Real Wedding - Rosie & Ben, Fitzroy VIC

June 24, 2020 In Colourful, Latest Posts, Pink, Real Weddings, Urban, Victoria By Ivory Tribe

Real Wedding – Rosie & Ben, Fitzroy VIC

Rosie and Ben, who met on New Years Eve, wanted a colourful, fun and relaxed ‘love party’ where they could celebrate the day away with family (including their three miniatures) and friends.

Set in the city of Melbourne, with bright florals and chic styling, this darling duo exchanged heartfelt vows in what would prove to be one of their favourite moments of the day.

Rosie’s gown was a show-stopper and Cappellazzo Couture ensured the beaming bride not only looked, but felt amazing in her custom design. Adding green heels and elegant accessories, Rosie wowed her groom and we can see exactly why.

Tribe talents, It’s Beautiful Here, were the ladies behind the lens and captured this celebration in all its glory.

The meeting.

Ben and I met not long before midnight on New Years Eve 2012 at the Falls Music Festival in Lorne. He was listening to a band with his friends and I was wandering through the crowd looking for my friends who I had lost. He smiled at me and that was it, I rang in the New Year with him and all the New Years’ since.

The ‘one’.

Well, I (and all my girlfriends) found out at my Hen’s party that Ben first realised he was in love a couple of months after we met when he found himself Googling ‘how do you know if you’re in love?’. I think I knew around the same time, I just didn’t need Google to tell me, haha!

The proposal.

Ben’s proposal was very extravagant which is completely out of character for him, he’s usually a really low-key guy. Afterwards he told me that three kids later he felt like he had to pull out the big guns to make it special. We drove into the city together for work one morning not long before Christmas. Little did I know Ben had organised for me to have the day off work and instead of another day in the office, we had a morning champagne, took a helicopter to the Yarra Valley, did a wine tasting and degustation at Levantine Hill. I was completely suspicious by this stage and wondering if eight courses with paired wines later Ben would even be able to speak, but he could! We went for a walk out to the vineyards and he got down on one knee and popped the question!

The process.

I love organising things so I found most of this really enjoyable. I think wedding planning has three phases; initially there is a rush to book everything so there is few crazy weeks of emailing, meetings and viewings. Then, there’s a weird lull in the middle where you don’t really have to do much followed by the mad dash to the finish and this is unavoidable. There are so many things that have to be finalised in the last few weeks and they all seem to be interconnected and rely on another detail to confirm. Most of these decisions can’t be made before the last month or so leading up to the wedding but I found at least being organised and aware of what would need to be done or decided helped a lot.

Style inspiration.

Our photographers, It’s Beautiful Here, often use the term ‘love party’ to describe weddings and that’s exactly what we wanted. A colourful, fun and relaxed love party where we could celebrate with our family (including our miniatures) and friends.

The dress.

It took a little while to find THE dress. I went to quite a few boutiques and designers to start with but since I have a different size bust, waist and hips I really struggled to picture how the dress would look if it actually fit and couldn’t commit. I met with Sonia (Cappellazzo) as she had designed one of my best friend’s wedding dresses and I had loved her dress. I knew I had come to the right place; Sonia had me try on one dress over the top of another and then did some expert fabric draping. It should have been a hot mess but instead I saw it – here was my dress! I felt like a bride. After that, I pretty much let Sonia do whatever she wanted as I had total confidence she would make me look and feel beautiful in whatever she created.

I added green shoes for fun – although my three-year-old daughter called them witch shoes when she saw them which was somewhat disconcerting. I think they worked on the day though! I also had some simple pearl hair pins from Country Road and over the top but very fabulous earrings from Christie Nicolaides. I wish I could say I had beautiful bridal underwear to match but in fact, it was some of Bridget Jones’ best work – giant suck-me-in undies!

Favourite moments.

Reading each other our vows.

When I told my maid-of-honour that Ben and I would be doing personalised vows, she warned me I was in trouble as Ben is so good at that kind of thing. He didn’t disappoint, he wrote the most beautiful and heartfelt vows, and I will treasure them forever.

Meaning of marriage.

Having three children together, Ben and I felt a bit married already. We really wanted to have a wedding though so we could celebrate with our family and friends how much we love each other and demonstrate our commitment to each other. For us, it probably means more of the same, facing the daily challenges together and sharing the good times but it is lovely to be doing that as the Ellis family.

Wedding soundtrack:

Aisle: You’ve got the love by Florence and the Machine

Recessional: Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes

Reception entry: Don’t you forget about me by Simple Minds

First dance: Maybe I’m amazed by Paul McCartney

Funny stories (or near disasters).

After a big lead up and much excitement, I think our kids did find the wedding both under and overwhelming. There were lots of people so our normally chatty kids were suddenly shy when Shannon, our celebrant, asked them things during the ceremony. The baby just spent most of the time trying to escape out the window. I think It’s Beautiful Here captured it perfectly in some of the extended family photos!

Words of wisdom.

If there’s room for it in your budget, I would definitely recommend having someone who is in charge of on-the-day logistics. Elie from Darling Don’t Panic did this for us and she actually took charge of everything from two weeks out. It was amazing having her liaise with all the vendors about who/what/where and when for the day. She was also at the venue to make sure everything ran smoothly and meant we could just enjoy our day.

For vows that will wow, click here to take a peek at our how-to guide for writing your own love ode.

ROSIE & BEN’S TRIBE

Ceremony and reception location: Panama Dining Room – gorgeous venue that styles itself and amazing food and drinks.

Celebrant: Shannon Jeans – more than a bit of Mary Poppins going on – practically perfect in every way!

Photography: It’s Beautiful Here – such great ladies who get incredible photos without you realising they’re in the room.

Styling/planning: Elie Events/Darling Don’t Panic – Elie is best described as an organisational Queen with a capital Q, we were so lucky to have her!

Florist: Love Alfalfa – Elle was brilliant. I just said ‘pinks’ and she did the rest. When you have such talented vendors, we found it best to just let them do their thing. I absolutely love flowers and couldn’t have been happier with what Elle created for us on the day.

Hair: Natalie Jaye

Make-up: Jade K

The dress and veil: Cappellazzo Couture

Shoes: Rochas

Rings: Diamond Exchange

Bridesmaids dresses: Scanlan and Theodore

Groom’s suit: Ted Baker

Groom’s tie and pocket square: Calibre

Groomsmen’s suits: Peter Jackson

Catering/bar: Panama Dining Room

Favours: cupcakes by Butter Baking

Cake: Cheese wheel cake by Bill’s Farm Delicatessen