Jakob and Zoey were married in Melbourne in November. Their reception was at Thornbury Bowls Club. The whole day was a really casual affair. The bride and her bridesmaids all wore vintage dresses and the whole day had a 1950s vibe. They were even married by Elvis!

“The wedding theme was based on 1950s style, with a modern edge”, began the bride. “Records and music from this era were a focus, with an Elvis celebrant and 45s presented on each table at the reception venue. The bridal party wore original 1950s dresses and the car was a 1950s black Cadillac. The best man and groomsmen wore classic, 2-piece black dinner suits inspired by James Bond.”

The ceremony was held at Darebin Parklands, a public park 7km outside of the Melbourne CBD. They chose it because its a beautiful place, but also because Zoe would often walk her dogs there. “Our celebrant was 1950s Elvis and he sang Love Me Tender as I walked down the aisle. It was a relaxed and fun ceremony, yet still retained all the tenderness and seriousness such a moment deserves. We loved that the parklands was hidden away and not an obvious or popular choice. The nest sculpture was highly symbolic and made for a powerful backdrop to the ceremonial proceedings.”

“We tried to keep the whole feel of the wedding comfortable and relaxed for everybody”, she continued. “We just wanted people to have fun. Our reception venue was fantastic! We absolutely loved the Thornbury Bowls Club. The staff there were so friendly and helpful. It certainly wasn’t pretentious in any way. We loved the dagginess of it, and original 1950s décor suited our wedding style to a tee.”

“We are big fans of DIY and did a lot of it for the wedding. We saved big bucks on our flowers and decorations for ceremony and reception. Making our own bouquets was super easy – I would recommend it to anyone. The day before we bought bunches and bunches of flowers from the Preston Markets for both our bouquets and table flowers. Natives were perfect for the tables and kept really well overnight – those flowers last forever. Native foliage was great for the bouquets, mixed in with peonies and some other simple, small native flowers. With a roll of floral tape and some lace and ribbon it took about 5 minutes to assemble and tie up. We stuck them in vases (not even in the fridge) and kept them overnight. All this saved us hundreds of dollars.”

“We also collected a slab of VB bottles (donated by the Bowls Club), soaked and cleaned them, then used them as vases for the tables. We decorated the venue ourselves with help from a couple of friends on the day. Our friend, Joanna Bosse, made us a cool banner and decorated the tables, whilst our other friend, Travis Hodgson, set up fairy lights and a mirror ball to create a party atmosphere. This all worked a treat.”