Retro Handmade Melbourne Wedding

Brace yourself for this beyond-words-gorgeous wedding shot by Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate. Pour over this sweet Melbourne wedding right here in the gallery!

Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate.

From the bride, Sarah: The style and feel we were aiming for was fun, inclusive, relaxed, vintage, with loads of DIY details and surprises! We wanted every choice to truly represent every aspect of our partnership over the past 4 years. Things like our love of cups of tea or background in performing were all included somewhere along the line.

As Justin and I met on the set of a TV show, got engaged in a theatre, and are forever producing shows, we wanted our wedding to be like the biggest production of our lives, yet to still feel simple and from the heart. We chose a celebrant who is also on radio in Melbourne and who we knew would have a natural performers vibe, The Golden Tappers kicked off proceedings and made everyone’s hearts burst with joy at the reception (they’re an all-women tap dance troupe aged over 60 and tap dance like nobody’s business!), and a friend choreographed a flashmob wedding dance which roughly half our guests were secretly asked to participate in. Honestly, seeing the shocked look on partners and family members faces as their loved ones took to the floor and did the dance was PRICELESS. It was a performer’s dream wedding. A good friend of ours joked afterwards “There were so many personal touches, I felt violated!” which was awesome to hear.

Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate.

Early on, we came up with the dress code “Snazzy Picnic” which basically became the theme of the entire wedding (think Enid Blyton children’s book illustrations meets The Great Gatsby meets the 1950’s). We had a loose colour scheme of peach and navy, but found it easier to stick to the theme rather than colour scheme.

Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate.

My dress was modelled off a 2009 Giambattista Valli gown that was no longer available despite my best eBay-scouring efforts. Luckily I found the incredible Alice from Alice Haute Couture who literally gasped when I showed her a photo of the dress because “brides never ask me to make these kinds of dresses anymore!”. She was so excited by the design and made the dress from scratch based off a few photographs. The fabric is ivory woollen silk from Valentino, which the fabulous Ruth at La Modiste found for me in Milan!

Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate.

The whole wedding was DIY. Justin and I were engaged for 16 months, and literally worked for every one of those months to bring it all together. We got married at the very end of the Australian Winter and worried that guests would freeze in our outdoor ceremony, so the first thing we set about doing was collecting 150 (yup, 150!!!) vintage tea sets so every guest could have a warm drink after the ceremony which then doubled as their take home gift. We collected for months, and then finally drove for three days through three states and visited every thrift shop in every town to get our numbers.

Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate.

My mum, dad and 83 year old grandmother together made 150 of the most amazing bags for guests to safely transport their tea sets home at the end of the night. Justin and I along with a graphic designer friend made teabags with a pretend tea company name and the slogan “The Perfect Blend Since 2007” which guests loved. The tea component was by far the biggest DIY project we undertook.

Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate.

The day before the wedding, family and friends banded together and made a mix of 15 AMAZING cakes. Instead of having one wedding cake, we thought it would be way funner if every table had their own. That way when we did the cake cutting, all our guests could cut with us! Justin made the cake stands, and when it was time to cut the cake, 150 knives were handed out and away we went. It was truly awesome with guests table hopping to sample all of the amazing cakes!

Another friend drew our portraits and we made button badges for all our guests. Then there were the groomsmen boutonnieres, flower girl dresses, photo booth, chapel doors, chalkboards…all DIY!

Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate.

For our ceremony we wanted something with a rustic vibe, that was in Melbourne and with catering on site. A tall order! After months of searching, someone suggested Collingwood Children’s Farm, and from the second we saw it and met Farmer Andrew (who was so excited about us potentially getting married there) we were sold. It’s like a hidden oasis amongst the hustle and bustle of the city. The baby animals are all born in early August and were the perfect icebreaker for guests. It’s right in the heart of the city, just minutes away from our reception venue, is a working farm (meaning there’s animals everywhere and a sheep could easily just wander into your wedding ceremony!) and a friend runs the farm cafe which serve the most delicious, fresh, organic produce. Nothing was a problem and Tom Hay at the farm cafe and Farmer Andrew were a dream team to work with.

Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate.

Jonathan Ong. Sarah and Justin were married at a farm in Melbourne filled with heartfelt and handmade details for their guests. Each guest was given a tea cup at the ceremony with their name and on their seat at the reception was a matching tea plate. View all images from this wedding in the gallery

Any advice for brides planning their weddings now? Surround yourself with friends and family who have a “Yes we can!” attitude. Positivity is everything.

If you’re going down the DIY path, people will tell you you’re mad, and you will question your own sanity at various points along the way. Stick with it! Enlist helpers who have strengths in different areas. We were initially adamant not to bother anyone with our preparations, and to just buy anything we couldn’t do ourselves, but then we had people like the mum of our flower girls who is a Home Ec teacher and amazing sewer who really wanted to make her girls their dresses, or another friend who the second we got engaged emailed to say “Who’s doing your AV, because I want to do it!”. You really need to accept the amazing help on offer, and realise that people don’t want to do it for any reason other than because they’re so happy for you and want to put their skills to a great cause! It adds the most personal touch to your day.

Wedding Songs:

They both chose songs for their walk in and march out songs without telling each other and they ended up being the exact same song!

Processional: This Will Be Our Year by The Zombies
Ceremony:Sleepyhead by Chris Pickering performed by Lauren and Keren from Pleasing Anna
Recessional: This Will Be Our Year by the Zombies
First Dance: Be My Baby by the Ronettes

Wedding Vendors and Venue (Victoria, Australia):

Ceremony Location: Collingwood Children’s Farm / Reception Venue: The Regal Ballroom / Photographer: Jonathan Ong / Event designer: Georgie Kay and Erin Lilja from Georgeous Events / Florist: Melanie Stapleton from Cecilia Fox / Wedding Dress: Alice Haute Couture / Blusher Veil: Etsy seller Portobello / Wedding Shoes:’Darla’ from Kate Spade / Gloves: BHLDN / Bracelet: J. Crew / Vintage Sarah Coventry Earrings from Etsy / Custom wedding rings from Chris Parry / Hair by Marie Uva & Giovanni Tedesco at Rokk Ebony South Melbourne / Makeup: Rosemary Walsh / Bridesmaid Dresses: Stop Staring Raileen dresses in navy / Groom’s suit: J. Crew vest, bow tie by xoelle on etsy, Eugenia Kim hat from The Hat Mansion, shirt by French Connection. Groomsmen wore shirts by French Connection, vests by Charles Tyrwhitt, and jeans from Carhartt / Celebrant: Jon Von Goes / DJ: Brendan and Liam at DJ Masters and friends Lauren Glezer and Keren Leizerovitz from Melbourne band Pleasing Anna sang at their ceremony, and Andy McLelland of Mr Mc Clelland’s Finishing School DJ’d their reception / Caterer: Tom Hay at The Farm Cafe did their devonshire tea and catering by The Regal Ballroom / Wedding Dessert: DIY Ice cream Sundae Buffet styled by Georgeous / Wedding invitations: bride’s cousin Caitlin Gahan designed the invitations ([email protected]), and the bride and groom designed their brown paper bag envelopes / Videographer: Sarah Walker from Sarah Walker Photography / Transportation: 1938 Diamond T Bus from Vintage Fun Hire Cars