Intimate Restaurant Wedding At Matilda 159

The Colour Issue is all about playing with colour, from flowers to cakes, and if you are anything like today’s brides, in amazing attire. A stunning white dress contrasting with a killer red suit? This modern combo completely set the tone for Lucy and Toni. Their plans all about their vision of a wedding that was cosy, warm, intimate and celebrated the best of not just their love, but that of their favourite people. With one of Melbourne’s best restaurants as their venue and enlisting Laura Alyce Bell Photography to capture it all, their vision came to life.

After meeting at a bar, and forming a friendship, the couple couldn’t ignore their spark and finally began as a couple a year after they’d first met.

It was Toni who asked the question, creating a scavenger hunt for Lucy, completely in line with their love of adventure. Lucy remembers the story. “Toni went above and beyond for our proposal. Oh my gosh, she planned it perfectly.

We love a bit of quirkiness and we love to play games together. So Toni organised an adventure around Melbourne CBD taking me on a scavenger hunt through all our favourite places.
With my sisters, we went from Chin Chins to The Arts Centre to Fed Square and The Press Club finding messages in bottles, puzzles and word find along the way. I was beyond excited and nervous every time I got a new clue, anxiously wanting to know which one would take me to her. With the nerves, I couldn’t quite process what was happening, I just had to take it one clue at a time. The final clue led me to the Press Club where I was given 24 long-stemmed roses and told to wait out the front. Finally, Toni arrived in a limousine pulling up out the front. I stepped in to find Toni with a beautiful diamond ring in her hands asking me to marry her. We were a shambles, so many tears through the biggest of smiles.
It is, without doubt, one of the happiest days of our lives.”

Lucy wore a simple, elegant gown designed by Mariana Hardwick, and shares “I found my dress off the rack and when I put it on it fit perfectly, I knew immediately that it was right. I felt beautiful in it and loved how it sparkled.”

Toni found her brilliant red suit at Carla Zampatti, sharing “I found my outfit in one shopping trip. I walked into the store, saw the red jacket and couldn’t look at anything else.”

The brides met before the ceremony with their mothers in tow, both noting it as one of their favourite parts of the day. “The reveal was so special. We got ready separately at Crown before seeing each other with our family and close friends in the room.
Our mothers stood beside us as we opened our eyes to see each other. We were so excited to see each other so naturally, the tears of joy weren’t far away! I’ll never forget that feeling.”

Lovers of good food and wine, Lucy and Toni chose Melbourne restaurant Matilda 159 as the venue for both their ceremony and reception, telling “As soon as we walked into Matilda, we knew it was perfect. It was warm, cosy and epitomised the intimacy we were searching for. We loved the colour scheme, we loved the authenticity of the restaurant and how they prepare their meals. When you walk in, you see the chefs cooking on open fires and hot coals. The staff were fabulous to work with.
We love beautiful food and wine, we didn’t want to compromise on that. We wanted to give our guests a beautiful experience so when we found Matilda, we locked it in almost straight away. It delivered on everything.”

The brides walked down the aisle together to “Beyond” by Leon Bridges.

The decor was kept minimal, Lucy and Toni enlisting Victoria Whitelaw to create two stunning floral towers to act as a ceremony backdrop for the brides. “We had our flower towers for our ceremony designed by Victoria Whitelaw Floristry in South Yarra. They were able to create the image we had in our heads to add to compliment the intimacy and romance we wanted for the ceremony. We picked some flowers we liked in the shop and left it in their hands. We loved them!”

The couple enlisted Jen Mettner to officiate their ceremony, noting “Our ceremony was perfect. It was intimate and real. Lucy’s sister read “Blessing of the Hands”.
We wrote our vows on cards. We poured our hearts, our love and relationship into our vows and I think everyone in the room could feel that.”

“We’ve been together seven years and in the early days of our relationship we would talk about getting married but it wasn’t legal at the time” explains Lucy. “It upset me to think we had this incredible relationship, no different to our friends or families and yet, we wouldn’t be able to legalise it the same way. Marriage Equality was an incredible moment in history that took too long but I’m so proud that we are legally married and generations to come will not have that discrimination any longer.”

“We decided against having a wedding cake because the restaurant had beautiful desserts which the guests loved!” remember the brides, “So instead of “cutting a cake” we did a champagne sabre! We couldn’t believe it worked on the night, I had practised once in the backyard and at that time it took about 10 tries! On the night, we got it in two!”

One of the best moments of the reception? “Toni’s nephew Tommy performing a solid 4-minute dance solo to Beyonce’s “Love on Top” for us. He was so good!”

The evening was filled with plenty of dancing, including the newlyweds first dance to “You Are The Best Thing” by Ray Montagne. “It sums up how we feel about each other in five short words” explain Lucy and Toni.