Real Wedding – Victoria & Tom, Sunbury VIC 

Victoria and Tom knew from the start that they wanted to incorporate the beauty of the outdoors into their special day, and Emu Bottom Homestead provided the perfect canvas for their celebration to take place, with talented photographer, Sarah Godenzi, there to capture every moment to perfection.

As the planning process unfolded, Victoria found herself torn between the idea of keeping everything elegantly neutral, and the allure of infusing their day with playful pops of colour. Eventually, the couple decided to embrace vibrancy and opted for bursts of colour with Sour Sunflower playing a pivotal role in bringing this vision to life.

Victoria had a vision for her wedding gown that included an elegant off-the-shoulder design for the ceremony, but she also wanted the versatility to transform it into a strapless gown for the reception, and with the help of Mia Ateliers, her dream gown was achieved.

And when it came to the wedding cake, they didn’t hold back either. Their choice of a bright, raspberry heart-shaped cake was a delightful representation of the love they share.

Bright, fun, and playful, scroll on to see every magic moment.

The meeting.

Our story is a very unoriginal one – we met at a bar. It was after a day at the races on Stakes Day, and Tom is a big racing fan, so I feel it was a good sign! Tom sent me home with his jumper as I was cold. He later said this was tactical as it meant I would have to see him again. And we saw each other the very next day.

The ‘one’.

We both felt this way pretty quickly. We started seeing each other in November and then spent NYE together up in Sydney, so things moved fairly quickly! Tom bought us a dog around six months after we moved in together to really ‘seal the deal’ as he likes to say!

The proposal.

It was during one of the very long Melbourne lockdowns. We were taking our dog for a walk along the beach on a Saturday morning. Tom called our dog over and said we needed to have a team huddle. And then he popped the question! It was perfect – just us three.

Planning process.

Tom wasn’t overly interested in the planning process, but luckily my sister was! She helped a lot and was a great support. We browsed a lot of Pinterest together. It was great as we were able to organise ideas we liked into folders and easily refer back to them for inspiration later.

Instagram was also huge in finding my vendors. I started looking at vendors that seemed interesting and then would also browse through people they engaged with, so that was very useful!

Style inspiration. 

I knew I really wanted something with an outdoor element, especially for the ceremony. That was the biggest box to tick when looking for the venue. I looked online at so many different venues, just looking for the perfect outdoor setting. I love a rustic wedding vibe but didn’t want too rustic either! We went and looked at just a few venues and then decided.

Throughout the planning process, I jumped from wanting to keep everything really neutral with mostly whites to finally deciding to go with pops of colour! My florist (Alyssa – Sour Sunflower) brought in beautiful colours with the flowers and created the most magical aisle for the ceremony. We also had a really fun, bright, raspberry heart wedding cake!

The ceremony.

Our ceremony was short and sweet, just how we wanted it. What I loved the most was that Megan (our celebrant) actually stood off to the side for almost the entire ceremony. As Tom and I hadn’t seen each other yet and nerves were running a little high, we were able to just whisper to each other throughout. We knew what Megan was saying, so we weren’t missing out, and this meant we got to have a little moment that was just us two.

The look. 

I went dress shopping with my bridal party and Mum, which helped me narrow down the style I liked. We looked in some beautiful shops, but in the end, I had it designed by Mia Ateliers based on some of the styles I had tried on and liked. She was so wonderful to work with, and it was a really fun experience. It also meant we were able to make something that encompassed a few styles I liked. My dress was off-the-shoulder for the ceremony and then transformed to be strapless for the reception.

Tom got both his suit and the Groomsmen’s suits from M J Bale. He found them really helpful, especially as one Groomsman was coming interstate and one internationally, so some of the fitting and purchasing were last minute!

Favourite moments.

It’s hard to narrow down! Before the ceremony, I really loved spending the day with my family and best mates. During the wedding, I loved the time Tom and I had to ourselves during the photographs. This ended up being one of the only moments we had to ourselves across the busy evening. I also loved dancing the night away!

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage was about us officially becoming one family. After being together for six and a half years, raising our dog, buying our first house and surviving many lockdowns together, there wasn’t a lot to change between us. But it’s exciting to be husband and wife and share a last name!

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: La Vie En Rose by Emily Watts

Recessional: This will be (Everlasting Love) by Natalie Cole

Reception entry: Love is in the Air by John Paul Young

First dance: L.O.V.E by Nat King Cole

Funny stories or near disasters.

Our bus transporting at least half of our wedding guests, including Tom’s parents, was very, very late! The bus company was late to get to the pick-up point. I had allowed plenty of time for bad traffic, but unfortunately, with them being late, it meant our ceremony started almost an hour late! Luckily, our ceremony was short, and Sarah (our photographer) was very efficient with our photographs following the ceremony in order to make up the time.

Planning surprises.

To be honest, wedding planning was not my favourite thing to do! I’m an incredibly indecisive person, so making so many big decisions was not the most enjoyable task for me. My favourite part throughout was all the activities I got to do with those I love the most, like wedding dress and bridesmaid dress shopping, my hens and spending the night before the wedding with my family and best mates.

Words of wisdom.

There are so many easy and fun elements of wedding planning you can do yourself! I used Etsy and Canva to do quite a bit of my signage and stationery. It was a great way to save a few pennies, but I mostly enjoyed getting to create everything myself.

We loved the look of Victoria’s bridesmaids in their stunning Bec + Bridge dresses, and if you’re currently on the hunt for the perfect gowns to dress your own wedding party, explore the bridesmaid brands that we are loving.

VICTORIA & TOM’S VENDORS

Ceremony & reception venue: The Epicurean Emu Bottom

Celebrant: Marry Me Megan

Photography: Sarah Godenzi

Florist: Sour Sunflower

Hair: Liv Lowden

Make-up: Georgia Emily

The dress: Mia Atelier

Shoes: Bared Footwear

Rings: Ellissi Jewellery

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Bec + Bridge

Suits & bow ties / ties: M J Bale

Cake: Ladybird Cake

Entertainment: Lark Music

Honeymoon: Italy