Moditerranean blooms at yering station, yarra valley

When Bride Cass approached us about planning her and Tom’s intimate wedding at the incredible Yering Station, we absolutely swooned. One of my favourite venues in the Yarra Valley (as both a patron and a wedding vendor), the grounds, Barn and modern architecture really set this winery apart from the rest. Add to this the incredible vibes of their VIP guest list and Vogue poses, and we had the best day.

Scroll down to catch a glimpse of this gorgeous, vibrant wedding…

The beginning of Tom’s and my love story is very boring – in a bar where Tom approached me and asked “do I need a pickup line, or will a hello do?”. To this day, I still can’t imagine Tom doing something so bold so he must have felt brave that day. Our first date started a little dicey as Tom was half an hour late – which I was less than impressed by. By the time I had lost patience, I went to send him a fiery text message when I realised my phone was on do not disturb and he had texted me half an hour prior to say he was in the bar, at the back, waiting for me. Needless to say, it was pretty special and was the first date of many. Tom proposed in Switzerland, where we were on holiday visiting his family. On the way to Montreax, we stopped by Cully, a Unesco heritage listed vineyard which looked over Lake Geneva. To find the perfect spot, we walked for a fair way uphill and I was wearing slides – not the best shoes for a hike. Towards the end my feet were killing me and I thought the walk up had better be worth whatever was at the end of it. Of course, it was complete perfection and the most beautiful spot he could have picked. He turned and said something along the lines of “you put up with so much, and that’s probably too much for a girlfriend, but not for a wife” – perfection. We spent the next few moments taking in all the just engaged feelings and then called all our closest family and friends (and accidentally woke up a few of them in the process).

We’ve always loved the Mediterranean and the feelings and colours that go along with that – think summertime, holidays, sun and warmth so we were thinking olive branches, lush greenery, yellows, grapes and lemons. We really didn’t know what the weather would be like in Melbourne (the same day the year prior was awful and rainy) so florals were so incredibly important to convey the theme and feel we were going for.

We had compiled a whole lot of inspo images and sent them all Jacinta’s way. She was incredible with how she just made sense of it all and knew exactly what we were envisioning. So many of the florals in the photos were also seasonal and not necessarily available, making Jacinta’s job that little bit harder. She made magic and it all just worked and if anything wasn’t available, she found the perfect alternative – though none of it felt like an alternative. What she produced would not be out of place in a bridal magazine.

We were aware of and had been following Champagne Electric for a long while. I can’t recall how we first learned of them, but when we came to actually planning our wedding, they were the first people we contacted. We loved that they were the planner, the entertainment and the florals so we knew our theme, feel and overall vibe would be consistent. Having a live band play was really important to us and from what we knew and had seen of the Champagne Electric Duo and their DJs, we knew it would play out just as we hoped.

We also just felt heard and listened to when we were in the early stages ascertaining what we wanted, what our budget was and what was important to us. At no point did we doubt that our day would be everything we hoped for and wanted. You don’t get to experience your own wedding day the same way a guest does, so having Jacinta understand that is invaluable.

Something I didn’t realise before but came to appreciate later, was that because Jacinta is your main go to person for all things florals and entertainment, you get to know each other well. As such, it felt increasingly comfortable working together and having someone you know and are familiar with on your day just adds that well needed peace of mind.

Tom’s Mum had gifted me a collection of mismatched saucers and side plates that were her grandmothers. We were about ten plates short, so over the year leading up to the wedding, we collected more to have enough for the day. We thought they could serve as bread roll plates or side plates but we weren’t sure how they would look with the theme we wanted. I almost decided against bringing them at all but luckily, I asked Jacinta her opinion and like everything else on the day – she just made it work. They looked amazing and we loved it.

We had a fairly small and intimate wedding and it was important to us that our close friends and family be incorporated as much as possible. Tom’s Mum walked me down the aisle, Tom’s Dad was our ring bearer, my nieces were our flower girls, my youngest sister (and maid of honour) and Tom’s best friend since he was 3 (and his best man) wrote and conducted most of the ceremony.

Our celebrant was incredible and made this all work and we are so grateful to have memories like that.

Yering really was just a hidden gem. We had looked at a few venues by then and we just hadn’t come back with a love at first site feel as we’d hoped. From what we had seen on the wedding brochure for Yering, we liked, but it wasn’t until we got there in person that we got to appreciate how truly beautiful it was. The grounds were lush and green and when we saw the historic barn, we just saw our day plan out and that was it. We were worried the size of our wedding, and wanting to pick a date in peak summer, would be an issue for such a popular venue. We soon realised that it wasn’t at all and the venue events coordinator was just a pleasure to work with. Similar to Champagne Electric, we just felt understood. We went back multiple times as regular customers and like a well-oiled machine, the feel and experience was always exceptional. So much was included in the day so we felt very comfortable knowing our guests would be well looked after.

Were there any moments that were unexpectedly magic on the day?

It’s hard to pinpoint a moment when the whole day just felt magical but seeing our nieces be part of the day was pretty special. Being 2 and 4, we didn’t know exactly how they would go in a room full of unfamiliar people and we had an exit plan if things started to go south. They just took to it and Andie, the 2 year old, saw Tom and ran to him for a hug. During the ceremony, the girls just made it their own and they ran around in the space but did it in a way that they didn’t take away at all, they weren’t making any noise and weren’t being disruptive, they were just in their own world playing with their ribbons.

Another unexpected piece of magic was our first dance. We had always planned on Tom’s parents joining us and they had practiced their dancing. About one month out, Tom’s Dad underwent serious surgery so him being there at all was a huge win, but he couldn’t dance. As a last-minute request, we asked the wedding party, Tom’s Mum and his Aunty join us instead. It was a mess and was clearly not choreographed at all but we didn’t care. The photos from that time say it all. They’re just all happiness and nothing else.

This may sound strange but I truly enjoyed the planning process (probably because I had been planning this wedding in my head well before Tom actually asked so when it came to planning, I knew what there was to book). We started by deciding on our budget and then within that, what was important to us. We knew people were travelling far and wide to make it to our wedding, so we just wanted everyone to be comfortable, have fun and have plenty of food and wine. Next, was finding a team we felt comfortable with, had a connection with and who was on board with our same vision.

Once we had the venue and Champagne Electric locked in, the rest just fell into place. We really leant on Jacinta and used her as a resource for her advice. She was incredibly patient, and I wouldn’t want to know how many questions and how many emails I sent her.

Any advice for couples who are engaged?

We would say to just enjoy it. Your engagement is such a small snippet of time in comparison to how long you’re married so don’t rush and don’t wish time away - it is gone in a flash.

It’s also your day, and you know how you want it to be. Don’t feel like you have to do what other people want if its not what you also want. At the end of the day, its just a big party but with all your favourite people in the same place at the same time.

Just have fun!

Photos by Aly at Aly Marie Photography