Real Weddings

Article by

Dani Connor

Posted on

15/01/2024

Posted in

Real Weddings

Adila and Josh’s Melbourne wedding was a bloody dream – so fun, so genuine, so totally them. “If there’s one thing we both love is hosting,” the couple shared. “When we started the wedding planning process, we looked back at the weddings we’ve attended, noting what we loved and what we didn’t. We realised that the weddings we enjoyed most were the ones that truly reflected the personalities of the couples.” The creative pair, a social media specialist and graphic designer, enlisted some serious legends to make it happen, including the audio guest book pros Off The Hook and Shane Shepherd to get all the best bits on camera, and we can’t wait for you to see.

THE INSPO “We’re not very formal people, so we approached our wedding more like a big party than a traditional wedding. We drew inspiration from house parties we’ve thrown. Our goal was to create moments where guests weren’t quite sure what’s happening, but were damn glad to be there. That’s what led to the door prizes from the gumball machine, us walking down the aisle to the Rocky theme song, keeping everything colourful and choosing Zee Scott as our, very fun, celebrant and MC.”

DIY “It’s a wildly daunting task for a graphic designer to design their own wedding invitations. The pressure we put on ourselves can often be so great, that it feels like it’s impossible to start at all. But my beautiful wife helped me plan this out from start to finish, and we ended up with something very personal. I have a side hustle, creating vintage-style travel posters. With so many friends flying in from interstate and overseas, it made perfect sense to make one of Melbourne for the wedding.

MEMORABLE MOMENTS “The thought of my Dad ‘giving’ me away always felt strange. So when we saw our friends walk each other down the aisle, we knew that’s something we’d like to do. Throughout the ceremony, we leaned on each other, facing our family and friends. It was such a significant moment but also felt like home at the same time.”

A WORD OF ADVICE “Just a heads up to any other grooms who want to walk down the aisle with their brides. Look out for that wedding dress train. You may step on it, and start the day by falling in a heap. Luckily, for us, we only nearly fell haha.”

FAVE DEETS “Our dear friend and talented artist, Ginger Taylor, generously provided her gumball machine for our wedding game show. We filled it with 105 plastic balls, and in between meals and speeches, our celebrant Zee Scott randomly selected three of them and announced the lucky winners. We had seen Zee as a celebrant at one of our friends’ weddings and we stole her! She really added a LOT to the vibe of the day. She has a unique knack for authentically representing the couple, while bringing her own “je ne sais quoi”. Very funny. Very fun. Really knows how to set the mood for a party. Could not have kicked it off better.”

STANDOUT VENDORS “I’ve known our photographer Shane Shepherd for 20 years through our old bands. It was such a treat to see him in action. He has a real skill of keeping it all calm and fun. We didn’t want anything overly posed and he was perfect for that. The end results were amazing. We have literally HUNDREDS of great shots. It’s very hard to narrow it down to like… 150 to print.”