Relaxed Melbourne Wedding at East End Wine Bar

Set against Melbourne’s laneways, Adriana and Al’s wedding was the picture of an urban party more than a traditional wedding. For both Alastair and Adriana, this was a second wedding, so they wanted a celebration that felt more relaxed and moodier. Captured by Mitch Gamble at East End Wine Bar in Hawthorn East, this couple did things their way with all of their favourite people.

After a decade of occasionally crossing paths through mutual friends, Adriana and Al came across each other once more, but this time something was different. “We definitely never expected to end up together, but over time a friendship grew, and life eventually brought us to each other at the right time. Turns out all those years later, we were exactly what the other needed!”

Al originally wanted to propose to Adriana at her birthday dinner on December 17th, but the ring wasn’t ready in time. So a few days later, on December 23rd, when it was ready, he couldn’t wait another moment. “We’d just gotten home from East End after a Christmas catch-up with friends, and I was in the kitchen starting dinner and baking for Christmas when he dropped to one knee right there in the middle of it all. He also didn’t want to wait until Christmas because he wasn’t confident he’d guessed the ring size correctly, and luckily he didn’t, because it needed resizing! Thankfully, the jeweller was still open and managed to squeeze us in on Christmas Eve!” Adriana shared.

East End Wine Bar in Hawthorn East has been a central point of Al and Adriana’s story. “Al has been going there since it opened in March 2019, and these days we’re there at least once a week. It’s become so much more than just our local; there’s a real community of regulars, and some of our closest friendships have come from time spent there,” Adriana explained.

“Choosing East End as our venue honestly felt inevitable. We loved that it already held so many memories for us, and it felt very “us” to celebrate somewhere that has played such a big role in our relationship. The venue was so important to us that we even referenced it in our invitations:

A Little Love Story

At East End, where our story grew,

Between shared glasses and moments true.

Where the pours were generous and spirits bright,

East End has seen our love take flight.“

The moment Adriana spotted this dress in an Amy Shaw dress collection post, she immediately saved it as an “if” dress. She originally planned to wear it to the engagement party, but loved it so much she wanted to wear it to the main event! “Once we got engaged, I reverse image searched it, found it on Mytheresa and ordered it almost immediately. I already owned a Rotate jumpsuit, so I felt pretty confident about the sizing, which made the whole process surprisingly easy and stress-free.”

According to Adriana, Alastair is always impeccably dressed and jumps at the chance to put on a tux, so there was no doubt in her mind that he would have something special made for their relaxed wine bar wedding. “One of his close friends, Nic Raftopoulos from Pinstripe Tailors, has made most of his suits for years now – including the suit for his last wedding and, hilariously, my ex-husband’s wedding suit too,” Adriana explained.

“Nic came over to our house with a suitcase full of fabric swatches, and Alastair’s children, Evie and Spenser, were very involved in the process. They helped narrow down fabrics (although Al definitely had final say), and Spenser got to choose his own suit lining, which he loved. Al was set on having Spenser in a matching tux from the start (not sure how many 8-year-olds get custom-made tuxedos)! There was also a small panic when the original fabric turned out to be out of stock, so they had to choose a replacement quickly, but it all came together beautifully in the end. Nic also made Al’s velvet bow tie, which added an extra level of difficulty when it came time to tie it. Alastair is the only person I know who can actually tie a proper bow tie, so it wasn’t going to beat him!”

The photos that stood out the most to Adriana were all the little moments in between the main events. “Things like Nonna hugging Evie while Zia and Alastair are chatting nearby, or me doing up Evie’s shoes while the kids talk to Gamma in the background. Those are the moments that feel the most like us,” she shared.

“Mitch and Faz also somehow found this incredible blue wall that we walk past every single time we go to East End Wine Bar (and had somehow never noticed); the contrast in the photos ended up looking amazing.”

Rich, owner of East End Wine Bar, had started working with Ruby Bakker, a flower grower and florist, to decorate the space months before the wedding. Because of these beautiful additions, Adriana felt they didn’t need to organise any extra floral styling, so she kept things simple with a bouquet for both her and Evie, and buttonholes for Al and Spenser. “I completely trusted Ruby and asked her to use whatever was in season and felt right for the day. We ended up with the most stunning dahlias, which fit the vibe perfectly.”

Evie walked down the aisle first as the Best Girl, to “Give Me Everything” by Archer Marsh. “She was so incredibly cute. I remember making her wait until exactly 43 seconds into the song before she walked out, which she thought was taking FOREVER. Then I accidentally kept everyone waiting a little longer because I was still chatting to the girls behind the bar… oops!”

When Adriana and Al realised they needed a celebrant ASAP, they luckily had their performance booking agent put out word for available celebrants and sent through plenty of options. The one who stood out most was Mel from Melebrate – and it was all thanks to her “family certificate” signing offer! “We never wanted a ceremony that felt overly scripted or like a big public declaration of love. Everyone there already knew us and our story, so for me, the important part was making it personal, relaxed and genuine. The family ceremony was the thing I cared about most because I wasn’t just marrying Alastair; I was also making a commitment to Evie and Spenser,” she shared.

“Mel was honestly incredible. She completely understood us from the very beginning. We met her at East End to sign the NOIM (yes, basically everything related to this wedding happened there), and we all just sat around having wine and chatting while getting to know each other. It felt so natural and easy, which is exactly how we wanted the ceremony itself to feel. After the ceremony, Mel described it in her Instagram post as “absolute chaos,” which honestly could not have described us more perfectly. We were laughing, talking over each other, completely relaxed, and just having the best time.”

With less than a week before the wedding, Adriana and Al still hadn’t picked a photographer. They wanted someone who was easy-going, relaxed and genuinely nice to be around to help capture their day. Mitch Gamble actually took time out of his Japan holiday to speak to Adriana, and it immediately put her at ease. “If I’m being completely honest, there were a couple of photographers we really liked, and price definitely helped make the final decision easier, but we absolutely lucked out because he captured the day perfectly. I’m definitely more of a video person, and I already knew Faz from Iconic Pictures Melbourne from my first wedding and heaps of my friends’ weddings over the years, so there was already a level of comfort there. This was also apparently Faz’s “first second wedding”, which gave us a laugh,” she explained.

“I also think having been through a wedding before changed how we approached photography this time around. I never even printed any of my first wedding photos, so this time I knew I wanted something that felt more natural, candid and actually reflective of the day. Photography styles have evolved so much too; couples can really choose what suits them now, rather than feeling pressured into a certain style, package or photographer just because you’ve made an enquiry.”

For Adriana, the best part of the entire wedding was watching all of their favourite people kick back and relax together. “It was the people, the atmosphere, and the fact that everyone there genuinely wanted to be there. The best part for me was watching all these different parts of our lives collide for one night: family and friends, old and new, each creating their own version of the night. There were conversations happening everywhere between people who otherwise may have never met, and moments we didn’t witness ourselves. That’s what made it special!” She shared.

Instead of an heirloom or family tradition, Adriana was more proud of how lucky she was to have both of her grandmothers in attendance to celebrate the wedding! “One of them is 98 (that’s got to count as an heirloom?!) which felt incredibly special. I also made one very specific request that Eagle Rock was absolutely NOT to be played, because I wanted all pants to remain firmly on waists for the entire night.”

Not wanting an official first dance, Al and Adriana instead had an informal moment together on the dance floor just before the speeches began. “We chose “Love and Marriage” by Frank Sinatra because honestly, the opening line alone was enough to make everyone turn their heads and laugh. It felt very fitting for us… A little tongue-in-cheek and not taking ourselves too seriously,” Adriana shared.

One of the best parts of their relaxed wedding was simply spending that time celebrating with the people Adriana and Al love the most. “It sounds a little vanilla, but the older you get, the rarer it becomes to have all of your favourite people in one place at the same time – it really becomes births, deaths and marriages. Being able to bring together everyone we care about in one room felt incredibly special. Getting ready with Evie was also a huge highlight. We had our hair done at Joey Scandizzo Salon and makeup by Johnny Thorpe.” Adriana explained.

“One of the funniest moments was during speeches. Evie is such a confident young lady and happily gave a speech, while Spenser had only agreed to say one line: “Welcome to the family.” Instead, right before his moment, Evie quietly asked him, “Are you ready?” and, without missing a beat, he proudly repeated that into the microphone instead. Somehow, it ended up being even better.”

With Al adding: “Hi everyone, husband here: It was an amazing day. I was extremely proud of my daughter’s speech, which eclipsed the Best Man’s and my own. Everyone expressed their love for the relaxed, feel-good and party environment, and I know it was an event they will remember. We made many memories, and our photographer and videographer captured them perfectly. We are grateful to everyone who attended, and to everyone who provided services and products. East End is a special place for us, and we wish all those who decide to take the leap at the same venue the same happiness for their future!”

The very first thing that Adriana and Al agreed on for their Melbourne wedding, aside from their venue, was that they wanted a party wedding: one where everyone was genuinely having fun the entire time. “Good music was a huge part of that, so having a DJ who was relaxed, go-with-the-flow and super easy to work with was really important to us. DJ Stefan Lewis absolutely nailed that. We were also lucky enough to have Jazzy B on saxophone, which completely lifted the dance floor. My amazing sister, who runs Luna Event Group, also very sneakily organised the beautiful Emmanuela Costaras as our vocalist. Having the three of them – DJ, saxophone and vocalist (dream team) all performing together was honestly one of the highlights of the night,” she explained.

“We were SO lucky that so many of our vendors already understood us, the venue, or the kind of atmosphere we wanted, which made the whole day feel very easy and natural. Rich and the team at East End Wine Bar were incredible and understood exactly how we wanted the day to feel from the beginning. Mel from Melebrate immediately understood the importance of making the ceremony feel relaxed and family-focused, and Mitch & Faz captured all the little candid moments that mattered most to us.”

Another tradition Adriana and Al switched out was a champagne tower pouring instead of a cake cutting. “It felt much more like us and suited the whole atmosphere of the night perfectly. More than anything, we wanted people to leave feeling like they’d had the best night, and we’ve had so many comments afterwards about how much FUN everyone had, which was exactly what we hoped for,” Adriana shared.

“The only thing I didn’t do was a speech. All I really wanted to say was “welcome back, everyone,” but I know myself well enough to know that if you give me a microphone, I’ll end up giving everyone a full lecture. Instead, having speeches from my friends, husband and stepdaughter was more than enough, and far more emotional than anything I could have managed myself.”

For Adriana, “Go big or go home” doesn’t apply to a wedding. “Do what feels right for you, not what Instagram or Pinterest tells you a wedding should look like. People won’t remember the flowers or the tiny details you spent weeks stressing over; they’ll remember how they felt. I was massively stressing about the wall we were having the ceremony in front of, but spending $1500+ to cover it would not have changed the night for anyone – and a great photographer will make the best of anything anyway,” she explained.

“The best feedback we got was that everyone had FUN. People left happy, and the next day slightly hungover, which honestly felt like a success to me.”