An Ethereal Celebration in the Yarra Valley

Surrounded by vineyards, Lucas and Merve were married at the historic Stones of the Yarra Valley in Victoria Australia. Contrasting the rustic countryside with classicism and elegance, the couple created an ethereal setting in dreamy, muted palettes.

Using bold elements balanced with lightness, styling details punctuated the space in the most effortless way. Inside an architectural chapel, sculptural floral clouds floated in front of chalk-toned walls creating a whimsical ceremonial backdrop. The bride wore a voluminous gown balanced with featherlight fabric and a simple handful of orchids, offset by the groom’s classic black tux.

Wedding photographers themselves, Lucas and Merve had their team capture emotive moments spent on the other side of the lens.

Our Story

Names / Lucas & Merve

Wedding Date / 29th January 2022

Guest Numbers / 140

Budget / $120,000

How We Met

We met exactly 6 years ago at the Portsea Hotel on Australia Day weekend. We actually coincidently booked our wedding the same weekend 6 years later. Weird.

We never exchanged numbers and we didn’t really know a lot about each other but the following week I bumped into him at a club. We never had intentions on being together at the time and jokingly even said “don’t fall in love to each other” and here we are. We couldn’t have fallen any harder.

Our Engagement Story

Like everyone else, we had dreams of travelling to Europe in 2019. It was my first year booking international weddings as a wedding photographer, and both of us are super business savvy people who put our hearts and souls into what we love doing most. This was the perfect excuse to make a holiday out of it. I had one in Turkey, Italy, New York, and Bali.

Lucas had plans to propose in Notting Hill as it is one of my favourite movies, but we didn’t have a lot of travel options due to the pandemic. We’re not overly romantic people. Once we realised that we weren’t getting out of lockdown any time soon, he proposed in our kitchen while I was in my robe when we had 8:00 pm curfews.

I had just done my nails at the time, and jokingly I was recording and saying to him, “I’m ready for that ring”, and at the time, he told me, “oh are you recording? Keep recording,” and next thing I knew was he was pulling out a ring, and I was yelling “Oh MY GOD, ARE YOU SERIOUS. NO WAY!”

Technically I still haven’t said yes to his proposal; I just took the ring and ran for my life.

Marriage To Us Means…

Family.

The Setting

Wedding Location

We got married at Stones of The Yarra Valley. This one was Lucas’ pick and I’m so incredibly glad that we picked one of the best venues in Victoria. Everything was flawless.

Aesthetic

Overall I’d describe the aesthetic as ethereal, simple and elegant using lots of soft muted tones. I was inspired by a variety of things when coming up with the wedding and as photographers ourselves our very own couples played a huge role in that. I also used Pinterest and Instagram. Drawing on the experience of being wedding photographer of-course helped in so many ways as we’re able to see what works and what doesn’t.

Preparation

We got ready in the bridal suite with my bridesmaids and my mom at Stones. It was just beautiful there.

Photography

All photography was captured by my incredible team at MERVÉ

Videography

Tango Films created our wedding video. Wow my goodness. Again just incredible!

Style Notes

Ceremony Décor

Floral arrangements were by the incredible Sassafras’s. Jess created a beautiful sculptural floral arrangement for our ceremony, she really brought my vision to life. I was inspired by a variation of different florals and she absolutely nailed this.

“The most memorable moment of our wedding day was our first look. It was honestly the most heartwarming, most romantic and emotional thing I have ever experienced.”

Reception Décor

I just wanted to keep our reception styling simple and suitable to the venue. The incredible team at Stones of the Yarra Valley helped so much with this. They created a simple, rustic set up and were able to supply candles for our tables which suited the overall aesthetic of our wedding.

Flowers

For my bouquet I held simple orchid stems which worked really well with the overall aesthetic of the day and to be completely honest, orchids are my favourite flowers.

Stationery

We had Ivory & Noir create all of our invitations, they were elegant white invitations with gold detailing and deckled edges. Ivy and Noir also custom made our vow books, signage and menus for the venue.

Favors

For our wedding favours we gifted guests little alcohol bottles that I put together with custom made stickers.

Cake

We had our friends Party With Grazer create our wedding cake which was an orange cake in whispy textures, it was amazing.

Fashion & Beauty Notes

Wedding Dress

My wedding dress being completely custom made from the other side of the world – Israel. I came across Coral Confortti’s work and instantly fell in love. The detail of her dresses, it was basically the perfect way to describe how I like things. Simple, but detailed. Effortless with so much attention to detail.

I was in completely awe when I saw her work. I knew this was the dress for me but I wanted it customized with slight tweaks which meant I would have to fly to Israel, which was impossible as we were in lockdown. Getting another designer to make this style dress was completely out of the question for me. I truly believe and appreciate the uniqueness of every artist, therefore I wanted to stick to the original designer and Coral made this happen for me.

I contacted Coral and it was almost a done deal. It wasn’t just her incredible talent; her passion, dedication and genuine authenticity had me. Our friendship grew during the process of crafting this wedding dress, with hopes that I could either fly to Israel or she flee to Australia. That didn’t happen due to lockdowns so we did multiple DHL postages… literally every single process was shipped up and back. In total we did about 6 postages.I honestly have no idea how we managed, but thank you to my dear friend Eda being by my side with measurements, fittings and postages; we got there. Honestly the process was completely stress free and enjoyable.

During this process whilst growing her family, she still gave me so much time and energy, giving me peace of mind whilst she was creating my dream dress, miles away.

Bride’s Shoes

I wore Aquazzura Celeste heels & YSL Tributes

Bridesmaids’ Dresses

My bridesmaids wore Shona Joy. They each had different dresses. I wanted them to feel comfortable and let them pick their own dresses as I wanted them to feel like themselves throughout the whole day.

Jewelry / Accessories

My earrings were pearl earrings by Dior

Groomsmen

The groomsmen wore black suits custom tailored by V&J.

Hair & Makeup

I kept my hair and makeup really natural, using soft and peachy tones. I absolutely loved my makeup by Stephanie Piazza. She’s just one of a kind.

The Details

Transport

We all drove to the venue the night before. We stayed at The Farm House at Stones of The Yarra Valley and booked out the entire place for our friends and family to stay the night of our wedding. It was really lovely. We had an afterparty the night of our wedding and had a lovely breakfast with our nearest and dearest the day after.

Honeymoon

We went to Jackalope for a couple of days. It was really nice and relaxing. We had to return to work within the week as we run our own businesses. We will however do a big honeymoon in the coming months.

Wedding Songs

Ceremony Song / Can’t help falling in love with you

After Ceremony / A Sky full of stars

First Dance / Can’t take my eyes off of You’ – Frankie Valli

We also had a first look, which was the most memorable moment of our wedding day and we played She by Elvis Costello

Celebrant

Our celebrant Sarah Durso was really incredible.

Our Advice

A memorable moment…

The most memorable moment of our wedding day was our first look. It was honestly the most heartwarming, most romantic and emotional thing I have ever experienced. Marrying Lucas brought out a whole new love language between us I never knew existed. We’re generally full of banter, lots of business meetings over dinners and simply like best mates. Those that know us well, know we rarely ever get overly lovey dovey; so this was really different for the both of us.

One thing I wish I knew before I started my wedding plans…

Don’t overthink what could go wrong. Focus on the positives, and whatever is meant to happen will happen. Of-course in saying that, plan for exactly what you envision for your wedding day. We didn’t hold back on booking the suppliers we wanted and it was everything we could have asked for on our special day.