What do you get when you mix native florals, a heatwave, and a barefoot first dance? For Hanna and Ben, it was the perfect recipe for their relaxed winery wedding that focused on fun, love, and keeping things stress-free. Surrounded by their closest family and friends at The Little Vineyard, this day was full of laughter, heartfelt games, and creative touches – all beautifully captured by the talented Emma from Kandi Lane Photography.

Hanna and Ben met their match like many couples – swiping on Tinder! “I was working as a chef at a busy three-hat restaurant, and Ben was studying at UTS Sydney. We met at Union Pub and went to Marys for dinner and shared a burger and half chicken. I was very busy with my work and only had availability to see Ben on Mondays and Tuesdays, but Ben worked around my schedule to be able to spend time together. Due to this, we moved in together shortly after six months of dating to be able to spend more time together,” Hanna shared.

In 2019, Ben knew it was time to move their relationship to the next level and planned a weekend trip away to the Mornington Peninsula. “Funny enough, on the morning before we left home, I was singing Beyonce while packing and at some point started to sing lyrics to “If You Like It Then You Should Put a Ring on It..” and Ben’s nerves got even bigger for the day… We went hiking, and on top of one of the lookouts, Ben proposed.”

The venue of choice for this relaxed wedding was The Little Vineyard in Victoria. It was the perfect venue for their intimate day, with a great outdoor area overlooking the Yarra Valley.

Hanna walked down the aisle to “Tupelo Honey” by Arts Fishing Club, a beautiful addition to their relaxed day with its smooth vibe.

Melbourne Celebrant Julie was the storytelling of their ceremony, inviting guests to join the couple as she retold their love story. “She did an amazing job and made it fun and not boring for the guests. She shared the back story of how we met and how we have been living our lives together. We both did our own vows and kept them short, sweet and funny.”

Hanna chose a simple Made With Love Bridal dress with a low back, plunging neckline, and a beautiful flowing skirt that was perfect for the scorching day. “It was the first and last place I booked for fitting. I tried the dress first and loved it. I tried many other models but didn’t like any of them. I’m not too big a fan of sparkle, lace, big helm or mermaid-style fit. I tried the first dress again, and the decision was made.”

Ben opted for a dark green fitted suit from Peter Jackson without a tie to match the relaxed outdoor vibe of the day. “It took a few months to find a suit shop that had exactly what we were looking into. Otherwise, we would have gone to a tailor.”

Stephanie from Frog and Fig Botanicals created all of these beautiful native florals for Hanna and Ben. “I gave a colour theme of green, white, mustard and yellow. I wanted natural/native flowers, nothing artificial, glam or too much over the top. She did an amazing job!”

Even though Victoria had technically entered Autumn, it was a scorching hot day of 39°C and luckily for Hanna and Ben, their guests fully embraced the heat! “Another not-so-fun story was that I was really, really sick on the morning of the wedding and seriously thought I couldn’t make it… I believe all the nerves hit, and the stress came out of a few things that had gone wrong a few days before,” Hanna shared. “We broke our “not seeing each other before the ceremony”, and Ben went to get nausea medicine for me and came to give me a big hug a few hours before the ceremony started.”

Emma from Kandi Lane Photography beautifully captured each intimate, relaxed moment from Hanna and Ben’s winery wedding! “Emma was great and so easy to work with. She was very flexible and accommodating to our funny ideas. We didn’t want to do too much of “pose” photos and rather had a natural flow and had a lot of fun while taking photos.”

Across the tables in their reception space, Hanna had placed lemon tree branches she had collected from her local community! “I posted on our community page to ask if someone had extra growth in their lemon tree that I could come to get branches for our table decoration. I love the scent the lemon branches gave, and it fits our natural/green/yellow-white vibe.”

The top five things that made this relaxed winery wedding so unique were:

“1. Our wedding quests and them coming to celebrate our day with us (and bear the heat),

2. Our amazing bridal parties,

3. Our games,

4. Great dance floor songs,

5. The venue and the vendors.”

To keep themselves and their guests entertained throughout the reception, Hanna and Ben had their MC run interactive games. “One of them was the “shoe game,” where our MC read questions such as “Who is the better cook? Who would fall asleep first while watching the movie?” etc. We were sitting back to back with Ben, and both had each other shoes and lifted the one we thought suited for the question,” she explained. “Another game was “Who has..” we gave little party pipes for your guests, and our MC read questions from paper, and if it related to anyone, they blew the party pipe.”

Their first dance was to “Forever You and Me” by the Teskey Brothers, and both Hanna and Ben danced without their shoes. This was the perfect ending to their relaxed winery wedding!

To finish out the night, Hanna changed into a silky suit set from Diish!

Congratulations to Hanna and Ben on this beautiful, relaxed winery wedding! And thanks to Kandi Lane Photography for capturing and sharing it with us.