Natalie and Rob's Modern Wedding at Melbourne's Glasshouse

Natalie & Rob

With the quintessential Yarra River in Melbourne as a backdrop, Natalie and Rob tell us all about their beautiful nuptials at St Ignatius Church, Richmond. You can’t help but fall for this modern yet classic and understated wedding. Filled with fun, laughter and Indian dancing, Blumenthal Photography was there to capture all of the love on the day.

Nat tells their story… We met at the tender age of 18 during high school at a party. Celebrated many milestones together – turning 21, travelling overseas and graduating from uni.

Of finding a dress, Nat explains the Pronovias Dante dress was one of the first I tried on. I continued looking, however I always gravitated back to that one! It was a figure hugging, off the shoulder dress. It was simple but beautiful and had intricate beading with a long train. It suited my hourglass figure perfectly. I decided to change the straps during the reception so I could dance the night away! My veil was also beautiful and very long with lace detail.

The Groom, Rob wore a classic black (and blue) tux with vest. He wanted something a bit different but not too out there, so opted for black and blue.

My favourite colour is purple and so my bridesmaid’s dresses were Lilac, which also worked with a Spring Wedding! I had 3 bridesmaids and I wanted all the dresses to be different to suit their personalities and body shapes, we purchased these online from Shona Joy.

Finding a wedding venue took as a while, we love to travel and drink wine and were torn between having a winery wedding and one in Melbourne. In the end we visited Glasshouse and once we did, there was no turning back. Glasshouse organized nearly everything. Although we brought in some of our own decorations, like a picture book, guest book sign and spirits to be served.

We really wanted to have a relaxed but fun wedding, we figured having both locations in the same area would allow for ease for most people (a lot of my family is from Sydney too) and then could just relax at a bar during the break before reception.

We also knew we wanted to get married at St Ignatius in Richmond, it was where Rob’s grandparents were married and unfortunately are not alive today so it was a very special church for us. Finding a priest was a bit tricky but we knew who we wanted and he was calm and made us feel at home plus went a bit rogue and went around asking our family and friends for advice for us during the ceremony!

I really wanted to make sure to include our families and close friends. Those that we couldn’t have in our bridal party all had a special reading or something to feel included in the day.

Our ceremony was beautiful, I was extremely nervous about being the centre of attention and being able to walk down the aisle without falling over (its a very long aisle!) at St Ignatius! Once I saw Rob though, everything was okay. I wasn’t worried, I wasn’t stressed, I was happy. We selected a few different readings from the bible for our ceremony. One from Tobit 8 4b-8 in the Old Testament which discusses wanting a wife for a true partner and wanting to grow to an old age together.

The Second reading was from Ephesians 5:2a, 21-33, a similar version to the typical “love is kind” however it discusses committing whole heartedly to one another, being thankful for each other’s love, being honest, and happy together.

I walked down the aisle to: Can’t help falling in love, instrumental song.

My sister was Maid of Honour, my cousin was bridesmaid and my best friend was also a bridesmaid. Robs best friend was best man, his brother groomsmen and another good friend as well. My brother was MC for the night!

We looked for florists but we went with Thrive Flowers they were awesome and one of the only ones I saw who I didn’t feel was trying to make my vision into something they wanted (or make me pay more!!). We chose classic white and green flowers., with touches of lilac in the freesias for the bouquets to match the bridesmaid’s dresses. We used big flowers for the reception.

Our photographer was chosen from a recommendation by our venue – we went with Blumenthal Photography. Silvio was great, calm and we didn’t feel on display or on show at any point of the day! They also have 2 photographers without an extra cost, so there is no rushing in the morning to attend both the Bride and Grooms house. Plus, there are also a few different angles of the ceremony. Our videographer was These Wild Eyes and Ben produced amazing videos for us – we couldn’t be happier!

For our first dance, we chose Perfect by Ed Sheeran. I absolutely love Ed Sheeran and when we both first heard this song, we loved it. Especially as it talks about falling in love very young and despite that, making it through and looking to what your future will be like together.

One of the favourite parts of the day and most incredible surprise was that my siblings organised a flashmob! All the wedding guests got up and danced together to Jai Ho! We had no idea but loved every minute of it!

We decided not to do any DIY elements for the day, as I am a teacher and not overly creative, but also didn’t have a lot of spare time! However, I loved how all the outfits and flowers came together. Even the coasters we used as bonbonniere’s were a hit – as well as the table names – I really loved pretty much everything! You spend so much time planning and you don’t really know what it will actually look like till the day.

We had a special, after wedding lunch the next day that was for family and overseas and interstate guests. The lunch included guests wearing Indian outfits, but was at an Italian restaurant to incorporate both of our cultures and heritages.

Everyone had a great time! We all especially enjoyed the flash mob my brother and sister organised to Jai Ho.

A favourite photo from the day would probably have to be one of Rob and I with the city skyline in the background!

Planning a wedding is not always champagne, cake and happiness! It takes a lot of time, effort, research and wanting to make everyone else happy especially trying to incorporate the different families as well as traditions of Italian and Indian heritages. But in the end when you see your special person, none of that matters because you made it and you cannot wait to stand in front of all your family and friends and declare your love! Do what makes you happy, you will try and try to make everyone happy but remember it is your day and just enjoy it! It will actually be the best day of your life.