Fun Black Tie Warehouse Wedding in Melbourne

Alex and Nick’s wedding proves you CAN have it all, creating a super fun atmosphere with chic black tie style. Their warehouse venue in Melbourne, Australia was the ideal blank canvas, letting the couple’s personality shine right through. Jerome Cole and South Yarra Flowers put in beautiful work here behind the camera and with the floral arrangements, while bride Alex took care of all the planning!

From the bride, Alex: We always wanted a black tie wedding, but without the stuffiness! We seriously wanted one big party with all of our best friends where we could eat amazing food, taste great wine, dance to fun songs and laugh along to the speeches. We understood what we wanted from the outset and this helped us to allocate our budget accordingly. We chose a blank-canvas venue because we could have autonomy over food, wine, and décor, because this meant the most to us. By doing this we felt like the day really represented us and expressed our idea of a great time!

As soon as we walked into Lauren’s Hall we knew it was perfect for us. The exposed wood stacks, enormous space and high ceilings won us over. We had looked at quite a few, but we felt this space felt like a true Melbourne experience. We knew it was going to be a hot day, so we provided our guests with a selection of frozen zooper-doopers on ice before / during the ceremony! Next to it was a custom-designed poster reminding guests to “Have a zooper-dooper great day!” We also loved the Pimms cocktails we offered for the break between ceremony and reception. They were a great refreshment and suited the summer afternoon vibe perfectly.

We collected all of the fresh ivy that we used in our suspended floral installation and for other decorative pieces. A friend of ours was growing it especially for us! Our wonderful florist at South Yarra Flowers were amazing and allowed us to provide much of the foliage ourselves. I had an idea in my head of what I wanted for my dress, though couldn’t find anything like it in most of the big bridal retailer’s shops. A friend of mine had a dress designed for the Brownlow by Georgia Young, and she recommended I meet her. Georgia understood what I wanted straight away. Her sketch was my brain on paper! I loved her edgy/modern designs with a feminine touch. She was super easy to deal with and very professional. We had our dog Ollie as part of our ceremony – he walked down the aisle to greet us as we were pronounced husband and wife. He was very well behaved and attracted all the attention.

Any advice for couples planning their weddings now? We would advise future brides to decide early on if you are going to have a wedding planner or not. If you do chose one, have someone you can trust to advocate for you and get the best deal possible! We didn’t have a wedding planner so essentially had to project-manage the whole thing – quite difficult when everything from the kitchen to the cutlery needed to be hired! We did find that this enabled us to have control over the finances and quotes, and nobody got away with over-charging or benefiting from “kick-backs”. In saying that, the last 2 months were super stressful and we did regret not having an extra hand on deck!

View all images from this wedding in the gallery

From the photographer, Jerome Cole: The couple wanted a very ‘Melbourne’ wedding and went for black-tie glam, but without any stuffiness! The largely black and white colour scheme was off-set with touches of fresh greenery and metallic accents. The blank canvas of Lauren’s Hall was the perfect backdrop for their elegant, yet fun and vibrant party, which they decked out with huge green and white floral arrangements, which were hung from the ceiling and were running down the long dining tables. Laurens Hall is an amazing timber workshop and showroom; the original Railways Printing Works in the Industrial precinct of North Melbourne. The couple were captivated by the 20 foot ceilings, framed by vintage windows looking into the workshop with polished concrete floors. They were also allowed access to an abandoned warehouse (also onsite) for the location shoot, which provided the perfect juxtaposition for their gorgeous, glam bridal party! There were numerous other show stopping touches, such as enormous helium balloons filled with gold confetti, and having their adorable pup ‘Ollie’ participate in the ceremony. Of course, the bride herself was also a show stopper, in her custom designed gown by Georgia Couture. Being such a hot day, the guests were thrilled with Pimms cocktails and ‘Zooper Dooper’s’ after the ceremony, before they moved onto a delicious feast from Shane Delia / Peter Rowland. The whole day had a fabulous party atmosphere, and the couple’s only regret was that it all went by so quickly!

Wedding Vendors

Photography: Jerome Cole
Floral Design: South Yarra Flowers
Venue: Laurens Hall
Wedding Dress: Georgia Young Couture
Hair: Harlen Hair
Makeup: Emma Jane-Miller
Bridesmaid Dresses: Fame and Partners
Rings: Simon Prestige Jewelry
Suit and Shirt: MJ Bale
Tie and Bow Tie: T.M. Lewin
Cufflinks: Mont Blanc
Catering: Shane Delia by Peter Rowland
Music: The White Tree
Furniture, Crockery, Lighting, and Linens: Harry the Hirer
Celebrant: Chris Johnson
Stationery: Nose to Tail