melbourne vintage wedding

Susie & Edward

The gorgeous Melbourne vintage wedding of Susie and Edward, captured by  Julia Jane Photography, is simply delightful. It’s infused with beautiful vintage touches- the bride’s beautiful blush pink gown, to the bridesmaids soft pastels fifties style frocks and the grand ceremony venue,

Susie kicks off their wedding with the story of how they came to be. “It started with a very nervous phone call back when we were both in high school. One day out of the blue Eddy called up to ask me to his grad ball. I remember I was studying for an exam and it was the best distraction ever. I think that first call took a lot of guts but it paid off. We’ve been together ever since.”

Dana and Poppy from Lady Day styled the bride and bridesmaids’ hair and makeup, Susie telling, “Dana and Poppy at Lady Day Hair and Makeup were a lot of fun. Like us, they were inspired by my dress and created vintage inspired looks for each of us. I love that all of the girls had different styles but it worked together beautifully.”

The bride wore a pink gown by Anaessia, with her bridesmaids wearing gowns in shades of pastel. Susie explains, “We felt so lucky that the few people we did work with who weren’t friends or family were just magnificent and we can’t thank them enough. Nick and Sue at Anaessia. What a team! Sue designs the dresses and Nick is the tailor and together they create the most beautiful, dreamy gowns. I loved my dress from the moment I saw it. Their boutique is nothing short of enchanting. When I decided to wear very simple ballet flats, they took my shoes and zhooshed them up for me. They talk about each dress having a story and there’s a lot of love in their work.”

Carla at Divine Signs created a sign to direct guests to the right spot!

South Melbourne Town Hall hosted the wedding ceremony and afternoon tea. Susie explaining, “We were married in the South Melbourne Town Hall, which is home to the Australian National Academy of Music. Most people wouldn’t dream of getting married in their workplace but that’s exactly what I did! It is a beautiful building. We had the ceremony in the Ballantyne Room which is an intimate space with a wonderful chandelier and two grand pianos. In the afternoon it is flooded with golden light that comes through the high windows. My wonderful friend Lindsay (of Lindsay Clare Styling Co.) designed the woodland-style altar and created a trail of hydrangeas and ivy throughout the building.”

For the processional, Susie chose, “An arrangement for piano and strings of a very old and beautiful French chanson called ‘Tant que vivray’ which translates to ‘As long as I live’. It and all the music at the ceremony was played by ANAM students which meant a lot to us.”

“Our ceremony was conducted by a family friend, Trudy Thurley. Once again, it was wonderful having someone close to us play such an important role. It was a joyful and intimate ceremony and we took a lot of care with the reading we chose (an excerpt from Tolstoy’s Family Happiness) and wrote our own vows. Trudy was wonderful and we would highly recommend her.”

“Having cried at almost every wedding I’ve been too, I was worried about being a weepy bride. There was a moment, right at the start of walking down the aisle where it could have gone that way, but when I saw Eddy everything was fine. We laughed a lot in the ceremony and there was a moment in the vows when Eddy was trying to remember his line that I got the giggles. Whilst we were aware of the weight of what we were doing, it wouldn’t have been us if it was too serious.”

“Eddy and I are both Sigur Ros fans. A colleague of mine did an arrangement of their song Festival for the end of the service which was played by the ANAM musicians and it perfectly captured that ecstatic moment. We were walking back down the aisle, hearts ready to burst and there was this fantastic music that swept everybody up. It was a wonderful moment.”

Guests enjoyed afternoon tea after the nuptials, Susie remembering, “After the ceremony we went to the Atrium (usually the backstage area for Academy concerts) which Lindsay had transformed into a setting for high tea. My bridesmaids and I had made around fifty metres of bunting which was strung up and we had some beautiful tea sets from Little Curio Hire. Our bridesmaids and best man served cakes and tea and it was a lovely moment to greet our guests, most of whom had travelled interstate to be there.

The DIY was such an enjoyable thing to do in the months leading up to the wedding. Our presents to guests were flower bulbs that had been brought down from the farm where Eddy grew up. We sewed little calico bags for them and attached ‘grow me’ labels. We made bunting, bunting and more bunting- using fabric and doilies and cut-out hearts made from old sheet music. I sewed the Susan (heart) Edward sign over a couple of nights. I think it used around ten metres of ribbon and was the most fiddly but rewarding thing I made.”

Susie describes the day as, “A beautiful blur of hydrangeas and vintage lace, friends and family dancing as darkness fell around us and love, love, love.”

The look of the day, including the flowers and decor was styled by Lindsay Pringle from Lindsay Clare Styling Co. Susie remarking, “The look and feel of our wedding is truly indebted to another friend, Lindsay of Lindsay Clare Styling Co. The incredibly multi-talented Lindsay did our styling as well as all of the floristry and beautiful headpieces. Early on I showed her my dress and it set the tone for the whole wedding. In the days before the wedding she drove down from Sydney with a carload of hydrangeas, vintage furniture and crystalware and we had so much fun getting everything ready. One of my favourite memories is going to the Emerald Hill Florist in the South Melbourne Markets to buy all the flowers. It was extraordinary seeing how Lindsay then transformed them- she made my beautiful bouquet and fresh floral headpiece, corsages for the bridesmaids, pocket-holes for our parents as well as gorgeous arrangements for both venues. She was a busy lady! We were so glad that she got to enjoy the party at the end of it all.”

“We had a lot of fun with our bridal party (Ali, Sam, Beth and Brendan). It was a bit non-traditional in numbers ie. girls v. boys but they were exactly the people we wanted to share this experience with.”

Of their photographer, Susie says, “We tried as much as possible to work with people we knew rather than outside vendors. We are very fortunate to have a lot of talented and generous friends all of whom helped create a day that was unique to us as a couple. Julia was one of these wonderful friends. Eddy and I have known her for many years and I think this familiarity comes across in the intimacy of the photos. From the beginning we knew she was the only person we wanted to capture the wedding. Both of us felt a hundred times more comfortable in the hands of someone who knew us so well. The shots are beautiful and soft and she expertly captured the dreaminess of the day.”

Susie and Edward held a cocktail reception atGardens House catered by Peter Rowland. Susie remarking, “We loved that this venue was equally outdoors and indoors and encouraged guests to mingle and explore. It felt like an old world garden party. The cocktail-style catering by Peter Rowland was excellent and guests could choose to sit indoors on the lounges, outdoors on bar tables or on picnic blankets on the lawn. It was very relaxed. We kept the reception very informal and didn’t have an MC. Mostly this worked out fine but after having our photos taken, we weren’t sure how to ‘arrive’ at the reception. Someone had the idea of asking all the guests to assemble in the back garden. We arrived at Gardens House and went straight up onto the balcony for a royal wave. It was completely impromptu and the photos are priceless.”

“Lisa and Glenda at Burnt Butter created our wedding cakes and also cupcakes for the afternoon tea. Our brief was a cake that just makes you want to eat it and I think they did very well! They created three sponge cakes in various sizes topped with berries and drizzled in rosewater. They were delicious and so beautiful in amongst all the flowers.”

“We booked a three-piece Dixie band with trumpet, banjo and bass. For our first dance my bridesmaids Beth and Sam sang Margaret Whiting’s’ Time After Time’. After two verses the band broke out into a Dixie jam that had everyone on the dance-floor quick smart. We wanted music that would get everyone dancing and Dixie definitely does that. We were outside in front of the house and as it got darker the dancing got wilder.”

Dear Susie and Edward, thank you so much for sharing your day with us! Thank you Julia Jane Photography for sharing the photographs today!