Sylvia & Yue

The backstreets of Melbourne are always an amazing backdrop when it comes to a wedding, and this urban Winter warehouse wedding, which made Brunswick the centrepiece of the day, capitalised on the urban cool. The first look was in a hidden laneway, the bridal party posed in front of shed doors, the vows? Inside by candlelight. But there was something special too about this day – the day was filled with the conscious thought of how Sylvia and Yue wanted to represent their own beliefs behind their day – right down to signing their marriage certificate earlier to ensure their actual wedding ceremony spoke every word they believed in. It was all captured beautifully by Georgia Verrells.

Sylvia tells us the tale of how the pair came to be. “We are both bartenders and met while we were working at a beautiful cocktail bar called Lily Blacks in Melbourne. There are not many people in the world that you can work 50 hours a week with and not get sick of them!”

The bride chose an amazing gown created by Hannii in chic taupe with lace embroidery. She tells “I worked with Hannii on the vintage-inspired design and chose everything from the colour of the silk lining to the style and placement of the hand-beading. My grandmother’s cropped fur shrug was perfect to keep the winter chill off for arrival. My vintage earrings were a gift from Yue.”

The couple met before the ceremony for photographs, Sylvia remarking “Our photographer, Georgia did an absolutely incredible job of our engagement and wedding photographs. She has such an eye for capturing the moments that were so special on the day.

Sylvia wanted to create her own bouquet, finding flowers at Tesselaar’s Flower Market. She arranged it herself along with the help of her mum. “We had the best time choosing the flowers and designing the arrangements, bouquets and corsages.”

Rubix Warehouse set the scene for the day, the warehouse setting working beautifully with the urban style of the day. Sylvia noting “Ours was the first ever wedding at Rubix Warehouse and Tanya and her team did an incredible job of making our vision come to life.”

Dear friend Tay Renee sang Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” as the bride walked down the red carpet aisle on the arm of her father.

The couple chose a friend to perform the ceremony, having been officially married at a legal ceremony earlier. They explain “We had signed our paperwork a couple of months earlier at the Old Treasury wedding registry so we had the formal part of the ceremony out of the way. We chose to do this because, for us, we didn’t want to stand up in front of our friends and family and declare the start of our marriage in reference to the out-dated and offensive statement “marriage is between a man and a woman.” Love does not discriminate on any grounds and we chose to have our dear friend Timmy act as celebrant on the day and speak about our commitment to each other and our strong belief that same-sex marriage must be legalised as soon as possible. We both live our lives in a way that is conscious and supportive of the people around us and unfortunately, the formal legal words involved with the marriage ceremony do not reflect our beliefs so we chose to minimise the focus on this part of the ceremony and focus on what love and celebration does mean to us.”

The bride carefully chose her “Something old, something new”. “I had a ‘something blue’ (engagement ring that belonged to my grandmother), ‘something old’ (an antique fur shrug also belonging to my grandmother), ‘something borrowed’ (the edge of my veil had lace taken from her veil when she married 43 years ago) and ‘something new’ (the beautiful gown designed and handmade by Hannii).”

Sylvia notes “We both wanted to focus on a celebration of love, friends and family and create a day which was open and inviting for everyone. We had guests from age 7 to 92 years old on the day so we wanted it to be comfortable and casual.”

Guests enjoyed a stunning buffet dinner catered by U, Ma & Me, The bride remembering  “An absolute standout of the day was the food! A crazy beautiful buffet-style event catered and styled by U, Ma & Me had a line forming out the door for food. Highly recommend for all your catering needs.”

Singer Noelani serenaded the newlyweds for their first dance.

Music was a huge part of the day says Sylvia, who chose three different musicians for the day, including Lab Co. She explains “With such musically talented friends, the day was full of wonderful performance from Tay Renee (who sang as the bride walked down the aisle – or in our case, a red carpet), Noelani (who serenaded our first dance) and Lab Co. (who kept everyone on the dance floor until the wee hours of the morning).”

Congratulations on your marriage Sylvia and Yue! Thank you for allowing us to share in your beautiful day. A big thank you also goes to Georgia Verrells for sharing today’s stunning imagery!