Claire & Trent’s City Laneway Wedding

Claire & Trent

It’s not secret that Melbourne loves its lane ways but today’s wedding really takes advantage of that in an awesome way. A city laneway wedding – not next to a laneway, not above one, but in one. Oh yes, it’s as awesome and as unique as it sounds.  Michelle Pragt – In Photography was there to capture it all.

As for how this couple met, here’s their story. “Despite Claire (from Ocean Grove) and Trent (from Geelong) attending the same University in Geelong – it wasn’t until they were both working in Melbourne at the Supreme Court of Victoria that they met. Each working for different Judges, Trent spotted Claire one day in the office, and proceedings commenced! Two months after their first date Trent, who is also in the Army, was deployed overseas and the two spent the next 6 months in a traditional courtship, writing letters and sending ‘care’ packages. After being together three years, Trent proposed to Claire on a wintery Wednesday night in the Paperback Bookshop on Bourke Street in Melbourne. Trent had arranged for a penguin book to be replicated, titled ‘The Proposal to Charlie Bravo’ (Charlie Bravo is Trent’s nickname for Claire), and popped in on the shelf for Claire to find.”

“Olive&Finn were instrumental in our day! They understood exactly what we were after for our day – a little class mixed with a little mystery, and something that didn’t quite fit in a box. They delivered it perfectly. The invitations were unlike anything we’d seen before and were well loved by our guests. They also created the posters, the placemats, and coordinated the overall styling of the wedding. Thank you Olive&Finn!”

The bride chose a gown by Andrea Gorrie with a delicate beaded hairpiece.

The bride and groom tell of the ceremony. “A twilight ceremony was held amongst the graffiti of Melbourne’s famous laneways. Flanigan Lane was decked out simply with festoon lighting, a turf aisle and an arch made by the bride’s brother inscribed with ‘Flanigan Lane Chapel’. Guests sipped Verve and were entertained by the band whilst waiting for the bride to arrive, and at the conclusion of the ceremony, were surprised to find they were actually standing just outside the reception venue.”

The bride walked down the aisle to an acoustic version of Sia’s “Day Too Soon”.

Honeybunch created the floral arrangements for the day, Claire noting, “Honeybunch were simply amazing putting the flowers together. They softened the laneway and the warehouse without loosing the industrial feel. An amazing floral chandelier which hung over the dining area was a huge talking point at dinner!”

Jo Betz performed the ceremony. Claire loved, “Hearing each other’s vows (“you’re my Friday night cocktails, and my Sunday morning ugg boots….”). Written from scratch. Written with some heart.”

Of their photographer, Claire says, “Michelle Pragt from In Photography captured our day perfectly. She understood us as a couple and what our day was all about which is reflected in the beautiful images she created. We simply wanted the essence of our day documented so that in years to come we could remember the smiles that our day generated – and Michelle did just that. We not only have beautiful portraits (showing how spunky we both looked on the day) but real, special moments captured of us having a laugh together or sharing a moment with our parents.”

Krimper hosted the reception celebrations, the bride and groom remarking, “Krimper is a historic warehouse building tucked away in a quiet laneway and provided the gritty backdrop for an industrial style/underground party. The staff went above and beyond – true professionals (particularly Mei, who was amazing).”

“In keeping with the laneway theme – we created posters that were (temporarily) littered through the laneway and venue. They were also placed on the highway from Geelong so guests got a glimpse on their way to the wedding and throughout North Melbourne where the couple live. The posters each provided a reason why Claire or Trent love each other, for example “Reason #36 why Trent loves Claire: Because she understands that sometimes colours can get in the whites and it isn’t anyone’s fault” and “Reason #27 why Claire loves Trent: Because he never whinges about her floordrobe”. ” The bride’s mother made the wedding cake.

Guests enjoyed dinner in different seatings, Claire explaining, “We wanted to have a ‘cocktail’ vibe to our reception but wanted guests to still have a meal. So for entree we set up an ENORMOUS cheese platter for guests to mingle around and main course was served in one section of the venue over three sittings. So one third of the guests ate a main meal at 7:00pm, another third at 7:45 and the final third at 8:30pm. This meant that the party and dancing continued throughout the night, and guests that would never otherwise meet, sat down, got talking and traded stories over a meal.

Of their first dance, Claire and Trent note, “It was to Chuck Berry’s “You Never Can Tell” with a (lousy) attempt made to recreate John Travolta and Uma Thurman’s dance in Pulp Fiction (the first movie we saw together). Our band –  Shirazz were perfect for the industrial, warehouse setting. Their New Orleans style jazz, crossed age differences, and enabled everyone to have a shameless espresso martini fuelled romp.”

Congratulations Claire and Trent! Thank you for sharing the story of your day with us! Thank you to Michelle Pragt – In Photography for sharing today’s wedding with us!