Real Wedding – Lauren & Paul, Melbourne CBD VIC
Real Wedding – Lauren & Paul, Melbourne CBD VIC
Real Wedding – Lauren & Paul, Melbourne CBD VIC
Real Wedding – Lauren & Paul, Melbourne CBD VIC

Real Wedding – Lauren & Paul, Melbourne CBD VIC

 

Lured by their shared love for architecture, their home town of Melbourne and good old fashioned romance, Lauren and Paul designed a classic wedding day filled with love and emotion.

Surrounded by beautiful buildings steeped in history, an abundance of fresh florals and of course, their nearest and dearest, this darling day was the perfect display of modern elegance.

We love Lauren and Paul’s love story, and we love how it’s been captured by White Wine Photography.

 

In Lauren’s words…

 

The meeting.

 

We met at the College Lawn Hotel in Greville St, Prahran many Sunday afternoons ago, the conversation started over some drinks, followed closely by dates number one, two and three. Here we are, now married five years later.

 

The ‘one’.

 

Our love just ‘happened’. The more time we spent together, the more time we wanted to see each other.

 

The proposal.

 

We were out to dinner at Jackalope for my 30th and after agreeing to go for a walk after dessert to suss out the new venue (it had opened the week earlier), Paul popped the question outside. The happy tears and champagne then flowed.

 

Planning process.

 

We really enjoyed our time browsing for venues. I had already seen Alfred Place and once I showed Paul he simply said, “this is it”.  We love architecture and are a little bit old fashioned when it comes to style. We wanted a building and environment that we thought was very “Melbourne”, having both grown up here. We thought our wedding venue had old school charm but classic style that would enhance the “intimate” atmosphere we were looking for. Once we locked in the venue the rest sort of happened quickly. Rockpool had such a broad menu we felt confident our guests would be very well looked after. We both love spending time with family and friends by sharing a nice meal, drink and dance, so finding the right vendors was important to us. All the vendors we worked with were extremely professional and were so great at directing us on the day, I felt like we were really able to enjoy the day and not stress about things ‘coming together’. Leading up to the wedding we had some meetings with our vendors to discuss our preferences and questions. Everyone was so great at communicating in the last couple of weeks before the wedding, which made the planning less stressful.

 

Style inspiration.

 

Melbourne was our inspiration. There is definitely a romantic feel to a city surrounded by timeless, classic style. There’s history in the buildings, beautiful fresh flowers and great music. We wanted our wedding to feel very intimate, relaxed and as though our guests were in our home having a party –  enjoying great company, food and wine, having a laugh and busting some solid dance moves, whilst celebrating our special day.

 

The outfits.

 

Paul designed his suit at Oscar Hunt Tailors in Melbourne. He chose the style, colour and fabrics. He went with a white jacket, black pants & white bow tie. I loved designing my dresses with my sister. This was really fun to do together (we also designed her dress). We loved the process, from choosing fabrics, designing and seeing the final pieces. The designers we were lucky enough to work with are extremely talented at their craft. I really liked the idea of having a dress that was unique and made locally (there are so many talented people in Melbourne!). My ceremony dress was designed together with Andrea Gorrie in Armadale. I wanted something with internal corsetry and a long train. Andrea and I made the design decisions as we went, changing our minds along the way. You have to back your design choices though, sometimes it’s hard to imagine what fabrics will look like on the final design. My reception dress was whipped up in about 8 weeks by Vincenzo Pintaudi Couture in Armadale because I really wanted a dress I could dance in and had loved the idea of big, ‘floaty’ sleeves. It was so fun to design and watch it come to life. Vince also added a handmade jewellery piece to the back of the dress.

 

Favourite moment.

 

Our first look was pretty special. It’s a combination of so much excitement, happiness and nerves. We chose to do this privately so we could really soak up the moment without the distraction of one hundred people staring at us. We also really enjoyed the time beforehand with our families. It’s easy to get caught up in the adrenaline rush but we really cherished the brief moments our family had before it started. The best man and maid of honor speeches blew us away, their words were truly heartwarming.

 

Meaning of marriage.

 

Marriage to us means commitment and to do life together as a team with respect, trust and unconditional love.

 

Wedding soundtrack.

 

Aisle: Stand by me – sung live by Jess Wilson and guitar by Cristian Barbieri.

First dance: Magic by Coldplay, sung by the band

 

Our band was incredible! We are lucky to know a very talented Melbourne artist who was simply incredible and really gave our wedding ‘the vibe’ to get our guests up on the dance floor. Here’s the lineup – Simon Fisenden (bass), Andy Fisenden (drums), Laurent Joseph (vocals), Cristian Barbieri (guitar) & Jess Wilson (vocals)

 

 

Funny stories (or near disasters).

 

We had a few doozies but it all came together on the day. I did manage to cover Paul’s white jacket in make up when we had our first look, I was so excited to see him and gave him a big hug, not thinking – oops. Lucky it came off pretty easily.

 

Planning surprises.

 

How hard it can be to lock vendors in.

 

Words of wisdom.

 

We did our photos before the wedding which meant we could go straight from our ceremony to our reception, leaving more time to enjoy spending time with our guests and dancing. We think it helps to be organized, have a run sheet, if you can get a planner we would recommend it so you’re not trying to be the communicator amongst all the vendors (also try to lock them in asap), and most importantly the music, great music will really keep the vibe upbeat.

 

 

 

Want to know how to give your special day a real party vibe? Then be sure to check out our hints and tips here.

 

LAUREN AND PAUL’S TRIBE

Ceremony and reception venue: Alfred Place, Melbourne

Celebrant/Officiant: Lisa Hunt-Wotton

Photography: White Vine Photography

Videography: One Heart Studios

Styling: Tori Allen Events

Florist: Tori Allen Events

Hair: Marie Uva

Make Up: Tahlia Jayde

The Dress(es): Andrea Gorrie Couture, Vincenzo Pintaudi Couture

Veil / headwear: Andrea Gorrie

Shoes: YSL

Rings: Rod Valenz

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Andrea Gorrie Couture

Groomsmen’s suits: Hugo Boss

Bow ties / ties: Oscar Hunt Tailors

Catering: Rockpool Events

Bar: Rockpool Events

Entertainment: Jess Wilson

Décor: Rockpool Group/Tori Allen Events

Honeymoon: Hong Kong




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