Gena and Ofer wanted nothing more for their wedding day than a celebration of love. So they planned a day that not only captured exactly who they are but also captured exactly what they love to do. As evidenced by the beautiful moments snapped by Weddings By Andy. Imagine this – getting ready for your big day with your beloved, and wandering the city streets. As the winter rains (thanks Melbourne) set in, you join your guests at a beautiful art gallery for an intimate ceremony, and a candlelit dinner. Perfection? We think so! “It was intimate and an honest representation of who we are,” remarks Gena. “It was very romantic, a classic rainy winter day in Melbourne.”

The couple hit it off straight away at their first meeting. “A mutual friend both invited us over for dinner (we’re not sure if it was a setup or not) but we had an instant connection and spent the rest of the night captivated by each other.” They soon became inseparable, and of course, the proposal, equally as captivating, says Gena. “Ofer proposed to me on a cliff top on an isolated beach in the southern Victoria. It was a very sentimental place to me as I spent a lot of summers there as a child. However, the proposal was not a surprise as I accidentally found the ring a few weeks earlier and couldn’t keep a secret that I knew. Regardless it was still a very special moment when he did ask.”

Gena dressed in a stunning black from Cecilie Bahnsen, a piece she found at The Real Real. “I didn’t want to wear anything traditional plus I just look better in black. I’m obsessed with this designer from Copenhagen – Cecilie Bahnsen. However, the dresses are out of my price range plus I didn’t want to buy anything new. So I got my whole attire on the Real Real (a second-hand website from the States); thank god it all fitted perfectly!” And Ofer? He wore white! “Ofer also didn’t want to follow tradition and he knew I didn’t want to wear white so he decided he decided he would wear white instead.”

The flowers on the day were kept simple and styled by a friend. “We had a very close friend organise the flowers for us on the day. She went out the morning before to the flower market and handmade all the bouquets. I love native flowers so I wanted to have as many natives as I could.”

“Andy was amazing!” raves Gena of the couple’s photographer. “He understood what we wanted and took the time to know who we are so we could feel comfortable behind the camera. It was such a fun time walking around the city. Andy had scouted all these niche spots beforehand and we got some cool backgrounds. He felt like part of the family, all the guests were coming up to us saying how comfortable he made them feel and he really took the time to capture every guest at the event.”

Down a laneway in Melbourne’s CBD, sits Arc One Gallery, the space which turned into Ofer and Gena’s wedding venue. They share  “Arc One is a beautiful gallery on Flinders Lane, and on the night of our wedding they were exhibiting Peter Daverington, his paintings were all of the one tree but painted in different years of the tree’s life – it was so beautiful. Cumulus Inc run the gallery so they catered the night and their food and drinks were just so delicious and everything is done with such style.”

There was no processional for these two, Gena admitting that Ofer got caught up chatting to a guest, so really, he walked down the aisle to her! “We wanted to arrive at the ceremony together and we did do that even though it was confusing for some people, I think they thought we had got married beforehand. We also like the idea of being able to walk home after the event, so we stayed in a local hotel and it was a really special feeling to walk home in the city after you’ve just been married.”

“It was the first time both our families had been in the same room together and we’ve been together six years. We loved that  both sides of our family could be there.”

The couple were married by Vinka Krunic. “We really wanted to capture the essence of love. Ofer grew up on the other side of the world so his family travelled all the way from Israel to be there. We wanted to have poems and speeches both in English and Hebrew to represent both our upbringings. We were very lucky our celebrant was a close friend of ours and she made all the planning so easy, fun and stress-free.” Ofer added “I think the ceremony was the moment I felt a strong connection that will always stay with me.”

Gena’s wedding ring is made up of diamonds from special pair of Ofer’s grandmother’s earrings.

Gena’s golden advice “Do what you want to do and keep remembering why it is you want to get married.”

Gena and Ofer, thank you so much for sharing your very special day with us. It was a joy! And thank you also to Weddings By Andy for today’s beautiful images.