Australia has been at the top of my travel wish list for quite some time. You can just feel the effortlessly cool vibe that the entire country radiates, even from halfway across the world. So it’s no surprise that we all swooned when we spotted the photos from Stephanie Robertson’s timeless, botanical-inspired wedding at her family’s vineyard off the coast of Melbourne. As the owner and designer of Grey Skies, a classic homewares shop with a modern twist, Stephanie has an inherent eye for aesthetics. Her approach to floral design – or rather, greenery design – will have you thinking twice the next time you hit up the flower shop. Scroll through the gallery below and fall in love with the thoughtful details Stephanie and Matt put into their big day.
photography by you rock my world
From Stephanie:
“Matt and I have been together for 12 years. We met just before we began university in Byron Bay, a bohemian coastal town in Australia. We also got engaged in Byron Bay and enjoyed our honeymoon there too, so it’s a very special place to us.”
“After our engagement party we started looking at venues and couldn’t find anything we liked or felt a connection to. It wasn’t until our sixth venue visit that Matt’s dad told us he had plans of building a new barn on the family vineyard. Seven months later, we had our barn, complete with a renovated guest cottage, re-graveled roads, and a newly planted orchard.”
“On the day of the wedding the boys spent the morning clay shooting. It consists of a mechanism that throws out small pieces of clay for aiming practice. It was a good way for them to blow off some steam before the ceremony.”
“These PJs were a gift to my bridesmaids. I had their initials embroidered into the pocket squares. We had these photos taken of us post-hair and makeup in the rose garden after we enjoyed a gorgeous lunch together.”
“My dress was custom made by Jane Hill. I’m not a tulle and lace girl, so I found it really hard to get my head around what style of dress I wanted. It wasn’t until my mum showed me an image of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s wedding dress that I knew I wanted a simple silhouette.”
“Moments after these photos I got overwhelmingly excited to get ready and get to the ceremony. I was 30 minutes early to the ceremony and waited in the car until guests started to arrive. My friends and family say that I ran down the aisle. I don’t know what came over me, but I was just so excited to marry Matt!”
“Lome Vineyard is our family run vineyard (I can say that now that I’m a Robertson!) in Central Victoria, one and a half hours from Melbourne. The vineyard sits at the base of Mount Alexander, surrounded by other vineyards and apple orchards. We make two styles of wines, Shiraz and a blended white MVR (Marsanne, Viognier, and Rousanne). We felt so privileged that we could serve the wines at our wedding to all our family and friends.”
“After the ceremony, Matt and I planted an oak tree where we were married. Now we can watch the tree grow and hopefully have a picnic underneath it someday soon.”
“We affectionately call our beloved car The Disco. It’s a Land Rover Discovery. Matt and I are adventurers, so on the weekends we plan trips away with friends, country drives, coastal getaways, you name it – so it’s quite fitting that the photo of us cruising to our reception was in The Disco.”
“This is our amazing barn, or glorified shed! Two sets of 3 meter high doors were handmade for the front of the barn. Matt, his father, and his grandfather laid recycled bricks along the length of the barn by hand. Three generations of Robertsons. It’s memories like this that make the whole day so special.”
“The tablecloths were all handmade from fabric I sourced myself. I made three styles – two green botanical prints and a hessian tablecloth. We now use the cloths all the time. We actually used them just the other day at my mum’s home for our family Sunday lunch by the pool. I love that I have so many keepsakes from the day that I can use for the rest of my life.”
“Our florist was my dear friend Fleur McHarg. She not only did our flowers on the wedding day, but was also involved with every styling touch point. Fleur has worked with some of the best florists around the world, in particular America’s homegrown Mindy Rice.”
“Each of the tables had mini ferns and herbs in terracotta pots. Five months prior to the wedding, I hand dipped each pot in yogurt to encourage moss to start forming over the winter months – and it worked! We created over 300 pots like this.”
“Within the reception, we had close to 180 maiden hair and fish fern hanging plants. The overall look was also guided by the location and the relaxed yet sophisticated nature we wanted to evoke.”
“I used to design weddings myself before I began my own homewares business. It was my old boss Bruce who said to me, ‘Make sure when you get married that what you decide to do does not evoke a moment in time. Make your wedding so classic and timeline that it could be from any era.’ That was by far the best advice I have received, and I think we achieved that.”
“Matt’s dear family friend Najila made our cake. Najila and her husband Abu Tallah used to have a Syrian restaurant in Melbourne. She has since retired, but we couldn’t think of anyone else who could make our cake with as much love as Najila did. The cake was a Syrian lemon cake with buttercream. We saved it for the next day recovery brunch so we could properly enjoy it over a glass of champagne with family and friends.”
“For music, we had a DJ and a live saxophone. We let our guests know we wanted plenty of dancing. So before guests officially sat down we had everyone dance for a couple of songs as the bridal party got introduced. We had a great mix of 70s music from some of our favorite artists like Jackie Wilson, Curtis Mayfair, James Brown, and Marvin Gaye. It meant that everyone from our parents to our younger guests could get on the dance floor and stay there all night.”
