Romantic Royal Botanical Garden Wedding in Melbourne

When Sneha and Mubiana began planning their wedding, it wasn’t about ticking boxes; it was about weaving together the threads of their love story, their heritages, and their community. Captured beautifully by Niki from Fotogenica and John Kurt, their day was filled with culture, joy, and the kind of moments that linger long after the music fades, it was the perfect mix of pastel garden vibes and a hint of tradition that truly made it their own.

Mubiana chose the perfect place to officially propose to Sneha: Te Mata Peak in New Zealand! “However, we had already agreed to marry and I cherish the original agreement when Mubiana was looking for a ring before taking me to Zambia to meet his family. It was one of those moments where we had agreed that yes, we want to get married. We had started planning the wedding before he proposed,” Sneha explained.

With a suit tailored in Nepal, Mubiana looked dashing with the beautiful sand tones that contrasted with his complexion.

A few days after Mubiana had proposed, Sneha came across a gorgeous small store in Auckland called Pearl Culture – where she found her dream dress! “Before that she had looked at so many dresses online and the current designs did not look appropriate to her body size and shape. She wanted a simple dress that was a classic (and something she did not need to drag because Sneha is a bit of a Tom boy and needed practicality),” Mubiana shared.

When it came to picking their wedding florals, Sneha knew she wanted something with meadow garden look that also matched the pastel candles she’d already bought. With the help of Birde Floral Design, those dreams came to life in the most magical way.

The Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne was the perfect spot for this garden wedding, with their ceremony spot at the picnic point overlooking the lake. The reception took place at The Terrace later on – “It was truly magical.”

The couple included a traditional Nepalese violinist (Sarangi) who played Dhairya by Sajan Raj Vaidhya, as Sneha walked down the aisle. “Dhairya means patience which is basically the essence of a marriage. Sneha wanted her uncle to walk her down the aisle but given that he passed away, she opted for her two cousins,” they shared.

Led by their celebrant, the ever loved Zee Scott, Sneha and Mubiana’s ceremony was a gorgeous story of them. “It felt like it just drew people into our story and made them understand us. We wanted our community to be there, the people we’d go to if things went south. We wanted to feel supported,” Sneha explained.

The top five things that truly made Sneha and Mubiana’s wedding so special to them were:

“1. I would say a hint of traditional paying ode to our culture.

2. Gold earrings traditional style to a south Asian wedding

3. Traditional Nepalese violinist (Sarangi Player) for the ceremony and Sneha walked down the aisle in Nepalese music.

4. DJ was Mubiana’s cousin so music was mostly Zambian or Nepali.

5. Zambian have a knife girl which dances and brings the knife.”

Sneha’s favourite part of the whole day was the private gondola ride her and Mubiana took between their ceremony and reception! “And the sunset walk after the Mains was served. It was that moment alone where we could savour the moment and each other.”

There is no one photo that sticks out as their favourite – every single photo Niki from Fotogenica took is beautiful. “We love all of them. We are so happy that the pictures and the videos are something we can look back on and enjoy the day! It was a beautiful wedding!” Sneha shared.

“Niki was a saviour! She did our engagement photos as well as our wedding photos. We were completely as ease with her!”

When it came to their vendor dream team, Sneha and Mubiana loved each and every one of them. “Thank god for our Vendors! They did 99% of the heavy lifting at the wedding. It was so good to lean on them. I think looking for wedding venues was the favourite and picking vendors. It was so evident in our faces when we felt the fit was right, and it was nice to have glimmers together!”

The piece of advice Sneha and Mubiana want to share with couples planning their own weddings is this: “I’m sure a lot of people mention that wedding is just the beginning but wow, that first step is definitely testing. Someone mentioned to us that the pressure and stress that newlyweds go through is not what a relationship looks like, so forgive yourself and each other. Know that things will go back to normal soon enough!”

For their first dance, Sneha and Mubiana actually mashed a Nepalese and Afrobeat song to perform! “We practised Kizomba, afro beats and Nepali dance for 6 months!”