Real Wedding – Ryan & Rylee, Melbourne VIC
Ryan and Rylee were never going to hold a traditional wedding – this darling duo were resolute in their vision of a celebration that felt completely them.
Dark, romantic and timeless were the descriptors they leaned into, weaving in their love of heritage-listed buildings and moody, candlelit atmosphere.
Our very own Teagan of Panache & Co told Ryan and Rylee’s story in a perfect blend of lighthearted warmth and formality, against the backdrop of the inky night.
We adore how Ryan and Rylee wove their own signature styles and personalities into everything from the soundtrack featuring their favourite movie tracks, their outfit accessories and the creation of their own unique traditions.
Read on to hear how they did it, and see the incredible results, through the artful lens of Finder Seeker Photography.
The meeting.
We met through friends of friends – always crossing paths at various parties and social gatherings over the years. But it wasn’t until 2019 that we finally decided to date officially.
The one.
From our first official date, we went to the beach. It was just a regular day, but we got ready together, drove there and back together, chatted all day, and we knew we wanted to have days like that for the rest of our lives.
The proposal.
We were going away for our anniversary, staying in a refurbished train carriage on a vineyard. We had already discussed our future and getting married one day, but we wanted to establish ourselves in other aspects of our lives both personally and together. The plan was to be engaged a year after buying and living in our first home together, so although Ryan was constantly checking the time and ensuring we were in the perfect spot by sunset, Rylee didn’t suspect a thing! We were getting ready to share cheese and wine in the hot tub at sunset when Ryan lured Rylee back out to the decking by telling her there were sheep – to which of course Rylee came running out to see and Ryan popped the question.
Planning process.
We had so much fun with all the planning! We were very much in it together, going to all the venue walkthroughs together and sending each other inspiration. Rylee, luckily, has a career in event management, so was naturally very organised and knew how to talk to suppliers etc. Ryan has a career in graphic design, so he did all the design elements from the save the dates, official invitations, as well as all the signage and menus for the day.
We made sure to make everything a ‘moment’ to keep it all fun and exciting – a venue walkthrough was never just a venue walkthrough without a dinner and date night attached!
Style inspiration.
We wanted something that felt like ‘us’. Dark, moody, romantic, timeless and simple. We love Melbourne and the heritage listed buildings, so that was at the centre of our styling, and then kept everything else simple as the venue spoke for itself. We wanted that romantic/moody feeling, so we held the wedding on a winter evening, so it was dark and rainy, and had a dimly lit candlelit ceremony.
For inspiration, the most useful to us were styled shoots, and information on specific suppliers, such as the tone and style of the celebrant, for example.
The ceremony.
The ceremony was held at night, lit with candlelight. We wanted the ceremony to be completely about us from start to finish.
We ditched the tradition of having the father walk the bride down the aisle, and instead, Rylee entered on her own and waited at the top of the aisle, while Ryan walked down and met her, linked arms, and we walked down together.
We didn’t have our bridal party standing with us, and instead had dedicated seating for them in the second row (behind immediate family); and our celebrant stood off to the side so we were the focus throughout the entire ceremony.
We included our fathers by having them be the ringbearers.
Our celebrant did such a beautiful job of telling our love story in a formal yet lighthearted way. After being pronounced husband and wife and sharing our first kiss, we left the ceremony together and went up to our room, where we signed the legal papers in private, giving us a moment to ourselves. During this time, all the guests were invited to the upper balcony, overlooking the ceremony space, and enjoyed some drinks. The ceremony space was then completely cleared so that we could make our entrance, which transitioned into our first dance. We shared our first dance while guests watched from the balcony.
The outfits.
We both wanted something unique to us, that brought out our personal style and personalities, but still timeless and classic.
Rylee’s dress was “Envy” by Eva Lendel. She came across the dress while doom scrolling Pinterest and couldn’t believe the dress was stocked in a bridal store located close to home (and in her price range). She tried it on, and a few others for fun, but that was the winner from the start! Rylee’s veil was custom-made, with the lace trim made from the lace of her mother’s wedding dress. Rylee’s shoes were blue satin Manolo Blahniks – Rylee’s dream shoes since watching Sex & The City, which Ryan surprised her with on her birthday earlier in the year.
Ryan wore a classic black three-piece suit from M.J Bale, styled with a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes featuring a chain embellishment on the heels.
Favourite moment.
We spent the night before together at the hotel and had a private dinner with our immediate family. Because we were married late in the day (6pm ceremony), we were able to relax and enjoy the day together. We got brunch together in the city and didn’t part ways until it was time to get ready. It was great being able to spend most of the day together, rather than apart, but still being able to create the magical moment of the ‘first look’ when walking down the aisle.
Meaning of marriage.
A true symbol of unity, the promises you make to each other for a lifetime, and the wedding is your chance to share that with your closest friends and family who have helped shaped both of us as individuals and as a couple.
Wedding soundtrack.
We are HUGE music and film buffs. We had a fully curated playlist for the day, including orchestral covers of our favourite songs during welcoming drinks/guest arrival, to a playlist of our favourite love songs or tracks featured in our favourite movie soundtracks playing before our entrance/first dance.
We then made our playlist into CD’s and gave them out as our weddings favours.
Aisle song: Violin and piano cover of The Cranberries; Dreams by Paul Hankinson Covers
First kiss/exit song: Don’t Delete The Kisses – Wolf Alice
First dance: Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want – The Smiths
Funny stories (or near disasters).
We hired candles to create the ‘aisle’ of our ceremony. Moments before the ceremony was set to begin, Rylee and her sister waited outside until the all clear for Rylee to enter. It was raining, so we had to borrow an umbrella from the venue reception. We had been waiting for some time until our celebrant came out to tell us that as guests were taking their seats one after another people started knocking the candles over. One went and as people rushed to help clean it up, another one went… then another… until it just started to be comical. In the end about seven candles total had fallen over with four of them completely smashing. All while Rylee was standing out in the cold, wet, Melbourne weather. Luckily, it didn’t take too long to clear up and with some readjustments, you wouldn’t have been able to tell!
Planning surprises.
The amount of outside advice’/opinions/judgements for doing anything outside of the traditional flow of things. You hear about it all the time, but we always thought ‘oh it won’t happen to us’, but surely enough… it did! Luckily, we are both equally stubborn and knew what we wanted, and we stuck with it, and it was the most perfect day we could have ever planned.
Words of wisdom.
Be true to yourselves! It can be overwhelming with all the ideas/inspo/trends and ‘noise’ from family members, especially if you are planning to do something out of the ordinary – but as long as you are staying true to yourself, and doing something because you love it, not because you feel like you have to, there won’t be a single regret!
RYAN & RYLEE’S WEDDING VENDORS
Ceremony venue: Grand Vestibule Room at Rendezvous, Melbourne
Reception venue: Heritage Lounge at Rendezvous, Melbourne
Celebrant: Teagan Dole, Panache & Co
Photography: Dee from Finder Seeker
Styling: candles – Carla Collectives
The dress: Envy by Eva Lendel – purchased at Raffaele Ciuca
Veil: Custom
Shoes: Rylee – Manolo Blahnik, Ryan – Christian Louboutin
Rings: Temple & Grace
Suit: MJ Bale
Catering: Rendezvous, Melbourne – Mr.Tompkins
Cake / Cake topper: Champagne Tower supplied by venue (Rendezvous Hotel)
Stationery / Signage: Designed by Ryan (the groom!)
Entertainment: Ziggy Durling
Hire: Mirror Photo Booth
