Real Wedding – Lucy & Sam, South Melbourne VIC
Lucy and Sam’s darling day is a captivating concoction of timeless romance and vivacious styling details elevated by gorgeous megawatt smiles from everyone in attendance. For a super stunning dose of feel-good vibes, this is the celebration, captured by photographic legend Nikki McCrone Photography.
To ensure a classic feel to their ceremony, Lucy and Sam chose to anchor their styling in soft, muted tones. Lucy looks a picture of modern elegance in her ethereal gown, while a wedding party in chic black and white are giving chic glam.
To escalate the vibe to full party feels, the injection of vibrant sunset hues, sequined streamers and a whole lot of ecstatic loved-up fun sealed the deal. We love Lucy’s reception frock in beaded sequins, perfect to dance the night away. And there to record every hilarious, loved-up message from the guests to the newlyweds was the perfect party accessory, an At the Beep phone.
For a good old endorphin hit, scroll on.
The meeting.
Our mutual friends were trying to set us up for months, each plan generally ending up with Sam too drunk or passed out – oh to be 21 again! We finally met and the rest is history.
The one.
There wasn’t any specific moment however the one thing that cemented our relationship was that we are huge family people with the same values. Life is easy, and we knew that we were in it together.
The proposal.
We were on a road trip down the Great Ocean Road. Sam had been trying to pop the question in Apollo Bay all day, but I didn’t make it easy for him. I thought we were moving onto Port Campbell, but Sam had an extra two nights booked in Apollo Bay as a surprise. All out of luck, Sam started driving towards Port Campbell, freaked out ten minutes into the trip, pulled over to the side of the road and asked the question.
Planning process.
We found the whole process really easy and enjoyed it thoroughly. We set the date two years in advance (mostly because we wanted to save up) so just tackled one thing at a time, and every couple of months would tick another thing off the list. We didn’t have a wedding planner or stylist (as such), so kept things pretty simple.
Style inspiration.
We wanted our ceremony and bouquets to have a simple and classic feel with a more muted colour palette. We wanted to make sure our portraits were something we still wanted to hang on the walls in 15 years’ time. On the other hand, our reception had the brief of being one big party full of colour.
Real weddings on the Ivory Tribe website were super helpful! I found on there the ‘At the Beep’ telephone and took many images for inspiration for flowers, colours and styles.
The ceremony.
Our ceremony was meant to be on the rooftop, but the weather gods weren’t kind to us that day! It was moved indoors; however, it provided the perfect backdrop with the city behind us.
A lot of Sam’s family are deaf, so it was really important to include the deaf culture into the ceremony. We had his aunty complete the reading ‘Oh the places you’ll go’ by Dr Suess in Auslan (Australian Sign Language).
The outfits.
Similarly, to our style for the ceremony and reception, my wedding dress for the ceremony was flowy and soft and the reception dress was fitted and sparkly.
I booked appointments at two different boutiques that had plus-size options to try on. I’m a very indecisive person, so I had my mother and bridesmaids there to help me pick. I ended up picking a dress that I couldn’t properly try on because it wasn’t in my size, but I fell in love with how it looked. A couple of months after paying the deposit, I was having major regrets. Instagram is great for finding looks and inspiration, but then I was comparing everything to my dress. It was too late to make any changes or find a new dress which I’m glad it was because on the day with hair and makeup done, I fell back in love with the dress!
My second dress was from ASOS – I felt amazing in it!
Sam had his suit made through Instichu. He wanted a classic black tuxedo with a few extra details. He also had photo cufflinks of his late mother.
Favourite moment.
Our favourite moment of the day was our rooftop golden hour photos. We had our bridal party there, and Nikki, our photographer, played some music, and we just danced and laughed the whole time. It was so nice to regroup with the bridal party and spend some time with them and then some time alone together. We had a cocktail wedding, and we tried to say hello to everyone there, so having some dedicated time with our best friends was our favourite part of the day.
Meaning of marriage.
Celebration of love and commitment to each other.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Feels Like Home by Edwina Hayes
Recessional: Viva La Vida by Coldplay
Reception entry: I’m Good (Blue) by David Guetta
First dance: Latch (Acoustic) by Sam Smith
Planning surprises.
We never realised that most vendors set up Zoom meetings with you before you can book them so that you are happy they are the right fit. Totally understandable because you want to be spending the day with people you get along with and understand your vision, we just never realised.
Words of wisdom.
Do it your way and don’t sweat the small stuff.
Fallen in love with your wedding gown, but want something different to dance the night away? Here’s some second outfit options we are absolutely loving.
LUCY AND SAM’S VENDORS
Ceremony and reception venue: Luminare, South Melbourne – After being at Luminare for many work events, I fell in love with it. The Melbourne city skyline is stunning. Fun fact, the venue was picked before I had met Sam, lucky he loved it too! Jess our wedding coordinator was top notch and so helpful in the lead up to the wedding.
Celebrant/Officiant: Love Lee Ceremonies – We found Lee Sedgwick after she was tagged in a photo with our photographer Nikki. Lee’s smile is infectious and from the first zoom call we got along so well. The ceremony was light, personal and everything we wanted.
Photography: Nikki McCrone – We found Nikki through a referral of a photographer we originally enquired with. Once we saw Nikki’s Instagram and website we fell in love with her style. Her photos are so effortlessly cool, which is exactly how we would describe Nikki. Within minutes of Nikki walking in, to shoot each of our prep, she had us laughing and feeling at ease. My mouth hardly closed in the photos because I was laughing so much. She’s such a vibe!
Videography: Momento Films – We left videography until last as it was dependent on how our budget was looking and only booked three months out. Alessandro was great to deal with in the lead up to and on the day. Our cousin got married a couple of months earlier and had Momento Films. We were impressed so booked with them.
Florist: Atelier Creative – Lauren was my calming force in the lead up to the wedding. I changed my mind countless times on colours and style and Lauren helped me navigate it. Having the flowers and signage all in one made it really streamlined and everything all come together. Her work is amazing!
Hair: Hair by Elesha Rae– I found Elesha through Instagram after a wedding of someone I know. Elesha knew the make-up artist which made it easy. She did an amazing job on everyone’s hair.
Make-up: Stephanie Jones – Steph and I used to work together, and I’ve always admired her work
The dress: Ceremony Dress – Designer Bridal House. Reception Dress- ASOS
Veil / headwear: Borrowed from my best friend
Shoes: Photographed were Pink Ink shoes from Myer, however I ended up wearing shoes from Novo as they were comfier.
Rings: Simon West Fine Jewellery. Simon was so great to deal with. Sam had the engagement ring designed and created by Simon, so it was a no brainer to go back and work with him for our wedding rings. We both picked plain rings with a Pink Tourmaline inset into the inside of the bands. It’s the birthstone of October to represent our wedding date. Simon’s our jeweller for life now!
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Dresses were from Anthropologie’s brand BHLDN
Suits: Groom and Groomsmen suits were customed made by Institchu. We found Instichu through Hello May Magazine. The whole process was super easy and they were completed so quickly! They were completely customized and the boys selected their own jacket lining which made for a fun photo!
Cake / Cake topper: Cake was a gift from our cousin and made it herself. Lauren from Atelier Creative supplied the flowers and decorated it for us.
Stationery / Signage: Atelier Creative
Entertainment: Divine Audio – The had DJ’ed a couple of events we had been to and we knew they were a good fit for us. We also had a saxophone player for the last 2 hours of the reception. One of the best things we did! He got the dancefloor pumping and really interacted with everyone.
Transport: Kombi Haus – One of our cousins is a wedding coordinator for another venue and had worked with Kombi Haus before. We went off her recommendation.
Hire: Harry the Hirer set up all the lighting (Dancefloor and extra lights for the photobooth)
Photo Booth: Outwest Creatives – I had Tee from Outwest Creatives at my 30th and the set up was great! No brainer to get her again for the wedding.
Telephone Guest Book: At the Beep – we found the idea of the Audio Guest book through Ivory Tribe Real Weddings. What a fun idea! The more the night went on, the messier the messages were, and we loved it. They send you the clips within 24 hours of receiving the phone back and overlay it with a photo of your choice.
Bangin Hangins: Another Ivory Tribe Real Weddings find. Sarah was great to deal with and works with Luminare a lot. We had an ariel installation over the dance floor and a backdrop for our photobooth.
Personalised Napkins: Zazzle
Honeymoon: Noosa at Peppers Resorts
