Bright & Bold Inner City Warehouse Wedding

We LOVE a fun wedding here at PDW, and it doesn’t get much more fun than Jacinta & Ben’s bright & bold inner-city warehouse wedding, captured by Carla Antonia & Gunvor Eline. Jacinta writes about their day so beautifully, we thought it was best to let her tell you all about their glorious wedding day!

Ben and I were actually relieved the restrictions around weddings extended for so long in Melbourne because we both wanted a small wedding. Our wedding day was bright, fun, and intimate, and if we could do it all again we would. I run a small wedding vendor collective in Melbourne, so already had a few connections in the industry and a clear idea of what I wanted from the day.

We met on Bumble and instantly connected. Our first date went for 7 hours and after knowing each other for not even 3 weeks, we went on a week-long holiday to Western Australia! We thought it couldn’t hurt, it was just “make or break.” Thankfully it was make!

We got engaged 10 months later during the long lockdown in Melbourne in 2020 – Ben planned a date night at home where he set up 3 spots in our apartment to look like the places we went on our first date. He then had made up a bunch of cards with our shared goals on them. The last one said ‘get engaged’ and he said, “I think we can tick that one off tonight, don’t you?”

Ben had been chatting with my friend Ele (who runs Misko Jewellery) and designing the engagement ring for months in secret. It is my favourite item I own – it’s so full of his creativity and care.

I had the gorgeous Eleanna Hingston do my and my girlfriends’ makeup for the day. She has such a fresh, dewy style and I just love how it turned out in photos. In addition to her being a mega talent, she also is just so fun to talk to and really made our morning of getting ready a good time.

Our wedding rings were also made by Misko – Ben’s is engraved with ‘Lockdown Love’ on the inside along with our wedding date, and mine was designed to fit seamlessly with the custom engagement ring in rose gold.

Ben’s outfit came from Politix and we both loved the mismatched vibe.

I actually found my jumpsuit in an online warehouse sale from a fave French designer, Rime Arodaky. I had no idea if it would fit but luckily it just needed minor tweaking. I took it to a seamstress who shortened the legs and brought in the waist. I just love how simple and elegant it is, and the cape made me feel like a rockstar without having to wear a full veil! My headband was inspired by my Vietnamese heritage. To complete the outfit, I wore a custom flora bag and matching Jo Mercer lilac heels.

Prior to the ceremony, we got ready at the QT Hotel in two separate suites and had our first look at the rooftop there. From there, we took the tram to the Fitzroy Gardens with our People on the Day (we were reluctant to call them our bridal party!) and had group shots and couple portraits in the gardens before heading to Rupert on Rupert for the ceremony.

For flowers, we had a florist friend Ash do a wholesale order of fresh blooms, and then the day before the wedding, some girlfriends and my mother-in-law and mum came over to make table arrangements and string orange pieces onto fishing wire. It was actually a lot of fun and such a bonding experience for everyone. I know I wanted bright, fun flowers that were seasonal and sustainably grown, but I left the rest up to Ash and she did a beautiful job. The bouquets and buttonholes were such a standout for me and I just loved the way they popped against all of our outfits.

Our People on the Day were my sister, two of my oldest friends, Ben’s best mate from high school and his business partner and friend.

Doing our photos before the festivities properly commenced was one of the best decisions we made – the sun was shining, we didn’t have to leave our loved ones, and we could have a cocktail after the ceremony.

We loved Carla Antonia‘s soft edits and candid style photography. In the lead up to the wedding, she actually got covid and so we had one of her friends as our shooter on the day. She ended up being absolutely incredible – everyone at the wedding commented on how lovely and friendly she was, and she was such a stealth ninja. I didn’t see her for so much of the reception but she got the most beautiful candid photos of our friends and family.

Our ceremony and reception were both held at Rupert on Rupert, an airy, light-filled warehouse restaurant space in the heart of Collingwood. Having everything in one place logistically made the day so much easier, and covered any contingency plans as it was all held indoors. Our altar at the venue was white tulle fabric hung over a metal rod, with the strung citrus draped over the top and candles and fresh citrus fruit at the base. Honestly, it was better than I could have imagined. My favourite thing about the styling of the day.

Our friend Lil actually co-wrote and delivered the ceremony and it was so special having someone so close to us and our story doing that for us on the day. We have it framed in our lounge room now and look at it often. Kathryn, our celebrant, was such an immense help in the lead up and really took the time to get to know us and support us and Lil!

We had already booked our venue and so knew that we wanted to keep our flowers minimal but fun. Rupert on Rupert is full of lush greenery and already has such a vibe, so we opted for simple vases on the tables and our altar. A beautiful bonus of forward-thinking about our flowers was that we brought brown paper and string to the venue, and guests went home with bunches of our arrangements at the end of the night, so there was no wastage at all.

The menus, invitations, and signage were all created under my company’s branding – Champagne Electric – branding, and saved us a lot of money as well! We went for an orange and deep green theme throughout. My dad actually wrote out every guest’s name with a calligraphy pen on Nepalese paper and we strung those onto a piece of citrus as a name place. That was a nice touch!

Being a wedding musician myself, I was pretty picky about what I wanted! We ended up booking an amazing soloist KB through Hey Jack, who also provided us with our DJ/Sax player for the reception. As the aisle song, KB sang ‘Two Strong Hearts’ and then learnt one of my band’s songs that I wrote for Ben to play during our registry signing.

The staff at Rupert on Rupert are second to none. The day ran so seamlessly thanks to them, and they were super accommodating of any of our guests who had additional needs. The food was incredible, presented in big share plates on two long tables. They also organised a cannoli cart for our guests, as we didn’t want a traditional wedding cake. It was the perfect dessert to have on the dance floor! We couldn’t have asked for a better venue to host our wedding at.

Our first dance song was ‘Waking Up Easy’ by Lime Cordiale, and it was so special to have absolutely all of our guests on the dance floor for that one.

Simple weddings don’t have to be boring. Pick the things that you optimise for and go all out on them. Everything else will slot into place. Don’t forget that it’s your day, and do things that make you and your partner happy.