Sweet Melbourne Wedding

We’re pretty fond of this Australian wedding sent over by none other than the stellar Tim Coulson. Emma and James wanted their wedding day (after 8 long years!) to be a day of warmth and fun, and it seems pretty clear they achieved that goal. One idea we particularly love: handing off over-sized balloons to the flower girls in lieu of bouquets or baskets.

From the bride, Emma: James and I met in an Irish pub while we were both living in Amsterdam. Eight years later on my birthday, James wrote me the most special birthday card ever. He asked me to marry him and of course I said yes! We both agreed that we didn’t want to wait too long for the big day, so we got straight to work and started planning, making, collecting and creating. We both loved the whole process. The main goal was to have a day that really reflected us as a couple and was a warm, fun celebration of our love and commitment to each other.

We’ve been city people the whole of our relationship so far, so it felt right to have a city wedding. The Fitzroy Town Hall was the second venue we looked at and we both knew it was perfect. The history and the architecture drew us in and really set the theme for the day. I had my dress made in America by Stephanie James Couture. I was after a dress with a vintage feel, but also felt a bit like a party dress. I had to be able to dance in it! I also needed shoes that didn’t make me feel like a giant next to James, so I designed them myself on the Shoes of Prey website, which was so much fun. Anton’s was recommended to James and the shop was an experience in itself! He had so much fun choosing a suit that absolutely fit all his criteria, especially the one about it not being like his work suits!

We were so excited to have so many special people travel to Melbourne for the big day. We decided it would be fun to all travel to the venue together and one of our clearest and favorite memories from the day was that bus trip. After a very relaxing girly morning with my family and flowergirls, I saw James for the first time. I’ll never forget the feeling as I walked towards James standing on the back of the old London double decker bus, with everyone watching out the windows. The atmosphere on the bus was buzzing with excitement and it’s definitely one of our favorite parts of the day!

The decor was a collaborative effort. We wanted a colour to be a feature, rather than have a colour theme as such. The amazing Rebecca from Canary Jane’s Flowers was super excited about the colour theme and the flowers reflected that. The napkins were an idea I had. I thought it would be a fun project for Mum and I to do together. We got them cut out and realised it was a bigger job than we bargained for in the time we had, so we ended up getting them sewn locally. I’m so glad we did it though because everyone took them home as a keepsake. I’ve seen them in suit pockets and heard of them already being reused at friend’s houses! The candy buffet was a very popular spot on the night. A few times I realised there were more adults filling their lolly bags than there were standing at the bar!

If I had one piece of advice to couples planning a wedding, it would be to really think about who you are as people and what’s important to you, bundle it all together and add the people you love. You can’t lose!

Wedding Location: Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia / Wedding Photographer: Tim Coulson / Wedding Venue: Fitzroy Town Hall / Wedding Dress: Stephanie James Couture / Veil: Bettina Millinery / Wedding Shoes: Shoes of Prey / Hair and Makeup: Carmen Lyon / Flowergirl Dresses: Boden / Groom’s Suit and Shoes: Antons / Flowers: Canary Jane’s Flowers / Wedding Caterer + Event Organizers: Hudson’s Famous Catering / Wedding Cake: A Bunch of Cakes / Cake Topper: Better Off Wed / Candy Buffet: The Candy Buffet Company / Wedding Music: The Baker Boys / Table Stationery: Friend / Transportation: Dee Decker Tours