Romany and Lachlan’s wedding at Zonzo Estate was a celebration that merged love, elegance, and enchantment into one unforgettable event. Set amidst the scenic vineyards of the Yarra Valley and with the talent of photographer Lou Lou Memphis, the couple wanted their day to be relaxed and elegant, and be all about them, the food, the scenery, and their loved ones! Romany recaps their romance and tells us about their stunning day… 

We met at university. I used to only attend the bare minimum until I met Lachie then I suddenly started attending all the time! Too bad it was in my last year!

We got engaged during the 2021 Melbourne covid lockdown – what a lifetime ago that feels like! Lachie had always planned to propose at the first place we said “I love you”, down at the beach house in Inverloch, however, due to lockdown he was unable to get me down there.

Instead, on a morning walk in September 2021 at Mt Lofty, before I had even had breakfast, he got down on one knee and asked – I just about passed out. It was perfect, it was just us, no one around and we got to really soak in the moment and visit that exact spot often as it’s local to us.

We went for a really simple, timeless, classic, monochromatic, chic theme/style for the day. We were super conscious of not picking things we felt would date or we would look back on and think “What were we thinking?”. The atmosphere on the day was emotional yet relaxed and so much fun. Zonzo Estate was amazing and had the food and drinks flowing so everyone was super happy!

Lachie went for a classic black suit and bow tie, tailor-made by Oscar Hunt in Melbourne. We initially thought he would go a full tuxedo, however upon trying it on, it just wasn’t him. We loved the shape of the Oscar Hunt lapel and felt this took the classic suit up a notch compared to others, plus you always need a good black suit in your wardrobe for future events!

I went for a super simple silhouette for my dress – fitted, v-neckline & low back. I went for the style as it felt like “me” – I tried so many on in all different styles, but big and poofy just wasn’t me.

I ended up getting my dress custom-made as throughout the process of trying dresses on in stores I just couldn’t quite find what I wanted. I would love the front of one, but not the back, or vice versa, I also really struggled with finding a good quality fabric for the style I wanted. Being so fitted, I found the fabric of a lot of the dresses I tried on would cling to you in an unflattering way.

I ended up popping into d’Italia to chat about my options and what a couture dress-making process entailed. The process was surprisingly easy and so personalised! I met Jenna in the store, and I basically showed her photos of the front of one dress and the back of another. They sketched me a design and we made a few little tweaks and the dress I had been looking for all along was in front of my eyes! We then talked about fabric – Jenna was amazing at advising which fabrics would be best suited for the style of dress I was going for, she really knew what she was talking about, so I just leaned into her expertise and let her guide me toward the fabric I ended up choosing. From there, they connected me with my beautiful dressmaker Mary. Mary was beyond talented and took me through the process of making my dress with ease, from the first calico through the final product, I couldn’t have been happier. Knowing the dress was being made to my body, in Australia and I could try it on and make small adjustments as we went was so reassuring. Watching it come to life was incredible!

I would highly recommend people to look into this pathway, it’s not as tricky as you think, and you end up with exactly what you want!

The colours we chose for the florals were classic greens and white. Our venue was so beautiful I didn’t feel it needed loads of flowers. For the bouquets, we had beautiful crisp white long-stem roses with minimal foliage and the boys had white rose buttonholes – all done by Debbie O’Neill. I had lace flowers off my mum’s dress, pinned to the ribbon that bound my bouquet as my something old.

I walked down the aisle to “Home” by Edward Sharpe, the cover version by Matthew Hall.

I think we were both surprised at how emotional our ceremony was! There were lots of tears from everyone! At the ceremony, we had magnificent barrel arrangements on either side of the altar, so it didn’t detract from the big statement window. The flowers were loose, wild, luscious, and fresh and looked as if they were coming out of the tops of the barrels.

For the reception space, we used bud bases with incredible fresh white roses scattered across the tables and heaps of tea-light candles. Our florist Debbie also created some amazing arrangements for our signage which just took everything up a notch!

There are honestly too many photos to choose from to pick a favourite! I do love our alter kissing shot though, the moment we were husband and wife, plus the black window at Zonzo’s is just an epic backdrop.

Every guest we have spoken to so far has made mention of how phenomenal the venue was. From the elegance of the Capella to the views over the vineyard and of course the wonderful reception space.

The team at Zonzo Estate exceeded any expectations we had and so too our guests. They absolutely loved the easy-going, intimate and warm environment the team hosted. The food, drinks and services were second to none.

It was such a great venue where we knew our guests would be looked after with amazing food and drinks. From the start they were so easy to work with, organised, professional, provided amazing guidance and ultimately pulled off the most amazing event for us.

We chose Lou Lou Memphis as our photographer – special shout out to Kirra & Sarah, these guys have given us the most amazing photos, capturing memories we will look back on forever.

Choosing them was one of the best investments. They make everyone look amazing, were seamless to work with and just captured our day so well. We didn’t want the traditional staged family shots etc, all our photos are so in the moment, natural and timeless.

I have a very talented friend who has a Cricut machine so we drank wine whilst she worked her magic to create our signage. We purchased blank acrylics in various sized for different signage and then she used her Cricut to print font onto it. We also did our name cards/menus on Canva and then just printed them at Officeworks on good-quality cards!

We also purchased all the vases for the florist to use so that our guests could take them home at the end of the night. These acted as our “favours” and it meant none of our flowers got left behind or went to waste!

We did our first dance outside under the festoon lights, to “Just The Two Of Us”, by Bill Withers. We had one dance lesson from Lexi at The Next Step Co, and she was amazing! She choreographed an awesome fun routine with some fun highlights in it that made us look better than we actually were!

Music, we had the incredible Cal Young who helped create the most amazing atmosphere with his amazing voice and guitar and then turned into the coolest DJ and got our dance floor pumping.

Having all our favourite people in one place, it truly was special. Everyone was so present and just enjoying all the good things in life – beautiful scenery, food, wine, music, dancing, and love!

Our advice is to do what YOU want – it is your day. Include and prioritize things that are important and reflect you as a couple. Spend money on the basics, and don’t feel overwhelmed or pressured to have things that aren’t essential. Go with the flow on the day, take it all in and enjoy it! It goes so fast!

Thank you Romany & Lachlan for reliving your beautiful day with us! And to Lou Lou Memphis and the d’Italia team for sharing their wedding.