After planning initially for a winter wedding filled with red roses, COVID forced Katherine and Mark to postpone their original idea, and instead, landed them a Summer wedding filled with romantic, elegant blooms, family-filled details and a sense of glamour for the black tie occasion. Paying homage to their Italian heritage, the couple invited their guests to celebrate in style at the beautiful Victorian winery Marnong Estate and luckily for them, Aleksandar Jason Weddings joined them to document it all.

After meeting online, it wasn’t long before Katherine and Mark instigated a date at Melbourne nightclub Alumba. Tells Katherine “We were both clearly interested in each other and continued to go on a few more dates before making it official. We both knew what we wanted and saw those qualities in each other and I would say we are two peas in a pod. We then later gathered we had a lot of mutual friends which made things a lot more interesting in a relationship.”

And while the wedding was utterly glam, the proposal? A little more intimate tells Katherine. “We went on a little getaway to the Mornington Peninsula which I organised for us, but to my surprise, Mark had other plans for this casual getaway.
Once we arrived we ordered some room service and just settled in whilst waiting, once the food came, not long after Mark got down on one knee and proposed I was completely in shock as I didn’t expect or see that coming especially because I was the one who organised the getaway. I was so shocked and overwhelmed I just cried and I don’t even think I gave Mark an answer. But I was over the moon and just so excited about what just happened and what was to come. It’s a moment I will remember for the rest of my life.”

Katherine and Mark chose Annette & Dani to capture a beautiful film of their day.

“Mark had me go along with him to help with his custom-made suit” remembers Katherine of Mark’s suit from Oscar Hunt. “I never saw the final look until the day of our wedding which was a nice surprise.
Mark chose a traditional tux suit with a thick satin lapel and bow tie. His suit fitted him perfectly he was so happy with his suit. His shirt had small black buttons  down and he also had a black satin strip down the side of his pants which is classic to a tux.
He also wanted to wear black patent shoes which we ended up finding from Dior.”

Katherine worked with D’Italia and Tania Stokes to create a stunningly elegant long sleeve ballgown. “My attire was something that I organised about a year out from my original date. In June 2021 I went to D’Italia with some inspiration photos to help get an idea and select some fabrics, and the fabrics were draped on me which helped make my decision as to what draped and sat nicely on my body.
My gown was made of a mesh stocking-like material on the top half; I always wanted sleeves as well so I had French 3d and flat lace placed over the mesh material creating an effect like it was floating on my skin. I had it also heavy on the bottom of sleeves to less and less as it went higher. The bottom half of my dress I wanted a silk skirt that went out from the waist with a slit down the side.

I also had chosen Jimmy Choo  satin ivory shoes to match my dress which was actually the first thing I purchased and then I also had Dior pearl earrings which just topped it off. I was so happy with my overall look (and) considering it was meant for a winter’s day it still turned out amazing.”

“One of the most special details we had was for those that couldn’t be there on our special day. Mark’s father passed away a while ago and we wanted to respect and have his presence felt on the day so I had a memorial stand with a photo and candle of John and our grandparents that couldn’t be there also. So for me this was so special as they were a such big part of our lives and we wanted them there in spirit.”

The couple held their ceremony and reception at the winery venue Marnong Estate. Says Katherine “We chose Marnong because they had stunning views and a beautiful homestead that we stayed in the night before. They also had accommodation for our guests which made it a lot more convenient.
Our ceremony was set in a beautiful glasshouse called The Greenroom which was stunning and dinner was held in the Angliss room which holds up to about 250 people. It has stunning views of the hills behind the bridal table which was just so pretty!”

Katherine walked down the aisle on the arm of her father to Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Remembers Mark, “what I’ll always remember from our day would be when Katherine walked down the aisle and we could finally have our special day, and seeing all our family and friends around us just so happy for us both and celebrating with us.”

The couple chose Veronica Lees – Amato to not just officiate the ceremony, but to also act as MC. Katherine remembers “Our ceremony was very us – just simple and to the point, we wanted it to be very respectful and romantic. We had a few poems some family members read out for us, we had “Maybe” and “these are the hands”.

Our amazing celebrant and MC Veronica Lees-Amato did a such great job at making sure everything was running smoothly on the day. We had a few things that didn’t go to plan but she made it seamless for us; she is just a beautiful soul that does the job to perfection!”

 

Raves Katherine “Our photographer Aleks was just amazing you can see his passion in his work. He knows what his doing, he made us laugh, and have fun and made the day feel so effortless. He was so on it which is something you need on your wedding day because people want to talk to you and take photos and you can lose what you have to do next to what’s happening on your day so Aleks was great at being organised and guiding us on the day along with our video photographer. We had a tight schedule so they made sure we stuck to it without too many distractions.”

Says Katherine “My advice would just take it all in, your day will go so quickly so make sure you don’t sweat the small things, there will be things that just don’t go to plan but nothing ever will; you just have to put your faith and trust in your vendors and venue, communication is key – no question is too silly!
We had a beautiful morning that turned into a rainy thunderstorm day but it all worked out in the end!”

The stunning floral details remain a highlight  of the day for Katherine, who had a specific theme in mind when she booked Grown Florist.  “For my bouquet I wanted to use white garden roses with short stems they were so full and fluffy. I loved them, my bridesmaids had the same garden roses with a mix of white and beige pink.
I had two beautiful urns for the ceremony filled with a mix of flowers and foliage which had a mix of baby blue, pink and white tones as well as beautiful green foliage.
For the reception,  the ceremony urns were then reused for either side of the head table and foliage and roses in vases were placed in between. Guest tables had small bud vases with the same combination of flowers and colours.
My favourite piece was the one above the dance floor where Grown put together a beautiful hanging piece with all delphiniums dropping down- it was very colourful and stunning to look at.”

The first dance choice was Katherine’s absolute favourite song, “our first dance song we chose and oldie but a goodie “Fallen” by Lauren Wood.  It is my absolute favourite song from my favourite movie Pretty Woman.
Our first dance went too fast but it was such a special time with Mark. We danced simply and he gave me a little twirl which was cute – we were just having fun and enjoying the moment, we were soon joined by the wedding party and family.”

This was a reception filled with every special moment, including a surprise from Katherine’s dad. “For my father-daughter dance my dad had surprised me with a trio band of a live performance of our father-daughter song and he had also put together a slide show of old photos when I was younger with my dad, was truly so special something I’ll never forget.”

And the dancing? A packed floor all night says Katherine. “We both come from Italian backgrounds – we had to have some traditional Italian songs and dances which added that extra bit of fun and got everyone up!”

Congratulations to you both Katherine and Mark! What a stunning story to be able to share. Thank you both and thank you to Aleksandar Jason Weddings for the images to help us tell your story!