Real Wedding – Naomi & Matt, Wye River VIC
Childhood sweethearts Naomi and Matt created a rolling celebration over a weekend to encompass the elements of their life that bring them the most joy; the people they treasure, beautiful surroundings that hold sentimental memories, and an unwavering sense of fun. The result is a captivating concoction of euphoric elegance, utterly chic style and effervescent emotion.
Our very own celebrant superstar Jo Betz created an atmosphere to set the tone for the celebration to come, a blissed-out, effortlessly epic party. A backdrop of cloudlike florals in layers of spun ivory by the bloom artists at Luv Luc perfectly juxtapose against the sun-drenched bushland surrounds, emphasised further by the monochromatic colour theme.
With an unstoppable grin, Matt cuts a dapper silhouette in his tailor-made black suit by Samuel Diamond. Glowing alongside him, Naomi is a total stunner in her contemporary vision of a gown by Danielle Frankel Studio, all sleek gathered fabric with a stunningly silky, wet-look texture. The overall effect, captured to absolute perfection by master photographer Tony Evans, is one of blissed-up romance with a glamorous edge. And fireworks. Because, why not?!
Scroll on to see every incredible moment of this gorgeous celebration unfold.
The meeting.
We first met in quite an unlikely place; we spotted each other during Sunday mass! We were about 14 years old; we remember locking eyes, some flutters and exactly what each other was wearing. But it wasn’t until about a year later, at a mutual friend’s birthday, that we met properly on the dancefloor (a much more likely scene for our first meeting). There were some sparks, and a little crush developed!
The ‘one’.
Love came very early on, Matt would say at first sight, and Naomi would say she loved him before she knew what love was. But getting together so young, it’s hard to believe you’ve found the ‘one’, so that realisation probably came many years later.
The proposal.
The proposal was really fun! It was a big surprise! When on a family holiday in Europe, Matt was enjoying a few drinks with Naomi’s brother, who, late in the evening, after many negroni’s, convinced Matt to pop the question while on the holiday. So, Matt snuck off to buy a ring while we were in Berlin. Having never looked at rings or considered my engagement ring before, he found the one at the first store, only to leave it at a record store within the hour. By a stroke of good luck, it was picked up by some gorgeous Californian travellers’ who found Matt and returned it to him.
Matt whisked me (Naomi) away on a surprise week to Northern Italy; we flew into Venice for dinner and road-tripped up to the Dolomite Alps in Northern Italy. We were hiking through the Alps; the scenery was surreal, rolling green fields covered in wildflowers and snowcapped Alps in every direction. We reached a lookout; Naomi was taking in the view while Matt pulled a bottle of Champagne from his pack, said some beautiful words, dropped to one knee, and pulled out the ring. Naomi was completely surprised and overjoyed and said, ‘Yes, nothing would make me happier’.
Planning process.
We planned the wedding in about three months! We thought, why wait? We had so much fun planning the wedding together. With such a short amount of time, the planning was simple. However, fate had a different plan. Our original date was March 2020; then, the first Covid lockdown happened just one week before the day. So, we actually had far more time than we anticipated in the lead-up to the day. This was a real blessing in disguise as the people/vendors we really wanted to be a part of our day, particularly our incredible photographer Tony Evans and our celebrant, weren’t available for our first date; luckily, we were able to book them well in advance for the second date.
Our first conversation in planning the day was about what sort of celebration we wanted. To us, the focus was always about the people, maximising our ability to have all our loved ones there. We wanted the wedding to feel like a rolling celebration over a few days. Wye River was an easy choice because of its natural beauty, and we shared so many special memories together there over the summer holidays as teenagers and beyond.
Style inspiration.
The beach setting creates a relaxed atmosphere and backdrop; we wanted to complement this with a modern, elegant, and timeless aesthetic.
Most of the inspiration came from real weddings and vendors’ Instagram pages and websites. Ivory Tribe, The Lane, and some wedding planning/styling podcasts were so helpful!
The ceremony.
Our ceremony was nestled in a nook of the river, with a picturesque bush-covered embankment as the backdrop. We were very lucky to have our good friend Jidah set the tone for the ceremony with a Welcome to Country, grounding us in the beauty and connecting us to Gadubanud Country. In Indigenous culture, December is the season of the butterfly, Ballambar. In a magical moment that couldn’t have been planned, hundreds of white butterflies hatched from their cocoons on our wedding day and fluttered down the aisle and around the ceremony.
The look.
Matt and the groomsmen looked very suave in their tailor-made suits by the very stylish and talented Samuel Diamond at Samuel Diamond Tailors in Melbourne. Matt had a lot of fun choosing the detailing with Samuel, the fabrics, cuts, cuffs, collars, folds, and buttons.
Before the original date, I visited a few of the beautiful gown stores and designers in Melbourne. It was a fun experience. While my dress options were somewhat limited by the short timeframe, I chose a dress from the designer Newhite; it was big, fun, modern and complicated!
However, I realised I just didn’t feel myself in it, and as many did, I changed my mind and sold it. From there, I spent a long time searching for a dress before falling in love with the Noa gown by Danielle Frankel. Danielle is based in New York and, at the time, was not stocked in Australia. So, I took a leap of faith and ordered the dress online. It arrived just in time for the wedding and, to much relief, fit like a glove. I adore the thick wool-silk blend, simple silhouette and soft fluid fit of the gown.
Favourite moments.
This is a tough question! We loved every part of the day, and there were so many special moments with our families and bridal party, the ceremony, the speeches, the dancefloor and the party that followed! But the firework show was pretty special! It was so much fun and brought an incredible day and night to a beautiful crescendo!
Meaning of marriage.
Marriage is a celebration of love. Marriage is a choice to love wholeheartedly through conscious actions. It is choosing to be true, patient, and passionate and embark on life’s journey together.
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Abusey Junction by KOKOROCO
Reception entry: People Everywhere (still alive) by Khruangbin
First dance: Feeling Good by Nina Simone
Funny stories or near disasters.
Apart from Matt nearly losing the engagement ring and the 18-month lockdown-induced delay, our celebrate got Covid the night before the wedding. Luckily her good friend and superstar celebrant Jo Betz was miraculously available and able to step in to do a stellar job on the day. But who isn’t sick of hearing about a Covid-related hiccup by now!
There were a few little things that didn’t go to plan; I hope not too many people noticed – the big wheels of cheese for the grazing board were delivered to the wrong place (what’s a charcuterie board without some creamy brie!?), the seating guide was printed on floppy paper so there was a slap-dash job with some scissors, card and a glue stick to whip it into shape for displaying on the day. A few minor things – in retrospect, all wonderful reasons to have a wedding planner! I’m sure these rookie hiccups would have been avoided.
Planning surprises.
It was so much fun! Please don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! Matt and I loved curating a fun party for our favourite people; the location scouting, food and wine tasting, creating playlists, collaborating with the celebrant to convey the story of our love and relationship, dreaming up the floral displays with our beautiful and talented florist Lucy. We were so enthusiastic and excited about all the details; we hoped the day would reflect who we are but, most of all, just be enjoyed by all!
Words of wisdom.
To follow on from above, I think keeping the ‘why’ in focus while planning, at the end of the day, we’re all there to celebrate love and share some fun with people who are special to us!
On a more specific note, pick a photographer (and videographer) that you’re going to have a lot of fun with and feel really comfortable around. It will really elevate your day! They are so intimately involved in every part of the day, from getting ready to the dance floor. We couldn’t have asked for a more skilled photographer and better guys than Tony and videographer Derry!
It’s going to feel more special and fun than you can imagine! Things will go wrong, but it won’t matter. Laugh these things off and soak up every moment. We’re excited for you!
Naomi and Matt’s ceremony styling appears effortlessly breathtaking. But for anyone planning a wedding, we know that there is a lot that goes into creating such a stunning effect. Read our top tips for styled-up ceremony magic, here on the blog.
NAOMI & MATT’S VENDORS
Ceremony & reception venue: Wye Beach Hotel
Celebrant: Jo Betz
Photography: Tony Evans
Videography: Pingle Pictures
Florist: Luvluc
Hair: Maddy Edwards Hair, Gabbie Ward & The Native Co
Make-up: Cherie Green Makeup and Madison Tippett
The dress: Danielle Frankel Studio
Shoes: Naomi’s – Proenza Schouler. Matt’s – Loake Shoes
Suits: Samuel Diamond Tailors
Rings: Cushla Whiting
Entertainment: Band The Bon Tons, DJs Barry Sunset + fitzy1028
Hire: Linen Table Art Event Hire, furniture Memphis Hire.
