Vimbai & Daniel

If there is one thing to love about Vimbai and Daniel’s vibrant & colourful winery wedding, well it’s not just the stories, it’s not just the decor filled with autumn leaves, or the traditional Zimbabwean wedding moments. It’s all of those, of course, but the vibrant yellow colour palette? Now that has me completely smitten. Because honestly? Could there be a better colour for a wedding than the colour of sunshine? These two enlisted the talented Motta Weddings to join them on their day, which we’re thankful for because we’re going to share every beautiful, yellow filled detail.

It was over coffee that these two met. “We met in a coffee shop in St Kilda (shout out to Batch Cafe) in Carlisle Street!” remembers Vimbai.” Daniel popping the question sometime later on a weekend trip away. The bride telling “During the Grand Final weekend in 2016 we went away to Daylesford for a romantic getaway. It was not a great weekend for me (Vimbai) as it was the weekend of the wake of my sister in law who had passed away earlier in the year. Daniel took me away to take my mind off it and whilst we were walking at Daylesford park he popped the question to my absolute shock. Looking back I should have seen something was up because he is a footy nut and he chose to take his partner away on such a weekend spoke volumes. It was also on my dad’s birthday and a week before my own.”

Daniel and his groomsmen wore suits of blue from V & J Menswear.

The groom surprised his future wife with a handwritten letter, one of her favourite stories of the day. “I always make fun of Daniel saying he is not romantic and on that day he snuck in a letter he wrote to me to read that day. Funny thing is I thought I saw his car come in and saw his groomsman run to the door to deliver it. My family all swore I imagined it. When it was delivered to me it was so unexpected and touching I teared up. I loved and laughed at the fact that he knew I would struggle to read his (doctors scroll) handwriting so he typed it for me to make sure no words were lost in translation.”

Unexpectedly, Vimbai ended up in an elegant white gown by Melbourne designer Georgia Young Couture. She explains “I have never wanted to get married nor wear a white gown so my search was for a colourful wedding dress. I was dreading this part of the wedding planning as everywhere I seemed to go there were traditional gowns galore that clashed with my taste. After a long and strenuous search (gold/rose gold etc) I was referred to Georgia Young by a friend who kept tagging me to her Instagram page. I made an appointment with her even though I didn’t believe I would find anything but it was the only day my bridesmaids and my friend could accompany me. The one I ended up choosing was a one-off sample that had an untraditional mash like material and a Greek Goddess silhouette that I fell in love with regardless of the white colour. She was a gem and the whole process with her was painless.”

Rita Feldmann Flowers styled the beautiful autumnal toned bouquets and floral arrangements for the day.  “This was probably one of my favourite choices to make because when I saw Rita’s work it was love at first Instagram sight” remembers the bride. “When I saw her work I ran to Daniel and told him that whatever happened I had to have flowers like that. In the reception space, I wanted an autumnal forest installation of tree branches and leaves in the ceiling with green/gold/yellow colours to complement my colour theme. Her work was beyond phenomenal from the groomsmen’s buttonholes to our bouquets and the arbour decoration in the ceremony barn.”

Vimbai and Daniel chose the beautiful Zonzo Estate for their ceremony and reception. Vimbai remarks “We chose Zonzo because they ticked a lot of the boxes for us. As a vineyard, it provided the rustic beautiful backdrop we both favoured. The plentiful Italian food provided which included Pizza was another big tick. We both love to eat and we wanted a venue that catered to our big appetites whilst tasting exceptional. They were also a well-run machine who I was assured would make the day as seamless and worry-free as possible – SPOILER ALERT they did that and more.”

Vimbai walked down the aisle with her mother and father to “Why I love you” by Major. Daniel stood at the end of the aisle flanked by his parents to greet his wife to be.

Vimbai and Daniel chose Shannon Jeans to officiate their ceremony. The bride remembers “We wanted a laid back fun but quirky ceremony to represent us as a couple. We wanted it short and to the point. Even though we were both raised Catholic we wanted a ceremony devoid of religious symbolism. I was walked down the aisle by both my parents and we had Daniel standing with both his parents waiting for us.

We had the celebrant publicly acknowledge both our parents who have collectively been married 90 plus years and thanked them for us. Instead of asking the guests if there was anyone who had an issue with us getting married we asked our celebrant Shannon to get the blessing of both our respective family and friends so she said the below

“Julius and Isabelle, together with Vimbai’s family and friends: are you happy Vimbai to marry Daniel today?
And Meg and Garry, together with Daniel’s family and friends: are you happy Daniel to marry Vimbai today?”

The newlyweds walked together with a little touch of Zimbabwean tradition, Vimbai explaining “A tradition that I included in the ceremony was have my female friends and family run down in front of us and lay down (maZambia – a traditional material) on the floor like a red carpet for us walk on as we walked down the aisle after the ceremony. It is them ushering me into marriage. Making sure it’s a smooth entry into wedded bliss.

My family made sure to ululate (this is a high-pitched rhythmical vocal sound emitted by females) as a sign of celebration and joy after we were pronounced Husband and wife.”

That love of vibrant colour led Vimbai and Daniel to choose their photographer and they could not have been happier! Sharing “We chose Alex from Motta Weddings because his bright, vibrant aesthetic was what we were looking for. He was amiable and understood our vision after our initial meeting.”

Beautiful long tables were adorned with yellow blooms and enveloped in garlands of autumn leaves, the combination of the venue and flowers remaining one of Vimbai’s rave vendor reviews. “Rita from Rita Feldmann Flowers stood out. Her work was amazing, from me and my bridesmaid’s colourful bouquets to the autumnal forest installation she did for both the reception and ceremony spaces, it was just perfection. Special mention goes to Zonzo – they were amazing. It was seamless and well organised I felt like a pampered guest at my own wedding because I didn’t have to do anything except enjoy myself.”

Vimbai remarks “Our families coming together was so special. I am originally from Zimbabwe and my whole immediate family flew over to celebrate my wedding with me. Having them celebrate with us and Daniel’s family was the biggest highlight. That is a memory I will never forget.”

The speeches were a definite highlight too. “We felt the love coming our way from all the guests.” explains Vimbai. “I jokingly say that besides the day I die our wedding was the only day where people said the most amazing things about me but the difference is I was alive to hear it. I will savour the words, in particular, my dad’s speech.”

Daniel and Vimbai’s first dance was the best of both worlds – fast and slow tunes mixed and a little nod to the bride’s heritage. She tells “For our first dance we chose two songs (a Western slow song “I get to love you” by Ruelle ) and a (fast-paced “My Darlin” by a Nigerian artist called Tiwa Savage) to do our choreographed dance to (yes we choreographed our first song). Like advised in my culture the whole bridal team are meant to dance and entertain the guests so in my case Daniel & I had to put on a show.”

And then, of course, there was more dancing! Vimbai telling “It is a tradition in my country for the bridal party to do a dance routine called “masteps” and I did this with my sisters whereby we choreographed a dance routine to entertain our guests. As I was getting married far away from my own home country I still wanted to acknowledge my cultural identity and stay true to my heritage.”

A big congratulations Vimbai and Daniel! What fun it was to share your special day! Thank you also to Motta Weddings for working with us on this one and delivering such beautiful images!