Real Wedding - Kate & Harry, Southbank VIC

August 5, 2019 In Classic, Garden, Real Weddings, White By Natalie Drum

Real Wedding – Kate & Harry, Southbank VIC

Kate and her bride tribe made a memorable entrance when they were involved in a car bingle on their way to the wedding ceremony (all are okay!), thankfully this did nothing to dampen their spirits on the day.

This classic city wedding was all that Kate and Harry had dreamed of – a memorable occasion to mark their love and celebrate with their favourite people.

With an elegant garden ceremony, followed by their choice to embrace the Melbourne city skyline come the evening along with beautiful styling throughout – there is no doubt they created a picture perfect day.

There to document their dream celebration was Alex of Motta Weddings.

In Kate’s words…

The meeting.

Harry and I were introduced through a friend years ago on a night out. We were good friends then for about four years. In that time, we lived together with another friend Alistair who was one of Harry’s groomsmen. It was when we moved houses and stopped living together that I realised I was really missing his company and thankfully it turned out that he felt the same way too.

The ‘one’.

Being such good friends and having such a connected group of friends meant that Harry and I entered into our relationship understanding that we had to really be sure that we were in it for the long haul. I think we knew right away once we got together that it was going to be forever. I thought it would be awkward at first but it all happened so seamlessly and it’s now weird to think that we were just friends prior.

The proposal.

My sister was moving to London and Harry knew how upset I was about her moving given how close we are. He decided it would be nice to propose before she left so that she would be here to celebrate when it happened. The thought to do so was somewhat of a last minute decision which left only a short amount of time for having the ring made and for planning of the proposal. One night when I got home from work Harry met me at the door and dropped to his knee. He said that once he had the ring he just wanted to do it straight away and couldn’t wait or hold onto the secret any longer.

The process.

I’m really grateful for the fact that we did so much planning within the first two months of getting engaged. At that time, you’re caught up in the hype of it because it is new and so exciting. In those two months we booked both venues, the photographer, hair, makeup and the florist. My goal was to get as much done in the beginning so that we weren’t stressed at the end and therefore could enjoy the build-up. It also meant that there was time then to dedicate to planning my dress and the bridesmaid dresses which was the most fun part of planning!

The final few weeks in the lead up to the wedding were so special and a time spent celebrating with family and friends. With the bucks, hens, kitchen tea and rehearsal dinner there were a lot of celebrations had. There was definitely still a lot to be done and a lot to finalise in the last few weeks which at times was somewhat overwhelming but I feel like forward planning was key and it meant that we had time to focus on what the day was all about and just have fun.

Style inspiration.

We wanted a classic style wedding, something that we would look back on in years to come and still love.

The colour theme for the day came from the bridesmaid’s dresses. We were initially searching for black or white dresses but then we came across a beautiful, soft lilac colour which I just loved. I wanted flowers that incorporated pops of the lilac in them and came across a Ruby and James styled wedding which had just this. The dresses really shaped most of the design elements as our invites and custom fans which were provided as favours at the ceremony, all incorporated the same floral lilac design.

Metropolis has the most beautiful views of the Melbourne city skyline that we didn’t want to over style the reception. We wanted to ensure that the view was kept as the focus. That view of Melbourne is second to none! When we were searching for venues there were a few that we liked but we all got goosebumps when we saw Metropolis so we knew instantly that it was the one.

Como House elicited the same feeling from us when we arrived. The house fit perfectly with the classic style that we were wanting to achieve and the surrounding gardens made such a beautiful backdrop for the day. We decided to set up the ceremony along the driveway rather than in the gardens because we loved that you catch a glimpse of the ceremony set up as you enter down the driveway with the house in the background. We envisioned the look of it from the beginning so I am so thankful that we were lucky with the weather so that we could carry out our plans.

The dress.

I tried on dresses at a number of different boutiques and met with a few designers. Finding a dress took roughly three months. I wanted something modern yet not too trend driven that it would date quickly. I had another dress that was completely different that I was going to go with and thought about cancelling my appointment at Cappellazzo because of this. Thankfully I didn’t because when I got there and tried on a few dresses I knew straight away that I wanted Sonia to design my dress. I tried on three or four different dresses during my appointment and Sonia then drew a design from the parts that I liked of each.

I was hesitant about having a dress designed because it felt like there was an element of the unknown but it was not like that at all. Each fitting felt more like a workshop of ideas which slowly built the dress bit by bit.

My initial dress design was quite different to the end result. I always wanted to go for something simple but had a change of heart as we went on so we decided to add the beaded lace to the bust of the dress which was amazing and also gave it a touch that I hadn’t seen on too many other Cappellazzo dresses. We added the bow detail to the shoulder in the final fitting and it really just finished off the dress, it was the perfect final touch.

Sonia was so good at working with my body shape and my likes and dislikes to make something that I was so excited to wear.

I did have a second dress which was a fully sequined silver dress from Retrofete. I changed into this dress once the dance floor kicked off after dinner. I’d highly recommend a second dress to anyone thinking about it because your wedding dress inevitably will get dirty and it also made dancing so much easier. It was just a bit of fun to have a party dress!

Favourite moments.

I have so many favourite moments but the one moment I keep thinking back to is when I stepped out holding dad’s arm and began walking down the aisle. I instantly teared up because it is such an overwhelming moment. We put months and months into organising the day and suddenly you see it come to fruition. On top of that, standing there smiling back at you is everyone you love, all of your friends and family, and at the end of the aisle is Harry. It sounds so cheesy but it takes the breath out of you it is that overwhelming. I have a new found excitement for that moment at any wedding we go to, there are few moments in life that match it.

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage for us was reaffirming our commitment to being one another’s biggest supporters and to share in what life has in store for each of us, together.

We both say that the foundation of our relationship is friendship. Having been friends prior to going out and having such a tight knit friendship group, we wanted an opportunity to celebrate with those closest to us as they have been such a big part of our relationship.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Have I told you lately by Acoustic

Recessional: Signed, Sealed, Delivered by Stevie wonder. This song was a last minute addition as we hadn’t put much thought into a song to walk back down the aisle to after the ceremony. Probably not your typical song but we loved it! It was upbeat and a bit of fun! We wanted fun and not formality.

First dance: Can’t Help Falling In Love by Kina Grannis. This song played for about a minute and a half before Taylor Swift’s Shake it Off came on. Shake it Off was a song that for some reason played on repeat the night that Harry and I first started going out so it seemed only fitting to pay homage to it.

Final song: Your Song by Elton John. We wanted to stay away from the songs that feel like they get played as the last song at most weddings. This song ended up being so special and my favourite song of the night. Everyone on the dance floor suddenly formed a circle as it came on and Harry and I danced in the middle as we all sang along. Loved it!!

Funny stories (or near disasters).

We had a fair few. I feel like it is inevitable that there will be some hiccups but you’re so swept away by the excitement of the day that they do not detract from how amazing the day is for you.

One of the wedding cars actually crashed into three cars on our way to the wedding. We had two cars; a Maybach and an old Buick, which was carrying the bridesmaids. The brakes on the Buick failed on the way to the wedding ceremony and to stop the car, the driver crashed into three other cars. This sounds like a horror story but you have to see the positives and we were so lucky that the crash happened in the same street as Como House so it didn’t prevent us from getting to the wedding. We were also very fortunate that the car was travelling slowly down the street at the time.

Rightfully so, the people in the cars that were hit were in shock and were initially angry until they saw that there was a wedding party inside and myself getting out of the other car. One of the girls whose car had been hit even ran over and gave us all hugs and told us to have the best time and not to worry about it!

Thankfully nobody was hurt and my bridesmaids were total champions about it. In a strange way it almost came as a welcomed distraction to take my mind off my nerves.

Ironically, it wasn’t the first car accident that week as a car had driven into my car just two days before the wedding. I’d never had a car accident before and suddenly there were two accidents in one of the biggest weeks of my life!

We quickly resorted to a backup plan of getting us to the aisle as the cars were initially going to drive down the driveway. The guests were none the wiser until after the ceremony when we all had a story to tell!

Planning surprises.

There was a lot to plan and we made decisions which didn’t necessarily make it easier but in the long run it paid off. Overall though we didn’t have too many surprises.

Words of wisdom.

If you have a set budget, make sure you invest the money into key things rather than the small things. Your photographer is so important and we could not have been happier with Alex Motta. We have spent hours looking over the photos since receiving them and he perfectly captured the emotion of the day. The experience is such a whirlwind that it is so nice to be able to look back on it and relive it. Music is also key!

Last words.

I want to express just how great Metropolis was, this is something that all our guests have said. The service was exceptional, in particular the service our parents and wedding party received. The staff had learnt the names of all the wedding party and quickly picked up on our favourite drinks. I don’t think there was a second that we were left unattended or without a drink in hand. This made the whole experience such a breeze! I started tearing up in speeches and within a split second they were there with tissues! I highly recommend them.