Vic + Akiva by It’s Beautiful Here - Together Journal

We knew we wanted the wedding to be bright, colourful and extra.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Akiva is a financial adviser working mainly in insurance. I grew up in England and moved to Australia when I was 12. I still consider myself very much to be from both countries, and it is a big part of who I am. My favourite activities include playing and watching sports, mainly Australian Rules Football and soccer. Victoria has mainly worked in the retail and fashion industries and also has experience in commercial real estate. She has been doing callisthenics, which is a type of dancing popular in Australia, since she was two years old and is still an active coach and participant in the elite level of the sport.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We each had a friend who was dating each other, and we would both go on nights out together. It took a few months for us to hit it off, but eventually, we got together on a night out at the Melbourne Intuition Revolver nightclub (Revs) and haven’t looked back since then.

At first, we were always very friendly, and before we got together, we would always make each other laugh and find something to talk about. Every time we spoke, we always had good banter and weren’t afraid to tease each other affectionately about Akiva’s lack of flexibility and Vic’s Australian accent.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

We do not think that there was a particular moment when either of us realised this was the person we would spend the rest of our lives with. It was more of a gradual realisation that ever since we had first started dating, we had pretty much not spent more than a couple of days apart, and our lives became more and more intertwined. We both felt that we had found a partner in everything that we wanted; we shared the same values and hopes for the future. Once again, it was at Revs where Vic first said, “I love you.”

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

There was a proposal! It was not a secret to Vic that there was a proposal being planned as we had both gone together to look at rings, and Vic definitely had a style she liked. (We couldn’t imagine getting a completely surprise ring…what if she didn’t like it!)

Akiva got Vic’s friends involved and arranged a picnic at the beach, which we love taking our dog to. They prepared a beautiful spot with some food and champagne, and that’s where Akiva got down on one knee. He also surprised Vic with tickets to a Harry Styles concert to make sure that would seal the deal…he knew she wouldn’t say no to those!

The friends were very helpful and took photos of the proposal…although one of them did run past, trip and fall and somewhat give the game away!

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding.

The vision we had for the wedding was something that was not a traditional wedding that we had seen before. Vic had seen an article that every wedding ages and dates, so instead of trying to go for something that would look “timeless”, we wanted to go with something that we absolutely loved and reflected “us” as we were at the time we got married.

We knew we wanted the wedding to be bright, colourful and extra. We really focussed on the little extra details to make it as memorable as possible. This included the personalised ribbon bows on the tables, the lighting and florals tying into the colours of the bridesmaid dresses. It was very important to us to include our pets, so our dog Lola walked down the aisle at the ceremony, and we printed cutouts of Lola and our cat Trixie so they could both attend the reception.

What was one element you were happy to splurge on?

Vic had always grown up dreaming of having the perfect wedding dress and definitely felt that was somewhere she would spend some extra money to make sure it was the dress of her dreams and was something that was one of a kind. We also made sure that the day was captured as much as possible, and we chose some amazing photographers and videographers so we would always be able to go back and look at our day in the future.

The wedding venue was very special as well, and due to its heritage décor, it provided so much ambiance that really helped set the tone of the wedding. We looked at about ten different venues and felt that was something worth spending on as it is so vital for how the wedding plays out. 

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

We were told before the wedding that something was going to go wrong and we should just roll with the punches and not get too hung up on any one detail. In the end, however, we finished the night thinking that we had been lucky and nothing really had gone wrong at all.

If we had to say something, there was a slight delay as Vic put on her dress, which took a bit of time for her bridesmaids to get in place and zipped up correctly, which meant there was a delay in the car picking up Akiva. That time when Akiva was waiting for the car without knowing what was going on was a time he would rather have back!

Aside from that, we really have no complaints about how the day played out, and we think it was due to some very detailed planning that meant there was very little that could go wrong and also a bit of luck that everyone needs sometimes.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

Vic’s dress was a custom dress made by leading Australian designer Sam Oglia. Vic had tried on around 75 dresses in both Melbourne and Sydney bridal salons and had not found anything that was perfect enough for her to get married in. This led her to find someone who would be able to create a dress that was specifically for her in both style and aesthetic. Sam understood her vision straight away and was as excited as Vic was to make something extraordinary.

The bridesmaid dresses as well were something that was custom-made by a family friend after Vic fell in love with the style of dress and realised how amazing this would look as a wonderful way to blend the colour scheme of the wedding further into the ceremony.

It was important to us both that Akiva’s suit was also something that was elevated, and it was immediately clear who the groom was at the wedding.