Nadine & Anday

With the sun setting over the city, Nadine and Anday said their vows in a contemporary and modern celebration. Set in South Melbourne and effortlessly glamorous, today’s wedding was planned with elegant detail! Smitten Wedding Photography captured the day.

Anday and Nadine met the old fashioned way, in a bar! The bride remembers, ”After chatting, we soon realised we had the same taste in music and were attending the same festival in Queensland the following January.” After a series of dates in Ballarat and Melbourne, the two made it official, and haven’t looked back! The groom popped the question while the couple were on holiday in Hong Kong.

In looking for a contemporary gown, the bride says, ”I was drawn towards Georgia Young Couture. After meeting Georgia for the first time, I was certain that I wanted to wear one of her stunning custom gowns, not only because is she incredibly talented, but because she is such a lovely person! Georgia made the whole experience so enjoyable, I loved going into her studio for fittings and I felt absolutely incredible on my wedding day. I wore a pair of black Stuart Weitzman heels with gold rose stud trims, and my gorgeous bridesmaids gifted me with the most stunning Ellery earrings, which I wore, and will treasure for years to come.” The groom wore a Joe Black tuxedo, with patent belt and shoes.

Having a first look was a good choice for the couple, the bride telling, ”Anday and I decided to have most of our formal photos taken before the ceremony. It was great to see each other before the ceremony to minimise our nerves and fully relax and enjoy the moment. It also meant that we, (and our bridal party) didn’t miss out on celebrating with our guests. We shared a special moment with a ‘reveal’ where Anday and our family saw me all ready for the first time. It was such a raw, emotional moment and we’re so happy it was captured on film.”

The bride chose a friend as their photographer and was thrilled with the results. She says, ”I have always adored the natural, candid style of Smitten Wedding Photography, so it was an easy decision. Jenna’s kind nature made everyone feel so relaxed and comfortable on the day. We were absolutely blown away with her photos; the moody, rich colours and the little details, moments and emotions that she captured so perfectly. Matt Dunne is a cinematic genius, and we were lucky enough that he was available to film our wedding with the help of Leaman Films. Matt edited such a stunning, emotional snapshot of our day… it makes me cry every time. Our video is such a lovely keepsake that we will treasure forever.”

After their first look and portrait photos were taken, the couple headed to Luminare for the celebrations! They share, ”Our celebrant prepared and delivered a beautiful, personalised ceremony that captured our relationship just perfectly; it was romantic and light hearted with a few funny moments. We couldn’t have asked for a more genuine, warm and relaxed experience. We also wrote our own vows, which was truly special and something we will treasure forever.” The bride walked down the aisle with her dad to an acoustic version of ‘Latch’ by Sam Smith.

The brief of moody and romantic blooms was more than met by florist Raven And The Rose. Nadine shares, ”We were so blown away with our incredible blooms! My brief was to create an unstructured affair, with a mix of black and rich wine flowers and touches of blush, buff and cream to highlight. Ame delivered this absolutely flawlessly! Ame designed my bouquet in a large, modern statement style with strong dark tones in a mix of seasonal flowers and foliage, and black tropical statement pieces. To frame our ceremony space, she created a show stopping ceremony backdrop. For our guest table centrepieces, Ame created large cascading arrangements on geometric towers we hired from Table Top Towers. Alternating tables were styled with clustered foliage and blooms around geometric candle holders.”

Choosing the venue was as simple as can be, the bride telling, ”We instantly fell in love with the stunning city views and chic interior of Luminare. We knew it would be the perfect backdrop for our modern Melbourne wedding. We wanted our day to be relaxed and seamless, so keeping our ceremony and reception at the same venue was important to us. We loved that we could have varied settings at Luminare; our ceremony on the rooftop looking out to Port Phillip Bay, sunset canapés and cocktails looking over the cityscape, followed by a sit down dinner and dancing inside. I can’t go without mentioning our incredible cake by Don’t Tell Charles. Tao brought my cake dreams to life with a sleek, two-tiered square cake in white and black ganache with gold leaf detailing. It was such a work of art many of our guests couldn’t believe it was cake! Our photo booth by Social Playground was also a huge hit, and the photo prints were great mementos for our guests to take home.”

The bride and groom incorporated many personal touches in the day, remembering, ”Instead of a traditional bridal waltz, we incorporated an element of Anday’s Turkish heritage into our day. We danced alongside Turkish drummers and a flute player as we were introduced into the room as the new ‘Mr and Mrs’. It was a great surprise for our guests, and everyone was up and dancing from the moment our reception began. I designed our invitations, stationery and website, made our signage and wishing well. We were so happy with the delicious catering by The Big Group and our cocktail trolley and midnight snacks (mini burgers and fries) were a huge hit. Rutherford Entertainment helped us to create the perfect party atmosphere with a DJ who played throughout the evening, and performances by the extremely talented singer, Alex Rose and MC (rapper) Matty Charles. Everyone had a great time dancing until late in the evening.”

Thank you to our gorgeous bride and groom for sharing your wedding day with us, and congratulations! Thank you also to Smitten Wedding Photography for sharing your beautiful images!