Kara and Ed’s Melbourne wedding was stitched together by their own hands. Every detail was pulled from their own creativity and a desire to create a day with retro heart and style. The bride made her veil, customised her shoes, and sewed velvet banners with their favourite love song lyrics on them. She even turned fake jellies into glowing centrepieces. They picked their own flowers on a farm, cooked the food themselves, and designed the whole thing around a bold pink and red palette with splashes of green.

“We chose a venue that was a blank canvas to really create the colourful and retro vibe we were after”, Kara told us. “We wanted to have big round tables where food could be shared in the middle to create a bit of an icebreaker and make it feel a bit more relaxed. As well as the fake vintage jellies as the centrepieces, we added acrylic vases filled with more of our hand-picked flowers in little simple posies to the tables. The candles were placed in smaller jelly candle holders.”

Instead of a program or a menu, Kara made a zine filled with wedding info like the schedule, menu and a list of special songs featured in the wedding, plus photos of them and little cartoons of silly moments in their life together. To top the space off they had Bangin Hangins install some aerial decorations and a backdrop for the photo booth.

Their wedding was also entirely vegan, with food they prepared themselves. On the menu were satay skewers, patatas bravas, spiced cauliflower, and giant salads, with a chef onsite to finish everything off. A vegan cheeseboard kicked things off, while drinks were signature cocktails served in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions: Kara’s strawberry mint mojito and Ed’s espresso martini, made with coffee beans he roasted himself.

The speeches were short and split between courses. Kara’s 16-year-old sister, her maid of honour, stole the show. Dessert was the Mali Bakes cake Kara had designed her whole wedding around. The bottom tier was vanilla with spiced blueberry compote and maple candied pecans, and the top tier pistachio with lemon curd. Their first dance was to Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, before the night turned into dancing and chatter until closing time.

Their advice to other couples is to stay present and to be honest about what feels right. “Enjoy the planning process! If you’re not sure about something maybe it’s not right – think about who it’s for and whether it’s authentic to you as a couple.” They also recommend carving out space for yourselves on the day. “We decided to seat ourselves separately from the rest of the guests and bridal party at the reception and it was so nice and really slowed the day down and helped us to take it all in.”