Coloured streamers, a streamer bouquet, a warehouse filled with colour, why we’re pretty sure that not only is Melissa and Chris’ wedding worth of The Colour Issue, but it’s also a story we can’t wait to share! These two? They wanted a day that was, in the bride’s words “We thought warehouses, colourful installations, retro furniture, and managed to achieve all of that!”

Enlisting Ben Potter Photography to join them on their day, Melissa and Chris wanted to buck traditions. “We have never been very traditional people and certainly weren’t keen on a completely traditional wedding. We wanted to achieve something fun, casual and bit more alternative than weddings we had attended in the past.” And my, won’t you agree they nailed it?

It’d been a long time coming for these two, who built their relationship on good old fashioned friendship, tells Melissa “Chris and I got together almost 8 years ago now, but we met a couple of years before then through mutual friends. We officially got together at Chris’ 24th birthday house party. I went to the party with no intentions whatsoever but we struck up conversations over guitar pedals and post-punk bands and fell in love immediately. After that day we didn’t spend a day apart for years and years – no kidding! Can’t get enough of the guy.”

Chris admits he is picky when it comes to suits, so he chose a bespoke number created with Samuel Diamond Tailors.

The bride worked with Alexsis C Star to create her dream gown, sharing “I had a lot of trouble finding a dress that was right for me. I’m usually drawn towards minimalism but couldn’t find anything out there that was suitable for my curvy figure, modern, minimal and not $7000. So, I opted to get a dress designed and made from scratch. I worked with Alexsis C Star in Yarraville who helped me create something that felt right for me. I went for a t-shirt style bodice with a low V back and a tulle skirt that had a split on the right leg to show off my gold ankle boots. I felt incredibly fancy on the day but was also really comfortable and felt like my self.”

Melbourne warehouse venue, The Line turned out to be just what Melissa and Chris were looking for their day, the pair explaining “We used The Line, Footscray, for both the ceremony and reception. We fell in love with it on first viewing and couldn’t recommend it highly enough for couples looking for warehouse-style. Furthermore, Footscray is where we’ve built our life, so it felt perfect having a venue only a 25-minute walk from home. Being a bit more of a blank canvas, we could create whatever style we wanted in the space and had the room to cater for 120 guests comfortably in cocktail style, even when packed with retro furniture. Another huge bonus is the options for photography within just a 1km circuit of the venue. We could simply walk outside and have a huge range of warehouse and city street style photos, as well as having the water just a 5 min walk away. The lights of the wharf in the distance at night time also made for dreamy bokeh photography! On top of all that, the venue’s event coordinators were incredible and tireless to make our day perfect.”

Now let’s talk about that backdrop (and the bouquet for that matter!) both styled by Bangin Hangins. Tells the bride  “Flowers weren’t our bag, so we went with installations from Bangin’ Hangin’s in place of floral styling and for my bridal bouquet for a point of difference. It gave the venue a punch of colour without feeling too wedding-y and more suited to our vibe.”

The festivities kicked off with a first look! Melissa noting the couple’s favourite wedding day photograph taken right at this moment. “Our favourite photograph of the day was from our first look. We were both nervous and excited and so happy to be reunited after our brief separation since that morning. We look dorky and use silly facial expressions and gestures, as we always do. It makes me really happy to look at it every time.”

Melissa and Chris chose Toko Events to help execute their vision, sharing “Judith from Toko Events deserves a particularly special mention. Without her help, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve the style we wanted in such a care-free fashion. From the moment we met her, she exuded style, both personally and in her work. She helped us find all the perfect vendors and create beautiful styling for the whole venue. We would highly recommend her to anyone that wants to take a step back from planning from the beginning or even halfway through. You’re in the most stylish hands possible with Toko Events.”

The pair were thrilled with their choice of a photographer. “We knew this part of the day would make us very nervous, both being shy-bo’s and reluctant photo participants generally. So we knew we needed to look for someone that would help us relax and not force us to do too many posed photos, instead, capturing candid moments of the day. I stumbled across Ben Potter through a recommendation from the coordinator at The Line, and after a brief phone call about his friendly moment capturing philosophy, and focus on creating memorable moments for us in each of the photos, we looked no further. Ben was one of our most commented-upon aspects of the wedding, with all-out guests remarking about his awesome work and friendly nature. We were completely blown away with his work, not just taking photos, but helping to organise our day and being there as a support for us.”

The bride opted out of a wedding party. “I chose not to go with a formal bridal party, ” explains Melissa “instead, just having just my close friend Jacinta and sister Adriana there with me for the day. I found the wedding planning process overwhelming in many ways and liked the simplicity of not having to also plan other people’s outfits.”

Melissa chose “Two Weeks” by Grizzly Bear for her walk down the aisle. “It’s dreamy and perfectly represented our shared music taste.”

“Our ceremony was crafted and conducted by the incomparable Precious from Precious Celebrations.” tells Melissa of the couple’s choice of celebrant. “When looking for a celebrant, she stuck out from the crowd as warm, energetic, relaxed and fun, which was exactly what we had in mind. She helped us to create an inclusive, fun and relaxed ceremony that also brought tears to our eyes. Precious curated a ceremony that spoke beautifully to our past and nature as a couple, it was one of our favourite moments of the day. We wrote our own vows, which was an awesome experience and one that had us both laughing, crying and filled to the brim with love.”

Celebrating with a cocktail reception, Melissa and Chris decked out the warehouse space with pieces from Good Day Club, Pepper Sprout Hire and The Small Things Co. The finishing touch a fun photo booth thanks to Heartbreak Hotel Photo Booth with a glittering gold backdrop.

Although Melissa describes the first dance as a little awkward, we think it looks utterly romantic. The bride remembers the story. “We are potentially the most awkward couple of dancers around, so we really stressed over this part. We didn’t want it to be too formal, and certainly didn’t want people’s eyes to be on our dancing for too long, so we encouraged (forced) friends to come up as soon as we started dancing to take the pressure off. It ended up being a really sweet moment that we needn’t have stressed over, nor put too much thought into. We danced to ‘Asleep in Perfection’ by Augie March.”

Melissa and Chris chose Fourside Food Design + Events to cater the wedding and a magnificent (and colourful!) cake by Miss Ladybird Cakes. They tell “Every single vendor we worked with was perfect. Ben our photographer, Katie from The Line and Fourside Events that coordinated the day, Precious’ incredible work with our ceremony, Alexsis my wonderful dressmaker, Dana Leviston and The Distinctive Dame our hair and makeup artists, and the whole vendor gang!”

Even the DJ (DJ Relaxative) was impressed with how long this party lasted! “We really wanted the focus of the wedding to be on dancing and our guests having fun, and our selection of DJ was instrumental to that. DJ Relative, or Nick Cooper, curated us an excellent playlist ranging from my early love for punk and alternative music to our more recent love for Soul and Garage. He was sceptical that wedding dancefloors would last more than a few hours, but it was packed the whole night long and became the centrepiece of the night due to his brilliant song selections and pure charisma and party energy.”

A big congratulations to you both Melissa and Chris! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us! Thanks also to Ben Potter Photography for today’s beautiful photographs.