A Martina Liana Bride for a Countryside Jewish Wedding at Mt Duneed Estate, Waurn Ponds, outside Melbourne, Australia - Smashing the Glass

Oh we are positively swoooooning over today’s gorgeous Jewish wedding. Everything from bride Adi’s oh-so-elegant Martina Liana gown to Smashing the Glass Recommended Vendor Jeremy Blode’s artful photographs of the day positively exudes that laid-back Aussie chic we just can’t get enough of….

Adi, a solicitor, and Rod, a physical therapist, placed a premium on creating a beautiful record of their day, and did it ever pay off! Just look at those portraits of the duo walking off into the sunset. *Swoon.* The Jewish dancing shots are pretty unmissable, too. Adi says Jeremy Blode “has a gift for capturing the rawest and most beautiful moments,” and we could not possibly agree more.

To round out the documentation, Adi and Rodney brought in Videoboutique as videographer and Magnet-Me to provide ultra-creative wedding favors in the form of instant photo magnets! Adi loved the idea of a photo booth but wanted to keep her guests on the dancefloor having fun, and what a perfect solution she found. Instead of guests having to queue for a photo booth, a photographer walked around during canapà©s and dancing to snap guests’ photos, which were then printed out instantaneously to be taken home at the end of the night. LOVE!

Now over to Adi…

How we met

Adi, the bride: Funnily enough, Rod and I first met at a dingy Melbourne nightclub called Boutique. I may need prescription glasses to see almost everything in my day-to-day life; however, I managed to spot Rod (free from glasses) in the loud and dark nightclub. I pulled him out from the crowd and asked for his name and whether he was single. The rest is history.

A Wedding Weekend in the Country

We got married at the beautiful Mt Duneed Estate. We loved the idea of having a wedding outside of Melbourne over a long weekend. Having spent a number of our weekends during that past year attending weddings, we wanted to do something slightly different and make sure that no one had to attend work the next day. We particularly wanted something a little different, less rigid, and more rustic and unfamiliar to the Melbourne Jewish community. Mt Duneed was an empty canvas that we fell in love with instantly, and so did our guests!

Planning by the Bride and Groom

Rod and I planned everything from start to finish. While I highly recommend wedding planners to assist in the process, I had a very distinct vision of how I wanted the day to both look and feel and felt confident that my existing suppliers (such as my florist and entertainment) would be able to sufficiently assist. In terms of its feel, we were adamant that we wanted a party vibe and knew that an awesome band and DJ would ensure just that. We searched around and ensured that every supplier we picked truly reflected our vision on the day.

Hair + Makeup

I wanted something simple and elegant. I knew I wanted a type of updo due to the style of my dress. Tracy Bradley from The Makeup Room was in charge of both my hair and makeup, as well as that of my bridesmaids and the women in my family. I think what was great was that I was able to have a trial in which we tried around 4 or 5 different buns and updos, until we found the one that was perfect for me. I highly recommend that all future brides (if able to) get a hair and make up trial, so that on the day they can feel confident it will be exactly what they have in mind.

A Martina Liana Dress

My bridal dress was from a designer called Martina Liana. I’m very picky and have always known what I wanted. I had a very specific image of the type of dress I wanted to wear and I knew that as soon as I’d see it, I would know it was “the one.” Luckily for me, I spotted it the first weekend of looking for my dress and before I even tried it on – I just knew the dress and I were meant to be.

Simple Accessories

I don’t like to overdo it and I didn’t want to feel like someone else on my wedding day. I tried to keep it simple, yet elegant and bridal. I wore a veil that matched my dress. My bridal dress train was rather long and I wanted a veil to match in length and in beauty. My dress store had the perfect veil, with lace on its edges that matches the bits of lace on my dress.

In terms of shoes, I opted for simple white high heeled sandals from Wittner Shoes. They were very me and a style I knew would remain stylish, I would wear against and most importantly would be see feel comfortable throughout the evening.

Most importantly, I didn’t wear any jewelry except my engagement ring, wedding band (that matched my engagement ring), and the most beautiful diamond earrings (that were on loan) from the same jeweller, Ian Sharp.

The handsome groom

Rod wasn’t as picky as me, but he knew what color he wanted the suit and wouldn’t rest until he found it. Having our wedding in a beautiful rustic winery meant that he didn’t want dark colors and opted for a beautiful blue/greyish number. We were lucky enough to find his suit at Dyonsu Mens Wear, a small and vintage suit shop on Chapel Street in Melbourne. His accessories (tie, pocket square, and shoes) he got from Peter Jacksons.

Bridesmaids in Navy

As much as I liked the lighter tones, I still wanted my bridesmaids in a formal color. Not wanting black, I opted for navy. Classy and elegant! I wanted my bridesmaids to feel comfortable and beautiful and felt that would be best achieved by them picking their own dresses. They each wore a different style dress, while the groomsmen matched with navy pants and a navy bowtie.

Make You Feel My Love

Our band was extremely helpful throughout the day and I thought it would be beautiful if we had a live singer during the ceremony. I’m a big believer in using music to evoke just the right emotion, and having Sophie sing meant that we could be creative in our song choices. Rod walked down to Can’t Help Falling in Love (by Elvis) whilst I walked down to Make You Feel My Love by Adele. We felt that the song choices (and beautiful lyrics) reflected what we wanted to say in that moment.

In terms of our favorite part, we can mutually say that it was seeing each other for the first time at the badeken as bride and groom. Rod and I hadn’t seen each other for a week. It was such as a special moment and we couldn’t stop sobbing.

A First Dance Mashup

Rod and I were adamant that music had to reflect our tastes. We selected every single song that played throughout the evening. From walking down the aisle, to cocktail music, the band playlist and DJ playlist were carefully selected. For the band, we had a powerhouse singer and opted for more soul and rock’n’roll type songs. For our DJ (who was joined by a percussionist and a saxophone player), we chose more modern top 40s that we knew our guests would enjoy listening to. For me, being an Israeli, it was also important to add something of my culture with a few modern Israeli songs which got everyone going!

For our wedding dance we opted for a remix! Our dance instructors choreographed a fantastic dance to a remix of the following songs: Love and Marriage by Frank Sinatra, She Bangs by Ricky Martin, Do You Love Me by the Contours and (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes.

Fantastic Flowers

The beautiful and extremely talented Lucie Stiles of Lulu Bird helped me bring my vision to life! Flowers were one of the most important aspects for me. Particularly with Mt Duneed being an empty canvas, I wanted to make it special. I had come to Lucie with a styling board of my ideas, which we jointly refined into a color scheme and concept for the wedding florals.

Our fabulous Photography and videography

Rod and I were so lucky in that we had three wonderful photographers. Before we even booked our location, we knew that our first vendor would be Jeremy Blode. We’d seen his wedding photography previously and fell in love with its effortless and natural feel. He has an absolute gift for capturing the rawest and most beautiful moments! We knew that Jeremy was a must for our wedding.

We also knew that we wanted a videographer to capture the day, and Videoboutique were the perfect choice for us. Anthony was the perfect communicator and worked with us (and with Jeremy) to make sure the day flowed perfectly.

Lastly, while I love a wedding photo booth, I wanted my guests on my dance floor and not queuing for a photo. Magnet-Me helped me achieve just that! Haim walked around during canapà©s and the first two dance brackets to capture our guests. The great concept of instant magnets meant that Haim was able to print out the photos for our guests to take home!

A Dessert Table

Dessert is my favorite meal! Hands down, if I could eat chocolate and/or sweets all day (every day), I would never consume anything with nutritional value (although technically cocoa is a plant).

Ever since I was a little girl, I knew that I was to have a dessert table at my wedding. Aside from the fact that it is visually beautiful, it means that guests can have a little bit of everything rather than a lot of one thing. While Peter Rowland nailed the catering and our roving desserts, Sara’s Cakes made our beautiful dessert table (which was set up by our florist).

Advice to couples currently planning their wedding

Make sure you do your due diligence. Don’t be afraid to research and ask around, get quotes and advice from people who have done it. Also, if you liked something at a wedding you attended, don’t be afraid to ask about it! It makes all the difference to ensuring you perfect your vision but also stick to your budget! Most importantly, on the big day – don’t stress! If you’re anything like me, you’re a perfectionist that needs to be in control of everything. I made sure I was in charge until the very last minute and then delegated to those I trust. You stop worrying the minute you see each other and forget that you are actually running on a schedule; rather, you have the best day of your life!