Emily and Ben’s Autumn Restaurant Wedding

Emily & Ben

I love a good restaurant and I love Autumn so when this gorgeous Autumn restaurant wedding jumped into our inbox I was all over it! I love the gorgeous wedding of Emily and Ben – they added personal touches, they laughed, they danced and they even caught a fly away veil.  Emily & Ben chose Its Beautiful Here to capture their memories.

Emily and Ben tell the story of how they came to be. “Both having grown up in Melbourne, we met living in a share house in London. It took 6 months for Ben to make a move at a party and we feel like it’s been a party ever since. After a few more months in London we headed home to Melbourne and Ben proposed four years later.”

Emily and her bridal party made the bouquets of tulips, using blooms from Tyabb Rose Farm . The bride remembering, “I was keen to reflect my Dutch roots with tulips in the bouquets and as my something blue, my cousin from the Netherlands bought little blue clogs to hang with my bouquet.”

Emily wore a gown made by dressmaker Barbara Collinson while her bridesmaids wore lace dresses from Asos.

As a special gift for his wife to be, Ben commissioned a watercolour map of all the places they visited together when they first met in London.

The groom chose a suit from Country Road.

Emily and Ben chose St Dominic’s Church, Camberwell, Emily’s family church for their ceremony.

Of her walk down the aisle, Emily tells, “I surprised Ben walking down the aisle to an acoustic version of Paris by Friendly Fires, sung live in the church by a close friend of my sister. Friendly Fires was one of the first bands Ben and I saw together in London.”

Many of the couple’s cousins performed readings during the ceremony – including a special prayer for Ben’s beloved Brisbane Lions.

“Em’s brother had his own surprise in store when he set off firecrackers to mark the occasion as we left the church.”

Emily tells, “A friend suggested our photographers, Its Beautiful Here, and after meeting the girls at a pub and talking about everything except wedding photos, we knew it would be a pretty good fit. Scout and Kat felt like friends along for the ride over the day. We don’t recall ever really posing for pics and felt like we went about our own fun day while they captured it all. We absolutely love the photos they took – a few traditional shots, many relaxed pics of us and friends laughing, action shots jumping in the air, sneaky pics when no one was looking and pics of our guests enjoying themselves that we may have otherwise missed. They make us smile every time we see them. If only we could do it again!”

Emily and Ben remember, “After the ceremony the bridal party celebrated with bubbles and beers at The Olsen Hotel while we waited out the rain. After the rain cleared, we headed for photos at the Botanical Gardens – and we still think of the yellow tree as we go past now.”

Emily tells, “I feel like we laughed all day – even in the church where family read both traditional and personal readings. The best thing was seeing a smiling face everywhere we looked.”

“When taking photos in the factories the wind caught hold of Em’s veil lifting it four stories in the air. We all thought it was destined for the roof until a game of groomsmen markers up brought it safely back to earth.”

Emily and Ben chose Church St Enoteca, Richmond for their reception.”

For handmade details, Emily and Ben remark, “We kept it simple but were lucky to have some creative friends who designed the invites and created the fairy light PARTY sign.”

Emerald Hill Deli, South Melbourne created a stacked tower of cheese as the couple’s “wedding cake” while  Emerald Hill Nursery and Florist, South Melbourne created bright floral arrangements for the reception tables.

Emily and Ben remember, “We were so lucky to have so many of our favourite people in the same room with us, with guest’s traveling from interstate and internationally to share the day. Overall, we aimed to keep it to a simple theme of fun and dancing. This seemed to work as the dance floor had started before dinner was served and was full all night!” The couple chose Rutherford Entertainment for assured dance floor filling!

“Music has been a big part of our lives so all the tables were named after our favourite bands – and our DJ played something from each one of them.”

Of their first dance, Emily and Ben remember, “The first dance was dips, twists, spins and high fives to a mix of There is A Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths), with a short slip into No Sex for Ben (The Rapture), followed by Sweet Nothing (Calvin Harris and Florence & the Machine) to get the dance floor started.”

Congratulations on your marriage Emily and Ben! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Its Beautiful Here for sharing today’s wedding with us!