Real Wedding – Tahlia & Michael, Highett VIC
Tahlia and Michael’s wedding day was all bright, bold styling and an absolute blast of a party! From the moment they began planning, Tahlia had a vision for how the day would unfold, and the result was dazzling in its detail.
One of our favourite Melbourne warehouse venues, Luna, provided the perfect blank canvas for a theme of vibrant hues of deep tangerine and magenta, contrasted against soft apricots and pops of peach. Tahlia’s dream dress was created by one of our favourite fashion houses, D’Italia, realising her vision in lace with accents in crystal.
The only thing detracting from the vivid styling was the incredible emotion evident in every photo; this was a celebration that encompassed the full spectrum of happy emotions from laughter to tears and excitement.
There to capture every striking moment from behind the lens was the inimitable Chloe May.
The meeting.
It’s quite a cute story actually. We would go out to the same nightclub and had some mutual friends, then Michael added me on Facebook. There’s a memory that pops up every year with me writing on his page “Thanks for the add, have we met?” We ended up chatting online, and he told me he’d seen me out and liked the way I danced. The rest is history!
The ‘one’.
Michael melted my heart the day we met. And god, his tattoos had me wanting more.
Things were moving so quickly but when I first stayed at his place and noticed his Buzz Lightyear doona cover I wasn’t so sure!
I knew he was the one the moment I asked him to be my boyfriend. I’d NEVER done that before.
The proposal.
Bali was our favourite place, we’d travelled there so often, but this time it was only the two of us.
Michael told me he’d planned a surprise for us since it was our first time in Bali without friends or family.
We arrived at this place that looked like a local village, and I was thinking, oh no, what has he done!
Next minute we are at this absolutely BEAUTIFUL resort and get taken to a “birdcage” decorated with rose petals and candles, to enjoy a five-course dinner together overlooking rice fields and the sun setting.
I had gotten up to take a photo, and as I went to sit back down, Michael got up and dropped to one knee, he was shaking so bad he was so nervous. Initially, I thought he’d gotten up to get out of the photo, but instead, he asked me to marry him! Michael said he had a huge speech planned out and forgot it all in the moment, but it was perfect!
Planning process.
Michael and I LOVE to party, so we wanted exactly that. That’s basically all Michael was involved in other than the suits; to be honest, he didn’t want to know about any of the planning.
The second he gave me the OK I was at it. Enquiries began, and everything was locked in within a couple of weeks! I love all things creative and needed a blank canvas, so the first and only venue we looked at we booked, and everything else followed. It was SO FUN!
Style inspiration.
Simplicity and FUN! This is why we decided to go with a cocktail wedding. We wanted to party, skip the formalities and enjoy the night with those we love most!
The outfit.
I could never find the perfect dress when searching online. If I did, it would have blown the budget!
I didn’t even bother trying any on. I had a vision and knew that meant I had to go custom. I decided to go through D’Italia in Malvern, and they brought my vision to life, it was the best decision I ever made. Although I think I drove my dressmaker bananas, changing my mind so often!
Favourite moments.
I personally loved our first dance; we got to have a chat and actually have a moment with just the two of us.
But our favourite moment was afterwards, Michael and I spent so long in the early hours of the morning stuffing our faces with McDonald’s and talking about how incredible the entire day and night was.
Meaning of marriage.
For us it was just a piece of paper, we didn’t think it would feel any different getting married.
It means forever – We are unbreakable!
Wedding soundtrack.
Aisle: Can’t Help Falling in Love by Kina Grannis (Crazy Rich Asians Soundtrack version)
Signing: Hold by Vera Blue
Recessional: We Found Love by Rhianna/Calvin Harris
Reception entry: Show Me Love feat. Karina Chavez by Mobin Master (Safari Radio Mix)
First dance: Songbird by Eva Cassidy (Acoustic version)
Funny stories or near disasters.
Well, the disaster for me was our signing table. We’d spent the afternoon before the big day setting up what we could at the venue, everything was perfect but the signing table – I hated it! My boss ended up saving the day and let me use one from my workplace office, my angel of a celebrant ended up collecting it the morning of the wedding, talk about last minute!
I thought it was a great idea hiring this four-story house to stay in the night before; boy was I wrong! I woke up the morning of the wedding and could barely walk my calves were sooooo sore from all the stairs! I spent the morning rolling my calves out with a candle jar from the house, hoping it would help so I could get into my heels. Well, nope, it resulted in me going barefoot for the day!
And lastly, I was so relaxed all morning; we were going so good for time! I sat back, sipping my moscato and OJ and let my mum and bridesmaids all get ready before me. Worst idea ever! This resulted in me being rushed, missing our family photoshoot and making our videographer and photographer late to the wedding venue. Whoops!
Planning surprises.
How much goes into it! And the arguments we had leading up to the big day, I truly thought we would end up divorced before we were married. But it was ALL WORTH IT!
Words of wisdom.
It’s your day, have it exactly as you want it. Remember, you cannot please everyone.
Try and stay as organized as possible, so you don’t get too overwhelmed. And a budget, what budget… its almost guaranteed you’ll blow it. Don’t let financial stress make you argue with one another. We literally said after our wedding that we could have spent millions and everything about the day would have been worth it.
Ladies, if you think you’ve got plenty of time and think you’ll be OK to get ready last, you are wrong!!!
It truly is the best day of your life. Soak up every single moment! You won’t be able to wipe the smiles off your face!
It’s inevitable that things won’t go as planned. Don’t stress over the small stuff.
And most importantly take it all in and enjoy it, time flies!
Love a city-chic vibe? Be inspired by some of our favourite urban real weddings, curated here. Mix yourself a negroni and enjoy the metropolitan moments!
TAHLIA & MICHAEL’S VENDORS
Ceremony and reception venue: Luna – Highett. I cannot even put words together with how amazing and accommodating Katie and her team were. This was the only venue we looked at, and the moment we met Katie, we knew she understood exactly the vibe we were after! The entire day and night wouldn’t have been what it was without them!
Celebrant: Elisha Dowsett Celebrant. If you’re wanting a celebrant that just understands you, Elisha is your girl! We had one meeting to go through finer details, and the draft she has written up for us was perfect! Nothing too formal or serious, she managed to have all of our guests laughing and crying!
Photography: Chloe May.
Oh Chloe, she was an absolute angel! We must have driven her absolutely bananas with our morning chaos, and she didn’t complain once. We were so over the moon with our photos; there were so many shots we thought we didn’t get, she captured them perfectly without us even knowing. I would recommend her 100 times over.
Videography: Clique Films, Daniel and Kelly. Initially, we met at their place to go through music choices and go through our wedding vibe and everything we wanted captured; we ended up chatting so much that we didn’t leave their place until midnight! These two were so much fun, they both felt like they were guests at the wedding! Our video had us both crying; we wanted to re-live the day so badly! They captured it just perfectly!
Styling: Feeling Peachy Co. This is my business, and our wedding was where I could really give it a crack! I was so happy with all my styling choices, it all came together better than I imagined!
Florist: Flowerhead Events. Poor Helen, the amount of messages about what I wanted, the poor thing would have gotten so confused as I kept changing my mind. In the end, we ended up catching up, and boy were we blown away on the day. Our colourful flower palette was such a risk, and my goodness it had everybody talking! Flowerhead Events brought my vision to; she is absolutely amazing at what she does!
Hair: Harlen Hair. Sharah is an absolute QUEEN! Everyone’s hair was absolutely amazing and held so well! My hair in particular, never stays in place for longer than 20 minutes. She is magic! Sharah is so much fun to be around; she had everyone smiling!
Make-up: Daniel Tan Makeup Artist
The dress: D’italia Couture. D’Italia were absolutely amazing to deal with. They understood me completely, and it didn’t take long to decide what I was after. They were so helpful, and I have recommended them to so many people!
Veil / headwear: Vassi Bridal Couture
Shoes: Lipstick
Rings: Empress Diamonds
Bridesmaid’s dresses: Chancery the Label
Groomsmen’s suits and bow ties: Peter Jackson
Catering: Fourside Food Design + Events. All I can say is YUM! Highly recommend for any events that require catering, their food is sooooo good!
Bar: We supplied our own.
Cake / Cake topper: Cakes by Ellen. Ellen NAILED IT! So many guests said how yummy our cake was!
Stationery / Signage: The Parker Effect & Feeling Peachy Co
Entertainment: Unplugged Entertainment. We used Angus Legg, Taylor Piggott & Kiki Courtidis. Leighton from Unplugged Entertainment was so great to deal with and super fast with responding to emails. Angus, Taylor and Kiki were the perfect combo for our wedding. We are obsessed with their voices, and our guests loved them!
Transport: The Chauffeur Group Au. All I can say is – LUXURY!
Décor: Sublime Decals (Floor Decal), GGinstyleevents (Balloons), The Party Style Co (Plinths, Round Halo), Celebrate Party Hire (Ceremony Chairs)
Honeymoon: Covid stuffed that up! We planned to venture off to South America but due to covid19 that didn’t go to plan. So I organized a surprise Bali trip for my hubby’s 30th, which was then cancelled and we lost all our money! So our “honeymoon” has literally been spent at home.
