Real Wedding – Mai & Luke, East Melbourne
What if you could simply describe your wedding theme and see the vision realised beyond what you even imagined?
For Mai and Luke, this was what they experienced when planning their wedding with Claire of Black Finn. The couple envisioned a moody, beautiful winter wedding, describing it to Claire as “imagine you’re going through a forest in Europe and you find an abandoned castle that is overgrown, and decide to have a black tie midnight soiree there”. Claire’s response? “Yep, got it”!
The result is a day that exemplifies unique style and epic, stunning detailing without compromising on elegance and grace.
Beginning with a heartfelt ceremony by Megan Thompson surrounded by the visual poetry of the Victorian Artists Society, with reception at the ever iconic George Ballroom, you don’t want to miss a detail or emotion of this breathtaking celebration.
There to capture every artful element is the indomitable Lei Lei Clavey, and for messages Mai and Luke will treasure into the future, Off The Hook audio guestbook.
The meeting.
Our story began with a swipe right over ten years ago. We didn’t actually meet for about a month because we were both so busy with work that we couldn’t tee up a time to go for a drink. But in that month, we chatted a lot, so when we finally met for the first time at a cocktail bar, it was like we had known each other for ages. Three hours and a few cocktails later, we both knew we were on to something special.
The one.
I don’t think there was a specific point in time for either of us. One date became another date and then a decade! Our relationship is very easy, supportive and fun, and we both share the same values and goals. Deciding to get married was a natural step for the both of us.
The proposal.
Luke proposed at Tokar Estate. He doesn’t often plan things, so when he said he was going to book us lunch (and insisted he be the one to book), that was enough for me to think he was going to propose! The proposal was in May, so the leaves had changed, and the setting was beautiful. We stayed at the estate that weekend and enjoyed the lovely wine and food.
Planning process.
Engaging a planner and stylist for our wedding was a no-brainer. We knew we wouldn’t have time to style the wedding the way we wanted, and to deal with all the suppliers ourselves would have been quite overwhelming. Claire at Black Finn took care of all of that and kept us on track for the big day. I had followed her on Instagram for a while and knew her aesthetic was consistent with what I had in mind. The other important thing was the ceremony venue (we already knew the reception would be at the George). Finding the perfect ceremony venue that tied in with the George was challenging, but after many hours of googling art galleries (I knew I wanted something classic, and my family loves art), we chose the beautiful Victorian Artists Society. Once we locked those in, everything else fell into place.
Style inspiration.
We had a winter wedding, so we wanted something moody and beautiful. The theme I gave Claire was “imagine you’re going through a forest in Europe and you find an abandoned castle that is overgrown, and decide to have a black tie midnight soiree there”. She said, “Yep, got it”!
Both styled inspiration and real wedding images were my go-to. Pinterest and Instagram were great resources to get ideas on how the theme could come together.
The ceremony.
Our ceremony was held in the historical Victorian Artists Society. VAS artists lent their beautiful artwork to decorate the gallery, and Tweed Twigs did a stunning job with the altar – large urns tipped over and spilling with florals and vines onto the floor – a hint at what was coming at the George (although some of the older folk thought someone had accidentally knocked over the urns lol).
We asked for a no-phone ceremony so that we could all be present.
The vows had to be the most special part of the ceremony – it is rare for us to express how we feel about each other, so it was really special to share our promises to each other and to the life we wish to continue to build together.
The outfits.
I didn’t know what I wanted going in and tried on so many dresses in Melbourne, from low to high end and everything in between. I initially bought a Vivienne Westwood wedding dress without trying it on and flew to Brisbane after the purchase to see how it looked. While I was there, I thought I may as well book an appointment to see a local designer, just in case the VW dress wasn’t for me. I booked in with Lucia Josephine, and her Lotti gown was perfect. It oozed old-school glamour and tied in wonderfully with the theme. We customised it and I chose a warm buttery silk. My veil was custom-made by Harriet Falvey in NZ. I had a distinct vision for the veil inspired by an old Naeem Khan design. After a few Instagram video calls with Harriet, she was able to bring the veil to life and found the perfect champagne shade of tulle to match the dress.
Accessories were the Vivenne Westwood broken pearl necklace, a strand of Mikimoto pearls that my mother was gifted from my grandparents and wore on her wedding, and small diamond studs.
Luke went with an ivory tux from P Johnson. He tried on many, but P Johnson had the best shade of ivory and did a version with an exaggerated lapel, which he liked.
Favourite moments.
Our last song at our wedding was Love Is In The Air. All the guests were standing in a circle around us while we danced together and with our immediate families. At one point, I was so overwhelmed with happiness that I actually cried tears of joy – that has never happened to me before!
Meaning of marriage.
To me, marriage is a partnership – it’s declaring that you will love, support, encourage and challenge the other so that together, the life you create is even better than what you can achieve on your own.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle (bridesmaids): Songbird by Fleetwood Mac.
Aisle (bride): Buongiorno Principessa (instrumental) from the Italian movie Life is Beautiful.
Recessional: Dancing in the Moonlight by Toploader (instrumental).
Reception entry and last reception song: Love is in the Air.
First dance: Land of 1000 Dances.
Like This Entertainment were phenomenal at the ceremony – we had a pianist, strings and Maria as vocalist, and Mark Pellegrini had everyone up and dancing at the reception.
Funny stories (or near disasters).
It wasn’t a complete disaster, but a week before the wedding, we found out that the stand we had hired for our seating chart had come back broken from another wedding. There wasn’t any replacement available, and others available for hire from other vendors weren’t tall enough, which meant our fabric chart would be bunched on the floor. We ended up buying a white clothing stand from Kmart for $10! Once we put a few ribbons on, you (hopefully) couldn’t tell.
Planning surprises.
There were a few things we didn’t initially factor into the budget- e.g. additional bump in times given the amount of styling required or having to arrange for all hired items to be picked up on the same night. We were able to reduce costs in other areas to deal with it, though. Having my brother design all the wedding stationery really helped!
Words of wisdom.
Enjoy the process. A wedding is meant to be one of the most enjoyable days of your life. There will be things that go wrong or are unexpected, but don’t let that cloud the overall reason why you are having a wedding.
On the back of each place card, we wrote a personalised letter to the guest. If you plan to do this, start writing the letters very early. 100+ letters takes a very long time!
Take the pressure off you wedding chapter by hiring a fabulous planner or stylist from our Directory – handpicked by us.
MAI & LUKE’S VENDORS
Most of our suppliers were recommended by Black Finn. Like This Entertainment we came across on Instagram – I heard Maria’s voice and knew we had to have her for the ceremony. Same with Lei Lei – I loved her editorial style and had been following her for a while. Kelvin is our usual hairdresser (absolute best in town) and Aimmey had done my makeup when I was a bridesmaid for another wedding.
Ceremony venue: Victorian Artists Society, East Melbourne. Weddings are not their main thing, but they were so accommodating and were wonderful to deal with.
Reception venue: The George Ballroom, St Kilda. We switched up a few things for our wedding last minute, and they were really accommodating. The venue is also stunning – highly recommend.
Celebrant: Megan Thompson Celebrant was fantastic. Perfect mix of funny, sweet and serious.
Photography: Lei Lei Clavey – such a professional and just so good. The photos speak for themselves.
Videography: Flyn Film (super8) – we didn’t initially want a videographer and we thought a silent super8 film of the ceremony would be cute. Best decision we made – Winona captured the ceremony perfectly! Alex Zemtsov filmed our reception and did an absolutely wonderful job.
Styling: Black Finn Weddings – goes without saying, but we couldn’t have done it without Claire and her team.
Florist: Tweed Twigs – nailed the brief. Highly recommend. He has such a unique style, and even though our wedding was in winter, he was still able to create a beautiful reception with in-season florals.
Hair: Kelvin Wong – he did, as he usually does, both our hair on the day. He is the best in the business!
Make-up: Aimmey Pham – super sweet and accommodating of all my requests. She made all of us look our best on the day, and I am very grateful!
The dresses:
Wedding- custom Lucia Josephine. I had a total of four trips to Brisbane, and Lucia and Pina were a delight. They were just as excited as I was to create the dress and very passionate about getting all the details right.
Reception – Camilla and Marc
Veil: custom Harriet Falvey. Anything veil-related, she is the best. Absolute wizard.
Shoes: Amina Muaddi
Rings: Deliqa Gems (Mai) and Cartier (Luke)
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Aje and Rachel Gilbert
Suits: P Johnson (Luke), Joe Black (groomsmen)
Bow ties: Godwin Charli
Favours: donation to MND Victoria on behalf of Rose Oliver (Luke’s nan, who passed away from MND a few years prior).
Stationery / Signage: my brother, Dan Go, through his creative agency, By Third Party.
Entertainment: Like This Entertainment (ceremony) and Mark Pellegrini (reception). Both were excellent, and Mark kindly recorded the reception set for us so we can listen to it if we feel like reliving the experience!
Transport: many prepaid taxis ready to transport guests from ceremony to reception.
Décor: Cloth and Confetti, The Small Things Co
Hire: Flou Textile Hire, Table Art Event Hire, Social Event Hire, Pepper Sprout Hire
Honeymoon: Europe (Italy, France and UK), Morocco and Japan
