Alana & Brett

 There’s something cosy about sweet weddings in the one place. It’s like inviting guests to your (fabulous) home (which just happens to have enough seating for all your guests, and a professional chef to boot). That’s exactly how the wedding of Alana and Brett feels – like were crashing an intimate dinner party, a private celebration for two people who happen to be celebrating their marriage. How very special and how very Melbourne.

Alana tells of how they met. “We met 3 years ago at a mutual friend’s wedding in Amritsar, India, even though we were unknowingly living 2km apart from each other in Melbourne!  ”

Photography today is by Lakshal Perera  who captures such beautiful, fresh, candid moments.

The wedding invitations echoed the artwork at the ceremony venue.

The wedding car was very special. Alana remembers, “My Dad restored his 1949 Riley Roadster for the wedding. There were only 500 of these cars ever made, and he bought and rebuilt one when he was a teenager, but it had not been on the road for 25 years, so it was pretty special to have it for the wedding.”

Alana wore a tea length gown from a Melbourne designer.

Alana carried a bouquet of double tulips from Tribal Rose.

Of their photographer, Alana remarks, “I met Lakshal at my cousin’s wedding and realised how easy he was to work with. Then when we saw my cousin’s wedding photos we booked Lakshal immediately. He is extremely relaxed and calm, working in with whatever was happening on the day. And obviously, he is an utterly brilliant photographer, capturing the whole day a truly unique way.”

Alana and Brett chose the one venue for all of their wedding celebrations and that venue was the very hip, very cool Church Street Enoteca. Alana recalls “We decided to have the whole wedding at the one venue. We selected Church Street Enoteca because the food is outstanding, and the building is charming. We really wanted the meal to be a feature of the event, and so having great food was extremely important. Enoteca is an art-deco style building, which we also love.”

For the processional, Alana remembers, “The band played a version of the Bridal Chorus by Richard Wagner on the piano. We wanted something simple and classic. We had a band play the ceremony music and the reception music. They were brilliant! They are called Tim Mitchell and the Tone Tone Semi Tones.”

Alana notes, “My Nanna is almost 91, and I am very close with her, so I am thrilled that she was able to share the event with me.”

Guests received personal touches – paper cranes and hand potted succulents. Alana explains “I tried to personalise the wedding in as many ways as I could. For example, I made origami peacocks to attach to the table name cards, we collected 100 teacups from op shops around Melbourne and potted succulents for guests to take home, my mum made the cake, and my brother is a very good artist, and made the invitations…”

Alana says “I like to think that we hosted an elegant dinner party for all our friends and family.”

One of Alana’s memories was the mingling of families. Alana recalls “I suppose that watching my husband’s big South African family, and my big Italian family meeting for the first time and getting along so well and dancing together was also a pretty special sight.”

Congratulations Alana and Brett! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Lakshal Perera for sharing today’s wedding with us!