Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship….
We’re happily married thanks to an algorithm that matched us at 92%. Matt is a graphic designer and I’m an architect. We bonded over cheese and nerded out over Adobe shortcuts on our first date at Von Haus in Melbourne (now Romeo Lane)…
At the time we were both working in the city so we’d often meet up after work and explore the various bars and eateries. We got to know each other and the city in this way.
Fast forward 6 years and we’ve settled in a cozy apartment in Melbourne’s inner west where we try to accommodate various hobbies such as beer brewing and pottery in the same small space. We just became proud parents of a cheeky adopted greyhound called Ronnie who is absolutely the centre of our lives at the moment!
Matt’s educated me about fonts and I’ve taught him the difference between a ceiling and a roof. He is an early riser and I am a night owl, but despite our temporal differences we are both creative and have the same outlook on life. It’s the little things which make our relationship special. Matt gives me a kiss every morning and tells me he loves me, even if I’m still half asleep and grunt at him in reply. We love going for little getaways out of town, brunch on the weekend, and still love a good date night in the city.
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 basically just wanted to have a big party!
We wanted to keep things fun and simple so we decided early on that we didn’t want a sit down event. Matt is a beer nerd so Moondog Brewery became the venue of choice, and a pizza truck, ice-cream cart and giant grazing table fulfilled the catering needs. Neither of us were interested in too many formalities or rituals and we decided to streamline things by having the ceremony and party at the same venue. That way, we didn’t need our guests to move locations and we could just have one roll seamlessly into the other.
Moondog already had a lot of character so we didn’t feel we needed to do too much more to the space. We DIYed our own décor – we wanted a fun setting so we hung some coloured paper lanterns from the trusses. We got native flowers from our local fruit shop and did our own arrangements around the venue. For wedding our invites, Matt drew a cartoon of us. He made another one in our wedding get up and printed it as a poster for people to sign on the night. It was a way to see all of the messages at once.
We also did our photos beforehand so we didn’t have to take time away from our guests and would highly recommend it! We were able to take our time and have fun galivanting around the city with the bridal party without feeling like we were absent at our own event. The weather was pretty terrible though (in true Melbourne style) – it was cold, rainy and windy, with slivers of calm and sunshine in between. The ‘first look’ was on the rooftop bar of our hotel QT and from there we went to a few spots which we had scouted out with our photographer a week earlier. One of our locations was a rooftop carpark, which is on one of my favourite Brutalist buildings in Melbourne, where there is a pretty great view of the CBD. We also went to Romeo Lane, the bar where we first met in real life. This was quite special for us.
Tell us about your main outfits:
I didn’t have a clear idea of the ‘perfect’ dress so I was pretty open. I did have a few criteria – it had to have an excellent shape, be bold, and easy to wear. I love structured dresses so I naturally gravitated towards Toni Maticevski. He had this amazing piece called the Nocturnal Gown which came in both black and white. I tried on the black one day, just to test the size, thinking that I would try and find the white version. Matt was there and we were both blown away at how well it sat. Although I was never completely wedded to a white dress, black wasn’t something that I had ever imagined I’d get married in. However, all of the white ones were sold out and nothing else really stood out so one rainy night in, I bit the bullet and bought it online. So glad that I did! Aside from Matt, my bridesmaids and one close friend, no one knew what colour it was so when we walked through the door, it surprised a few people.
I got accessories from my favorite labels – Dinosaur Designs for some bold jewellery, and Deadly Ponies for a handbag. For the dancefloor costume change, I wanted something looser to move in. I always liked the idea of a jumpsuit and ordered one from Halston Heritage online and had it altered to fit. Matt had his suit made from Suit Shop. For him, it was an opportunity to wear something wouldn’t normally wear, so he went with a double breasted grey jacket. He went with a light colour jacket to contrast against my dress, and paired it with black woollen pants and tie. I thought he looked pretty dapper!
It all actually came together pretty well, the bridesmaids wore matching mini versions of my dress from the same collection and the best man wore a single breasted version of Matt’s outfit. Looking back at the photos, our wedding outfits were very ‘us’. It was fun planning our outfits together, and we each knew of the little details we were going to incorporate. But nothing beat that moment when we both saw each other in the full get-up for the first time.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
We both really enjoyed the little photoshoot we did before getting to Moondog. Neither of us had done anything like that before so it was quite novel, and it built up excitement and anticipation before we walked into the ceremony. We came in together to Fleetwood Mac’s Seven Wonders. Matt and I have vastly different opinions when it comes to music – the intersection in our Venn diagram of tunes is very, very small, but Fleetwood Mac is one of them. Nat the DJ did very well to work with our opposing tastes.
Walking in and seeing all of our friends in one place was such a special moment. Matt is from Port Macquarie so quite a few of his family and old friends flew in from interstate. I had friends from primary school through to uni, to work. It was a very special feeling to know that everyone had come to celebrate your day with you.
Our celebrant Precious was a rock star who gave us an absolute roasting and had the crowd in stitches at our expense. A few people actually came up afterwards and asked where we got the comedian from. Best speech of the night went to my sister who put together a hilarious, nonsensical spiel. The most heartfelt moments were hugging our families just after the ceremony.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
However you decide to celebrate, it’s about you. Don’t be caught up in what’s ‘expected’ for a wedding, it’s your day and you get to make your own rules.
Keep it simple, you want to enjoy your day rather than worry about logistics. Everyone keeps saying this, but it goes so quickly! Take some time afterwards, even if it’s for a few days, to spend some time alone together and bask in the high of having just had this amazing experience. For us it was totally worth it and we wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Photographer: Shannyn Higgins Weddings |Bride black dress: Toni Maticevski | Bride white jumpsuit: Halston | Ring: Melanie Katsalidis | Shoes: Jerome Dreyfuss & Bared Footwear | Jewellery: Dinosaur Designs | Bag: Deadly Ponies | Groom and best man suit: Suitshop | Ring: Uniform Black Store |Makeup and hair: Makeup by Inez | Bridesmaid dresses: Toni Maticevski | Bridesmaid shoes: Bared Footwear Ceremony and reception location: Moon Dog Brewing | Celebrant: Precious Celebrations | DJ: DJ Blazyn | Floral: Clover Flowers | Food truck: Pizza Wagon Melb | Grazing platter: Plentiful Catering | Cake: Boutique Cake Art | Gluten free cupcakes: Saint Cakes | Wedding accommodation: QT Melbourne | Vintage furniture Good day Club
