Fairy Tale "White Wedding" In Melbourne

Stefan & Whitney

The sun came out to shine for Whitney and Stefan as they exchanged vows in their fairytale Melbourne wedding. Incorporating both modern and classic elements to their day, the couple enjoyed dancing with their family and friends and added personality to each moment throughout the day. The stunning couple shares their day with us and we’re all glued to our screens as we admire the work of Motta Weddings who were there to capture it! Whitney tells of how the couple came to be…

We were set up on a blind date 8 years ago and remained friends. 5 years later, he made an honest woman out of me by asking me to be his girlfriend.

My something old and something blue was an old handkerchief my Nonna had made and passed onto me for my wedding day which was very special.

Stefan notes the dress was perfect. It was simple and elegant, yet so stunning all at the same time. I don’t think I could have envisioned anything better.
Whitney – I never envisioned exactly what I ended up creating with the two dresses made by Catherine R Couture. I had tried on numerous styles and couldn’t quite work out what would work in terms of longevity and comfort. Catherine R Couture created the classic gown in which I wanted to get married in and she created the perfect gown in which I could let my hair down and dance the night away!

As I knew I was going to be in quite a classic dress, we opted for a formal look with a white tuxedo and black pants with patent details. This way he stood out from his groomsmen who were in all black.

Our wedding was on the 30th of March and took place at St Peter & Paul’s Church on Dorcas Street in South Melbourne. The reception took place at Half Acre in South Melbourne.

We used St Peter & Paul’s church for its quaint yet grand local feel to South Melbourne. Stefan attended this church as a child and it only felt right that this was the place we would marry. The bride professionally recorded and walked down the aisle to “Make you feel my love” by Adele.

We wanted our ceremony to be quite intimate and involve all of our guests. We kept it short and sweet and added a personal touch by writing our vows, which was a little modern for a church wedding. The readings we had from the old and new testament were:

Old Testament
“Song of Solomon 2:10-13: Arise, My love, My fair one, and come away. 10 My beloved speaks and says to me: ‘Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; 11, for now, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. 12 flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. 13 The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.’”‘

New Testament
“A reading from the Holy Gospel according to John (15:9-12)” Jesus said to his disciples; ‘As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, Just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you this. So that my own joy may be in you, And your joy be complete, This is my commandment: Love one another, As I have loved you’

The style of our wedding was a country winery meets the city. A beautiful rustic warehouse situated in South Melbourne at Half Acre. It was a stunning venue which was transformed into a garden-like space with the copious amount of florals supplied by the talented Georgie Boy.

Stefan – my favourite detail of the day was Whitney’s dress and her walking down the aisle to the song she had recorded for me. So special!
Whitney – It was walking down the aisle (very nervous) to my song!

Our favourite photo of the day was the one of Stefan and me in the car, escaping the rain for a few minutes which ended up being the winning shot of the entire day.

The forecast predicted rain all day. We were lucky enough that the rain stopped and the sun started shining for an hour whilst we headed to the church to get married and whilst we had our photos. Can we just say, it was a massive relief.

Special details of the day would include the brides professionally recorded song. As this song was originally performed at a performance 2 years ago for the groom in a performance which was televised for her singing school.
We also wanted to bring something a little different for the guests experience at the reception, so we included disposable cameras on each table for them to take photos on.

Our photographer Alex and videographer Sasha felt like family on the day. They blended easily, were friendly, funny and did a great job of making us look half decent!!!

I went for a rustic wild look for our flowers using beautiful dark tones of plum, burgundy with hints of white and light pinks. There was lots of greenery.

Our bridal party was made up of our friends and family:

Maid of honour – Mimi Tang; Jacqueline Tonin; Charlotte Angelini; Cristina Porto and Elyse Boustead

Best Man – Tristan Angelini; David Hardisty; Adam Cain; James Cirelli and Jermaine Boustead

The bonbonniere was all done by the bride. Small jars individually labelled and filled with chocolate-covered coffee beans to represent our Italian background. We also included 5 disposable cameras on each table for guests to take their photos – which eventually created an additional photo album for us!

Our first dance was to “Can’t take my eyes off you” – Lauryn Hill version. This song has a lot of meaning to both of us from the very beginning of our relationship and definitely shows our fun side and how much we love to dance.

Our advice to future couples would be to embrace every moment of your special day because it goes so fast, but it truly is the best day of your life. It’s filled with so much love and you’ll never forget it!