Real Wedding – Nick & Claire, Melbourne Vic
Real Wedding – Nick & Claire, Melbourne Vic
Real Wedding – Nick & Claire, Melbourne Vic
Real Wedding – Nick & Claire, Melbourne Vic

Real Wedding – Nick & Claire, Melbourne Vic

 

An inner-city celebration was the perfect location for Nick and Claire’s epic New Year’s Eve wedding.

Creating a stylish and modern setting, with lots of foliage, white flowers and accents of black and gold, Nick and Claire set the tone of their day with a light hearted and fun ceremony by Tribe fave Megan of The Commitment Company.

From there they partied the night away with their nearest and dearest before sharing a New Year’s Eve kiss while fireworks lit up the sky! Enjoy this stunning love filled day with images by Tess Follett.

 

In Nick and Claire’s words…

The meeting.

We first met at a year ten formal however Claire has absolutely no recollection of this encounter. Our paths crossed again shortly after at a mutual friend’s house party. Then weeks later in 2002, the night of the World Cup final, we became girlfriend and boyfriend and have fallen in love all over again at each stage of lives since. 

The one.

The moment we knew we were in love was on a weekend away at Nick’s farm, we must have been 17 at the time. We laughed and cried by the fire sharing our stories with each other. From then on we knew this was truly special.

The proposal.

It was on Claire’s favourite day of the year, which is Christmas Day. When she opened up Nick’s card she burst into the world’s ugliest happiest cry. There was a beautiful ring under the tree and with not one dry eye in the house, Claire of course said yes to the man she loves! We were surrounded by family and got to celebrate our engagement with more extended family that day.

The planning.

We were all about referrals, spreadsheets and not taking ourselves too seriously! A few of our good friends had recently got married and had wonderful weddings so our photographer, music, hair and make up artist, photo booth, and celebrant were all suppliers who’s work we had seen and our friends had recommended. Keeping things organised from early in the planning process was helpful. When we had made a decision we documented it and moved on, otherwise you could consider options forever.

Style inspiration.

We kept the style simple and modern with lots of foliage, white flowers and black and gold accents.

We wanted the ceremony to be light hearted and fun. We loved the idea of being able to share our ‘story’ with our guests, which our celebrant Megan did beautifully.  The ceremony really set the tone for the night and all of our friends and family were ready to celebrate and enjoy the party.

For the reception we wanted to create the feeling of a joyful Christmas dinner followed by NYE fireworks, so we had each family seated on long tables together (and of course a table of our ‘A-List’ of friends).

The dress.

I chose the style of dress based on the dresses I had felt most comfortable in at recent events. The off-shoulder style felt incredibly flattering and I noticed being more comfortable made me more confident and relaxed. There were a few debacles with the dress, the initial designer was unable to complete the dress and we had to find someone else. In the end it was a blessing and the designer we went to was lovely, the dress was perfect and I felt so comfortable on the day.

Favourite moments.

There were so many beautiful moments we can’t chose just one! The ‘first look’ where we were able to spend those first moments alone was so exciting and special; reading our vows and making thoughtful promises to each other; walking back down the aisle as husband and wife, with not a care in the world; heading out for a stroll together after the ceremony to take some time to just enjoy the moment; sharing a New Years Eve kiss watching the fireworks with our family and friends.

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage to us is about continuing to fall in love with each version of each other for the rest of our lives, it is about supporting each other and building a family together.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Everything by Michael Buble

Signing: Teenage Dream by Nussy – acoustic version.

Ceremony conclusion: Celebration by Kool and the Gang.

First Dance: Treasure by Bruno Mars.

Funny stories (or near disasters).

In the week before Christmas everything that could go wrong, did! The venue co-ordinator we worked with left the company abruptly, the dress was damaged and half of it had to be re-made and we had to re-book our honeymoon due to travel warnings. However, thanks to our detailed spread sheets and amazing suppliers by the end of that week we had it all back on track again and we were able to relax between Christmas and New Year.

Planning surprises.

How genuinely thoughtful and excited suppliers can be about your wedding, we were so grateful we had such a great team of people.

We were a little nervous that a New Year’s Eve wedding would be difficult for our guests, but were pleasantly surprised that we had such a positive reaction to the date. Only four people couldn’t make it, and we were lucky that all our family and friends from interstate and around the world took it as an opportunity to come back to Melbourne for Christmas and our wedding. It was so special having these people there.

Words of wisdom for other couples planning a wedding?

Stay focused on your wedding day being the first day of a long and happy marriage, take time away from planning to enjoy each other in the lead up to the day.

For us the day was not only about us but also about thanking our friends and family for all their support now and into the future.  It was important to us to show them in small ways in the lead up and on the day that we had thought of them and considered them in the process. We believe this had a lot to do with creating the joyful atmosphere on the day, which really came though in the photos and our memories of the day.

 

 

Love an inner city wedding? Then Tarryn and Charlie’s boho celebration is a must see.

 

NICK AND CLAIRE’S TRIBE

Ceremony and reception: Aerial, South Wharf.

Celebrant/Officiant: The Commitment Company, Megan Thompson. Megan was wonderful, when we met with her early on she explained that she was passionate about telling the story of the couple. And she did this beautifully and we now have her written ceremony and our story to keep.

Photography: Tess Follett. We chose Tess to photograph our wedding after we had seen her work at two friends’ weddings. What we had seen was not just beautiful photographs but also the way Tess interacted with the bride and groom and bridal party on the day of these weddings. From the first meeting with Tess she went above and beyond in her efforts to get the best results for our wedding day. Tess provided guidance on the run sheet, made sure we had set aside some time together on the day, researched the locations for the photographs and was just genuinely excited for the day. On the day of the wedding Tess again went above and beyond, she was confident and relaxed and this put everyone at ease. We have had many compliments on the photos but also many compliments on how lovely Tess was on the night.

Florist: Where the Grass is Green. We couldn’t recommend Katie from WTGIG highly enough; she was the ultimate professional and incredibly thoughtful throughout the entire process.

Hair and makeup: Studio 2 Makeup and Hair. Emma and Renee were fantastic; they worked with each of the girls to give them their own look and kept us all looking like (better versions of) ourselves.

The Dress: One Day Bridal

Veil: A dear friend of ours, Amanda, lent Claire her veil, which was very special to us.

Bride’s shoes: Valentino

Rings: Tiffany and Co, and Paul Bram

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Their own (Alice McCall, Shona Joy, Sandro-Paris, Gorman & Maryling)

Flower girls: Bardot Junior

Groom’s suit: Oscar Hunt

Groom’s accessories: Hugo Boss

Pageboy: Children’s Salon, Betts Kids, Politix, Bardot Junior

Catering: Food and Desire

Favours: Table flowers

Stationery / Signage: Where the Grass, Communicake it.

Where the Grass is Green made our napkin wrap place cards, and Food and Desire provided a seating chart and signage at the entrance to the venue.

Communicake it made a sign for each table with the last name of each family and ‘The A List” for our nearest and dearest friends. This was an inexpensive touch but it made sure everyone felt thought of and they were an absolute hit in the photobooth later in the night. Bianca from Communicake It matched the font from our invitations and place cards, which was a really lovely touch.

Entertainment: We are lucky enough to have a best friend Danielle (Aka: Nussy) who is an incredibly talented singer and songwriter. During the signing she sang her own acoustic arrangement of Teenage dream by Katy Perry and then she help organise music for the rest of the night.  For the ceremony and pre dinner drinks we had a duet, Michael Delorenzis and Alexandra Valmorbida who were just wonderful. Then for the reception we had DJ Sarah Mac, who was unreal she nailed the brief for the music and kept the party going into the night.

Photo booth: Shutter Hub

Honeymoon: Western Australia

 

 




loading
loading
Crop The Image

Actual Size

Recommended Size

Cropped Size

loading