Laura & Aaron

Refined colour palette, classic elegance and tradition all combined to make for a beautiful day at Zonzo Estate for Laura and Aaron – and their family and friends. Having everyone together was of huge importance for the day, as was the delicious food and music on offer! Embracing traditional elements and champagne towers, Allumè Photography was there each step of the way. The gorgeous Bride, Laura details their day and what made it so very special!

It was love at first swipe. We met on Tinder. How romantic! Our wedding was February 17 2019 at Zonzo Estate in the Yarra Valley.

It is Greek tradition for family to visit the house before the wedding. My mum basically catered for a mini wedding before the wedding. Bless. Thanks, mum. I copied this explanation from online – it’s the easiest way to explain what’s happening in the first half of my photos.

‘The sash is also then wrapped and tied around the waist a further three times. Everything is done three times, as it is symbolic of the Holy Trinity. The colour red is also a symbol of fertility. As in the Greek Orthodox faith, many practices are symbolic and repeated three times to represent the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Once all the immediate family have participated in this ritual, incense and dried olive leaves are burnt in a small highly decorative silver vessel, “kabnistiri”. The immediate family repeats the same process individually acting out the symbol of the cross three times with the kabnistiri over the groom/bride; again once called within the song. The incense is a blessing and symbolic for God to protect them and rid any negative spirits. The ceremony at times can become very emotional for some families, especially if some family members are no longer with them.’

My dress was designed by Alon Livnè – purchased through Helen Rodrigues in Sydney. Although we live in Melbourne I saw the ‘Rita’ dress online and had to try it on. It was the first dress I tried and fell in love all over again. The sleeves were everything! I knew that this style of dress would be perfect for an intimate winery wedding.

Helen and her team were great – I only had two fittings before picking up my dress, but I had all trust in the ladies from Sydney to get the job done.

I also had my mum’s locket on my bouquet with pictures of my grandparents. I knew they would be watching from above and with me every step of the way. Aaron also wore his grandfather’s cufflinks that his 98-year-old grandmother chose for him. We thought that was a special touch.

Aaron’s suit was from Menz Club Highpoint – although Aaron wears a suit every day for work he decided on a bow tie to change up his look. He looked very sharp in a crisp navy suit with a black bow tie. Phil was the salesman who helped the boys pick their suits and they had full confidence in his expertise and experience.

The style of our wedding was an old-worldly European feel. We stuck with the saying less is more. We wanted everything to be refined. From lush green hanging installations to latte roses and champagne towers. Zonzo speaks for itself so we didn’t want to go over the top with anything.

My dad walked me down the aisle to Haley Reinhart – Can’t help falling in love. This was extra special for me as my dad was diagnosed with bowel cancer only a few months before.

Apart from walking down the aisle and back out as Mrs Dillon, we loved our champagne tower. Nothing like popping bottles to kick off the celebrations. We also loved that we had our friend Casey as our celebrant and my cousin David as our MC. Including family in our day was something money can’t buy. It was definitely more meaningful to us.
Tobi music was another highlight. Renee’s voice is heaven on earth. The music on the night really set the tone for the reception. Songs from all eras made everyone sing along and feel all warm and fuzzy. Renee knew I wanted that romantic feel and she delivered.

Aaron and I had two of our closest friends on each side and our goddaughter as our flower
girl. I have to mention, one of my bridesmaids had given birth 7 days before our wedding and
was by my side through it all. I’m still in awe to this day.

Our flowers were by the amazing Gillian Pollard. From our first meeting, I knew Gillian was going to deliver… boy did she do that and so much more. I knew I wanted a long stem bouquet and neutral latte colours with foliage. Gillian ran with the European feel and added hints of olive branches which tied in nicely. I am Greek after all.

I am so grateful for meeting Gillian as she made this process so easy. I feel like I gave a very rough outline of what we were after and she totally ran with it. I’m glad we have photos of the venue because I was so overwhelmed on the day I don’t think I was able to take it all in.

Joey Willis from Allumè Weddings was our photographer. He was as cool as a cucumber. We didn’t even notice he was there half the time. He captured some amazing shots and nothing was too staged. We are so grateful we have these beautiful memories from our day.

Our ceremony was in the Cappella chapel area of Zonzo. Although there was a beautiful barrel room, we knew the chapel was more our style. The vineyard backdrop speaks for itself and Gillian added some beautiful florals to add to the romantic feel.

Our celebrant (Casey Jessop) was actually a close friend of Aaron and his family. Casey set the tone for the ceremony and we love that she got to marry us. She met with us a few times to go over the day but seeing it come to life was even more magical. She captured all that we wanted to say and all that we are as a couple.

Zonzo made the whole wedding planning process so easy – they had a USB with a list of suppliers and it was a matter of narrowing down who was fit for the job. Miss Ladybird Cakes made our beautiful wedding cake. I didn’t even have a taste test, I knew they would deliver and they did that and more on the day. White chocolate and raspberry are also a good combo.

Aaron and I are always one for outsourcing, as we say time is precious, but we did do one thing ourselves and that was the personalised messages to all of our guests on their bonbonnieres. We thought it was a special touch seeing as though everyone has always done so much for us both.

Our first dance was a cover of ‘Say you won’t let go’ by James Arthur. We actually had Tobi play our first dance and music for entree and mains. I actually don’t remember eating – I think I danced the whole time.

Brunetti were also amazing to deal with. They made our nougat slabs for the bonbonnieres – cut to size and packaged as per my request. They even made chocolate freckle jars for the kids. I provided them with the acrylic messages for each guest and they helped to put it all together.

Jen from Top Image Jewellery is a dream. She helped Aaron with my engagement ring and also with our wedding bands. She also made my pearl earrings for the wedding day. I can not recommend her enough. She is our diamond queen!
Eddie from Rinaldo Entertainment set the mood for the second half of our reception. It’s never easy getting everyone up on the dance floor but he succeeded. He played a mixture of Greek and English music and I could not fault him. So much fun!!
Ash for Ash Glamour makeup and Kiki from Styled by Kiki worked as our glam team. They helped bring the vision together. I went for a smokey eye and slick knot bun. I didn’t have a trial for either girl because I knew they are perfectionists in their trade.

If we can give any advice to future couples, don’t sweat the small stuff. Do what you want not what everyone else wants you to do!

Ms Zebra Says: A big congratulations to this gorgeous couple – what a day?! We couldn’t be happier for you both and wish you all the happiness in the world in your new life together as husband and wife!