Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship:
Tess is a lawyer who grew up in Melbourne girl. Euan moved to Australia from the UK and works in Marketing.
We met in April 2016 and spent a first date at the Black Pearl in Fitzroy, which was quickly followed by a long night talking and drinking cocktails at The Everleigh. Euan remembers being disappointed that Tess drove on their first date as he felt it gave her an excuse to leave early. Fortunately, Tess didn’t need to resort to that on their first date or any of the dates that followed.
From there everything happened and grew naturally, despite the fact that Euan is a beer wanker and Tess thinks all beer taste like beer. Euan knew it was special when my family was coming to visit after about 6 months and being really excited to introduce them to each other and for us all to spend time together.
After almost two years of cocktails, nice meals and brunches, our daughter Clementine (shortened to Minnie) was born. Our focused as changed a bit with Minnie’s arrival, instead of searching for the best brunch spots and coffee, the search is on for the best parks.
We got engaged on a family trip to Bali in October 2018, it was actually the 4th time that Euan had proposed (although Tess claims it wasn’t a proposal and doesn’t remember the previous efforts). Despite it being a non-proposal, it was quite a romantic setting being in a large villa with Euan’s family overlooking the sea.
Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details:
We decided very early what was important to us in our wedding day. We wanted an intimate, romantic, Spring garden wedding with our nearest and dearest. From the moment our guests arrived, we wanted them to feel comfortable, relaxed and ready to celebrate.
Rupert on Rupert was the perfect location for us. The beautiful, plant filled warehouse was a wonderful background for the floral wonderland that we wanted to create. By having the wedding and reception at Rupert on Rupert, we were able to ensure that our guests had an enjoyable and happy day from beginning to end. This was particularly important as we had guests travelling from interstate and overseas, and thought they’d done enough travelling for us already! We also loved the focus of Rupert on Rupert on beautiful food, wine and beer, and that no guest would go home hungry (or thirsty)! Our guests were greeted with beautiful champagne when they arrived and were plied with food for the rest of the evening. As the evening progressed, a fire was lit in the restaurant and candles sprung up which was magical when mixed with the scent of the beautiful flowers created by Georgie Boy.
Georgie Boy by Gina Lasker was wonderful to work with. She understood that we wanted the flowers to be the showcase on the day and created a wonderful floral wonderland. Tess grew up in gardens created by her mother, grandmother and Helen Skipper of Monsalvat, and wanted it to feel like an English cottage garden. It was magnificent to walk into the venue and be overwhelmed with the scent of the flowers. Our colour scheme was dictated by the flowers, and allowing them to truly pop – the flowers were Spring garden colours, complemented by pale pink and sky blue. We had seen many wedding photos at Rupert on Rupert with hanging arrangements over the ceremony, however we wanted to do something a bit different. Gina created a floral backdrop of our dreams, which stole the show in many ways.
The cake was a masterpiece by Cass from Fig and Salt – a confection of white chocolate and raspberries with raspberry coulis and extra raspberries. The cake was also decorated by Gina Lasker.
Tell us about your main outfits:
Tess wore a lace dress designed and created by Andrea Gorrie Bridal Couture. Tess was struck by the beauty of the lace, and then the dress came from there. She wore pink suede pumps from Gianvito Rossi and pearl earrings made by Jasmine Fraser Jewellery (who also designed her engagement ring and wedding ring). She had selected a Givenchy blue clutch as her something blue, but unfortunately this missed the wedding. In the evening, Tess wore a pearl encrusted headband by Jennifer Behr. Minnie wore a white dress with a pink Pretty Wild cardigan and pink glittered Converse sneakers. She refused to wear the beautiful floral crown created by Gina and her team. This was worn by both Euan and Tess’ sister, Kira during the evening.
Euan wanted an outfit that was classic, without looking the same as every other wedding outfit. He wore a sky blue linen jacket and navy blue chinos that he designed himself at Institchu, with dark brown brogues from Grenson Shoes and a Liberty pocket square.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day:
Our ceremony was the most important part of the day for us. As Minnie was still little, the ceremony was the part where she would be a part of the wedding and she is an important part of our story. Tess chose to walk down the aisle with Minnie, who choose to bring her special toy, Shell (fortunately, Shell perfectly complemented the colour schemes). For Tess, there was something special in walking into the venue with Minnie, being met with the scent of beautiful flowers and Euan’s smile. For Euan, he remembers seeing Tess in her dress for the first time and having his breath taken away.
We chose Kate Morgan as a celebrant as she understood the importance of creating special, poignant moments in the ceremony. And she did. The ceremony was beautiful, romantic and very moving. Euan’s brother Mike read “I carry your heart” by EE Cummings, which was followed by a reading by Tess’ sister Kira. Euan prepared his own vows, while Tess read “How do I love thee” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (a favourite poem of hers). After the ceremony, we danced with Minnie to Jackie Wilson’s “(Your love keeps lifting me) Higher and higher” and were greeted by our friends and family with big, joyous hugs. Our overwhelming memory of the day was how special it was to have our family and closest friends there to share it with. And at the end of the night, to have them thank us for inviting them to share in such a beautiful, intimate wedding.
In fine Melbourne form, our beautiful Spring weather was transformed into a rainy, grey day. This added to the character of the day, and threw a few curve balls for our beautiful photographer, Tess Follett. Fortunately, this made for some beautiful photos in Collingwood. Tess had such a beautiful, relaxed manner which everyone commented on – quite a few people thought she was a close friend because she fitted in so perfectly. It is beautiful to relive the day again through Tess’ photos, and Minnie loves to look at them too which is really special.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together:
Decide what’s important for you, it is your day, not anyone else’s. We created a picture of the day and what that looked like for us – then we set about creating that vision. This actually made arranging and planning the day quite simple and straightforward, because we have a clear idea of what we wanted and what was important to us both. For Euan, this was having a fantastic venue with an even better beer selection. For Tess, this was having showstopping flowers.
Choose beautiful vendors that you want to work with!! We knew that we wanted Tess Follett as photographer and Gina Lasker to do our flowers, and didn’t speak to anyone else. It helped that they understood the type of wedding we wanted and our vision, which was the icing on the cake. You’ll also find lovely vendors along the way – like Kate Morgan and Cass from Fig and Salt, but I think our vendors made our day simple and easy, which meant that we could really enjoy ourselves.
Venue & Catering: Rupert on Rupert | Photographer: Tess Follett | Celebrant: Kate Morgan | Flora: Georgie Boy by Gina Lasker | Cake: Fig and Salt | Bride’s Dress: Andrea Gorrie – Bridal Couture | Groom’s Suit: InStitchu | Brides Jewellery & Ring/s: Jasmine Fraser | Bride’s Shoes: Gianvito Rossi | Goom’s Shoes: Grenson | Makeup & Hair: Cassandra Lusi | Fragrance: Grandiflora Madagascan Jasmine
