are the real deal? Let our team of talent help you execute your dream day, from floristy, to venue, beauty and more – we have it all!

JESS & MATT’S VENDORS

Ceremony and reception: The Farm Yarra Valley – The Farm Yarra Valley and the staff, were beyond incredible from day one. We worked with Anthea who helped to coordinate our day and make our vision come alive. The food is absolutely divine and our guests still rave about the meals from our wedding day. The Farm encapsulated the vision and look we were trying to achieve and created the perfect canvas for our day.

Celebrant/Officiant: Abbie Frew – We felt so comfortable with Abbie, we all had plenty in common. Then we really unleashed our love story on her. We were able to be ourselves, and not grit our teeth through the ceremony planning process. Sitting down for a wine with Abbie, going through our life stories and our relationship helped us to know we had the perfect person for our day.

Photography: Bianca Virtue – After one coffee date with Bianca, it was a no brainer! She is not only incredibly talented, but she has great banter and the three of us gelled so quickly, it was an instant connection we knew we wouldn’t find elsewhere. At the end of the day, you need to be incredibly comfortable around your photographer as they capture your entire day and Bianca was extraordinary.

Florist: Pinkie Promise – Dayne was an absolute dream to work with. After a coffee date spending time on Pinterest, discussing colours and arrangements together I knew she was the perfect person for our day. Her floral choices and designs were extraordinary and a major wow factor for our day.

Hair: Niche Hair and Design

Make-up: Rebecca Kotze

The Dress: One Day Bridal, Hamilton Gown

Rings: Cushla Whiting and Kavalri 

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Shona Joy 

Groomsmen’s suits: Zanetti, Myer

Bow ties / ties: Politix 

Favours: White and gold flaked macarons, Bec’s Little Cake Place 

Dessert: Gelato Cart – 7 Apples Gelato 

Stationery / Signage: Invitations, menus, place cards, programmes made by the bride. Wishing well, welcome sign and seating chart by Hey Sweet Peach and ‘The Toomer-Smith’s’ acrylic sign by Fox and Hart.

Entertainment: Joey Cirillo, Unplugged Entertainment – Joey and the Unplugged team came to the rescue when our original muso cancelled one month out from our date. We now couldn’t imagine our day without Joey. His talent and class throughout the entire event was second to none.

Transport: Melbourne Luxury Taxis

Hire: Lawn Games, Always Eventive 

Honeymoon: We had booked to go to Sri Lanka, jungle, beach and villa hopping our way around in April. We now plan to do this trip in 2021.