There’s something undeniably magical about a cosy winery wedding – the golden glow of autumn leaves, the intimate warmth of candlelit tables, and the love that lingers in every carefully chosen detail. For Katia and Sam, their wedding was more than just a celebration; it was a heartfelt journey through love, culture, and cherished moments. Nestled in the picturesque Yarra Valley, their day was filled with sentimental touches, laughter, and the kind of romance that belongs in a storybook.

Katia and Sam crossed paths for the first time on Hinge after the 2020 COVID lockdown disaster. “Sam seemed nice enough to start with, but what got me invested and gave me a laugh was Sam using the pickup line from ‘Friends’ about ‘hiking in the foothills of Mount Tibidabo’. This is when I knew he was a good one.. also that his star sign was Pisces!”

In preparation for their proposal, Sam planned a surprise weekend getaway to Redwood Forest, where they had one of their first dates. “We rode bikes up there and had the whole forest to ourselves due to road closures! Sam started saying some nice things and then turned around to get something from the backpack (which I had been rifling through all day for snacks and water). Then he pulled out the ring box, and I cried and didn’t remember anything else he said from there onwards!”

Sam wore a forest green three-piece suit by Suitably, with a black tie and Star Wars socks – who doesn’t love a Star Wars reference on May 4th! “Alex from Suitably looked at photos of the venue, saw Katia’s dress and the flowers for the wedding, and then guided Sam in choosing green. It matched perfectly!”

To complete their mornings getting ready, Katia and Sam wrote letters to each other to read as a taster of what was to come at the ceremony.

In a Raffaele Ciuca gown by New Zealand designer Jessica Couture, Katia looked gorgeous! “It was ivory and champagne, lots of lace, a low back and nice and flowy at the bottom! It was not what I thought I would wear at all, but it was beautiful and detailed, and the fit was really flattering. When I tried it on, my mum cried, and I knew it was the one! Wedding dress shopping was really fun! I only went to a few shops, and the search ended once I tried this one! We got champagne at the bridal shop and then went out for lunch afterwards!”

Woops a Daisy created the florals for this cosy winery wedding, sticking to a white and green colour scheme with plenty of native florals. Simple, elegant and timeless – just as Katia dreamed!

She walked down the aisle with her mum and dad as Kina Grannis’ cover of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” played.

They had the ceremony in a Catholic Church, somewhere cosy and comfortable, full of love. Their priest, who has known the family for a long time, perfectly captured all the love and laughter shared between the couple, making everyone feel welcome and included. “We had Scripture readings from the Song of Songs and the letter from St Paul to the Colossians.”

Katia and Sam also wrote personalised letters to each other that they read out during the ceremony. “They were very us and full of so much love, which was exactly what we wanted to come across on our day!”

The five things that made their cosy winery wedding so unique included:

“1. Being able to share it with the people we love,

2. Incorporating our cultures and religion,

3. Creating a fun, relaxed and very ‘us’ vibe,

4. Our personalised letters,

5. Marrying my person!”

With so many incredible photos taken by Belle Martin, Katia couldn’t pick just one – so she chose three! “This is a tough one, I have so many! Top 3 are: a beautiful candid photo of us walking in the paddocks with Sam’s arm around me casually, one of Sam kissing my cheek with the orange leaves in the background and one of us walking out from the church!”

Vue on Halcyon was the perfect venue for this cosy winery wedding. The small family-owned winery in the Yarra Valley turns into a golden oasis in Autumn, and Katia and Sam fell in love the moment they saw it. “We really wanted the oranges in our photos! The inside of the reception was spacious enough to fit everyone, with a big dance floor in the middle, and had an open timber ceiling feature, which we loved! Amazing views all around as well!”

The best part of the venue? The alpacas! “Katia was very excited about this (and wanted photos with them on the big day)!”

Belle Martin was the talented photographer who captured each and every moment of this cosy winery wedding. “She’s the best of the best! She is so lovely, so reassuring and takes a mean candid photo!!”

One of their favourite things they did for the wedding was to include a personalised note for each guest as their place card. “We loved doing this and it was well received!”

With an incredible vendor dream team, it should be no surprise that Katia and Sam couldn’t pick just one favourite. Instead, they wanted to shout out their favs! “We loved our musician, James Marris from Unplugged. We also used Manny from Magnet-Me for our wedding favours, which was a big hit! All of our styling, signs, fun little table activities and everything in between came from the amazing Jamie-Lee from Amortia.co. She is the best and we couldn’t have done it without her!”

Combining both their Sri Lankan and Italian cultures was incredibly important for Katia and Sam. So, for their entrance into the ceremony, they had Sri Lankan dancers and drummers, and they did traditional oil lamp lighting with their families.

Their first dance was to “Love In Slow Motion” by Ed Sheeran, as Sam is a huge Sheeran fan! “We loved this song because it was fun and upbeat but also had an important message – slow down and enjoy each moment as it comes!”

Here, they incorporated Katia’s Italian heritage by having close friends wrap them in streamers during the first dance, symbolically ‘tying’ the couple together!

Please join us in congratulating Katia and Sam on their wonderful, cosy winery wedding! Thanks to Belle Martin Photography for sharing these moments with us.