Real Wedding - Kaylah & Spencer, Melbourne VIC

May 9, 2022 In Garden, Industrial, Latest Posts, Real Weddings, Victoria, Wedding Styles, Wedding Venues Australia, Wedding Venues Victoria By Kathryn Brandt

Real Wedding – Kaylah & Spencer, Melbourne VIC

Kaylah and Spencer’s wedding day was the quintessential Melbourne vibe. With their ceremony kicking off, lined by the beautiful trees of Fitzory Gardens, providing them with ample shade from the looming ominous silver clouds. It was the perfect backdrop to offset their white florals and furnished accents and set the effortless and relaxed tone they wanted their whole day to reflect.

In between their ceremony and reception, their bridal party stopped off at none other than Pepe’s Italian for a sweet afternoon apertif before continuing to meander through Melbourne’s laneways to Krimper Cafe, a converted warehouse which screams industrial chic. Their guests mingled, devoured divine food by Two Pounds catering and danced up an absolute storm.

Kaylah wore a classic strapless Kyha Studios gown whilst Spencer opted for a traditional tuxedo, the two of them emanated that ol’ Hollywood glam style.

These two put so much thought into what they wanted their day to be about, a true reflection of them and their relationship and everything that Melbourne is all about, the food, the music, the style and it was all captured beautifully by Lei Lei Clavey.

The meeting.

We are a tinder success story actually – our first date was a St Kilda football match at Etihad Stadium in 2016.

The ‘one’.

I don’t think there was one defining moment for either of us but there was a combination of events/moments in the first six months or so where we knew it was the real deal.

The proposal.

We spend a bit of time down at Anglesea and in 2019, we went for a walk down along the beach with our dog, Walter. It was simple but perfect – just the three of us!

Planning process.

One of the first things we did when starting to plan our wedding was write a list – ‘we want our day to’, ‘we don’t want’, and also wrote a list each of what we both wanted (such as guest numbers, time of year, location, music, what traditional wedding aspects we wanted, what was important for us to have in the day). We found this useful for both of us to do as a starting point and from there, come to an agreement where we did have differing preferences – as it was important for us that the day was what we both wanted!

I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to spreadsheets so prepared one for our wedding day, which just listed out everything to do with the day. As we did a lot of things ourselves, having this spreadsheet made things a lot easier. But I really enjoyed the planning process – I found it an exciting process and fun time in the lead up to the wedding. I keep saying to Spencer I want to plan another wedding! But Spencer and I managed to stay generally relaxed throughout the planning process and lead up. In the end, we were extremely fortunate to have not been affected by any covid restrictions/lockdowns and were very lucky for our day to go ahead as originally planned!

Style inspiration.

It was important for us that our wedding day captured us as a couple. We didn’t want anything too formal, we wanted everyone to be able to mingle (not divided by grooms’ side and bride’s side) and have a great time after being in lockdown in 2020!

We both love what Melbourne is all about – yummy food, cool bars, great music and hidden laneways! So, when we found Krimper café in Guildford Lane (Melbourne CBD) we thought it was perfect for what we wanted. The café itself is a converted warehouse with an industrial feel and the laneway continues the industrial heritage feel with vintage signage but brightened up with hanging plants, window boxes and creepers.

We had Two Pounds cater our wedding who were fantastic throughout the entire process! We chose a canape style menu which complimented the relaxed vibe we were after and allowed all the guests to mingle throughout the night. And their food was delicious! Also, we had the option to supply our own drinks, which allowed us to pick a drinks menu we love, and the guests would love!

Lastly, the music we wanted was a mixture of acoustic and DJ – we had been to a couple of weddings where Brothers in Harmony had played so as soon as wedding planning started, they were the first to be locked in! The boys were great and created the perfect atmosphere at both the ceremony and reception!

I found reading the real wedding blogs to be the most helpful! It allowed us to find local/smaller vendors that I feel we may have not otherwise found. I feel it also helped us figure out particular styling elements for our ceremony and reception. I also found it really interesting to read advice from other brides!

The ceremony.

Our ceremony was in the Fitzroy Gardens, specifically in an area called ‘plane tree walk’, which is between two rows of trees. We held the ceremony in the middle. Being in March it was still very green and then in contrast with the green and white flowers (Hampstead Flowers – did any amazing job!) and white furniture, it was such a beautiful setting!

In the week leading up to the wedding, there was a high chance of rain forecasted for the Saturday afternoon. However, we were both adamant to forge ahead with our original plans and to not relocate the ceremony. We bought umbrellas during the week, so we felt prepared for whatever the day was going to hold. Fortunately, the rain held off though and it was perfect!

We also wrote our own vows, which I felt strongly about. I feel it is not very often you put pen to paper and reflect in this way, so I think it was special.

Also, after the ceremony we had some photos and then we headed to Pepe’s Italian where we had some more photos and booked a table for the bridal party for some drinks (and hot chips). We both really appreciated that time to just sit down together and with our bridesmaids and groomsmen before meeting everyone at the reception venue!

The look.

For me (Kaylah), I loved the process of finding a wedding dress. I think in the end we visited three places. After the first place, I thought I had found my dress but wanted to have a look at some other places cause why not and it was nice to make a day of it with my Mum and bridesmaids.

I had started thinking the idea of ‘finding the dress’ and just knowing this was the one, was maybe just not going to happen for me. But it was at the last place we visited, Kyha Studios – I found the dress! The girls at Kyha Studios were lovely and so helpful. The assistant suggested I tried on the dress – at first, I was a bit hesitant as wasn’t overly keen on a strapless dress. As soon as I put this dress on, I knew it was the one – my indecisive personality tried to disagree, but I knew this was it, it made me feel special and felt it was me!

For Spencer, he went to InStitchu. He opted for a traditional tuxedo for him and his groomsmen.

Favourite moments.

There are so many special moments in the day but if I had to pick one, it was when my husband requested the band to play ‘Lucky Man’ by Richard Ashcroft (The Verve), grabbed my hand and we had a ‘second dance’, probably more memorable than our actual first dance!

Also, it is not very often you have 100 family and friends from both the groom and brides side altogether in one place. Looking around at the reception, we loved seeing everyone mingling and just having a great time together.

We are also so lucky to have so many of our favourite moments captured by Lei! Spencer and I are both not the biggest fans of having our photo taken but the photos are incredible. We highly recommend Lei, she is easy going, professional and extremely talented!

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage to us means being a team. It is about loving, respecting and supporting each other throughout everything. Making each other happy and accepting each other for who we are.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Yellow by Coldplay

Reception entrance: I believe in a thing called love by The Darkness

First dance: A Sky Full of Stars by Coldplay

Funny stories or near disasters.

Our ceremony was in the Fitzroy Gardens, it had been a very calm day but the moment my Dad and I stepped to walk down the ‘aisle’ this massive gust of wind came and blew my veil off! Whilst my Dad and I stood there a bit gob smacked, our wedding stylist caught it, ran out and my Dad shoved it back in and we continued walking down the aisle as if nothing happened. I definitely didn’t see it as a ‘near disaster’ but just one of the many things that made the day what it was.

Planning surprises.

I feel we were quite organised however, in the couple of days leading up to the wedding, we found there was lots of little things that needed to be done. Particularly as we did quite a few things ourselves, there was quite a few things that needed to be picked up and dropped off.

Words of wisdom.

It is easy to go down a bit of a rabbit hole during the planning process and be swayed by the latest wedding trends but just remember that the day is about you and your partner. Also, if you decide to do some aspects yourself and have the time, make sure you look around – we found purchasing décor for the reception was cheaper than hiring, and we were just able to resell on after (sold onto a lot of other couples planning their wedding)

One key bit of advice I was told and I found it to be so true on the day, was to make sure you stop and take it all in – it will go quickly!

Also, no matter how much planning you have done, once the day starts you just need to let it happen. Don’t get caught up in the things that might not go as you had planned/imagined, you have invested time and money into this day so enjoy it all, even the mishaps!