Imagine you’re standing in the middle of a beautiful field of lavender. Breathe in that wonderful aroma. Relax. That’s it…
Sounds like a nice meditation, right? Well, for Georgia and Richie, it was the setting for their Jewish wedding. Seriously. Check out the stunning photos by Stewart Leishman for proof.
The crazy thing is, the epic setting isn’t even the coolest thing about this wedding (though it’s definitely pretty awesome). We’re mostly obsessed with how interior architect Georgia (she runs Studio Ezra and Tiles of Ezra) incorporated her design sensibilities into the big day.
For starters, there’s the chuppah. The bride came up with the design for the simple wooden structure draped in garlands of blue hydrangea and the most exquisite ropes of bright orange marigold. It’s truly a stunner, from the unlikely juxtaposition of colors to the distinctive lines, and one unlike any chuppah we’ve seen before. The story of how – and why- the marigolds reached the venue is pretty amazing, too.
Even the floor of the chuppah reflected Georgia’s style – she had custom handmade tiles by her company Tiles of Ezra to line the bottom of the structure. The tiles even included the couple’s Hebrew names!
And did we mention that Georgia designed her own dress in collaboration with Craig Braybrook? We can’t get enough of the elegant lines and fun burst of tulle at the bottom of the mermaid-style skirt.
European Vibes
Georgia, the bride: The ceremony was held in Daylesford at the magnificent Swiss Italian Lavandula Farm. My rich love of Europe, having lived in Valencia, Spain, drew me to the farm, as it was reminiscent of this authentic European landscape and lifestyle. It was the perfect scene for one of the most important days in our lives.
Overseas at Home
I have a very deep love for and affiliation with Europe – specifically with Spain. Originally we were looking at overseas locations, however logistically we couldn’t make it work. I discovered The Swiss Italian Farm and was sold immediately. The area that the farm exists was colonised by Spanish and so it has a European Spanish feel to it. Buildings have that Spanish feel and so I really connected to this location which was a 2 hour drive out of Melbourne.
What it also meant was that we were able to have a ‘destination wedding’ without leaving the country. 98% of guests stayed over the weekend as it was on 23rd December, meaning they were all finished work and it hit off the summer holidays for everyone! It was a fantastic time of the year! Just this alone made the wedding so much about Richie and me, friends and family know our affiliation and love for Europe and European design, the farm really didn’t need any form of decoration, it is just so breathtaking… geese roaming the property, old Italian carts lined the cobble stone paths and massive organic zucchinis sit in piles.
There are original homestays that have been converted into cute organic cafes and the architecture is just divine. The rows of lavender make it even more perfect, and if you can imagine the minute you enter the farm you are met with a strong aroma of lavender… It’s a dream.
Our style was Mediterranean, with a touch of Indian heritage. The colour scheme was lilac/soft blue with vibrant orange… and the tones from the landscape.
We engaged an amazing lady who helped us on the day keep it all organised.
A Craig Braybrook Dress
It was custom made by a designer, Craig Braybrook, however I designed the dress and he was the facilitator who made it all work as to my vision ☺ I am an interior architect, so I love lines and the way they can work so beautifully with the female body. This was a huge part of the design and the way we hand cut lace from a different fabric and shaped them around my couture ultimately leading to the mermaid shape and the gorgeous tulle at the bottom.
A Floral Chuppah
As an interior architect I am not short of ideas ever – and I drew this up…
Our chuppah was the statement piece for our ceremony, rich with the colours that came from the marigold and hydrangeas. The ropes from the chuppah were canopying down as the sun shone upon us and welcomed us into our new life as a married couple.
My father was born in Calcutta, India, and lived there until he was 15, and so I am very much influenced by Indian culture, architecture, floral arrangements design etc. The strung marigolds were always a dream of mine to incorporate into my wedding styling. We literally found a supplier in Calcutta who sent strings of marigold in polystyrene boxes on ice, which arrived the morning of the wedding.
The flooring of the chuppah integrated my love for design and architecture with my love for the handmade – I had custom handmade tiles by my tile company Tiles of Ezra which lined the floor of the chuppah, these were handmade in Mexico and had our Hebrew names incorporated into the hamsa design – Yaffah and Ronen – each guest had a tile at their table for under their plate as a keepsake. I wanted all of this to tie well in to the land and surroundings of the beautiful landscape of lavandula and the blue/lavender hydrangeas as a flower I loved worked perfectly.
Photographer
We used Stewart Leishman – our cousin had used him recently and what we loved most about his work was that it wasn’t themed, his photography visions were very timeless and thoughtful… and at the current time there were trends that photographers fell into and got the bridal party to do. We wanted classic classy and timeless images where the love is what was felt on the day.
Our music choice
One funny story that my husband and I still laugh about hysterically is that we chose ‘Sexual Healing’ by Marvin Gaye as our wedding song!
Spanish Music
We also employed the most incredible Spanish band for our night, they played during canapés and the chuppah and later on in the evening to spice things up. Honestly it made the night so amazing and feel even more like we were in the middle of Spain. The canapés were so magnificent… set amongs white birch trees picnic tables the band plaid incredible authentic Andalucían music.
Advice to couples currently planning their wedding
I treated our wedding like a project, everytime I would think to myself – this is my one wedding ever am I doing enough – I felt so much pressure… So I liked to look at it as a fun project where there could be multiple answers and results and so this was just one of them. This mentality kept me less anxious about reaching whatever ‘perfection meant’.
On the day so many things visually weren’t installed how I designed them and yes, it still upsets me today (because I am a perfectionist) BUT only I knew and I think as a creative and as a designer when you are not micromanaging you just have to let go. It was such an amazing day, there was SO much love in the room, in the end those minor details do not matter.
My second tip to brides to be would be that the night flicks before your eyes… to take the groom leave the space and find a little spot where you can look in and see the event from the outside – its almost like an omg aha moment, were you can say to one another this is real, this is ours… let’s never forget this one captured moment. It is truly special.
Georgia & Richie’s little white book
Photographer – Stewart Leishman
Videographer – C2 Videography
Venue – Swiss Italian Lavandula Farm
Bride’s dress – Craig Braybrook
Band – La Rumba
Tiles – Tiles of Ezra
