Having met by pure coincidence, the two lovebirds were destined to meet each other. Phoebe was playing wing woman for one of her best friends, so they were at a popular bar on Chapel Street, and Kane happened to be there following his younger brother’s birthday celebration. Kane describes the moment he first laid eyes on her saying, “I opened the door for Phoebe as she came out to the balcony and she looked just like a princess”. As they were both instantly attracted upon meeting that night, the rest became history.
Based their theme on their invites from Giant Invitations, which had an art deco design as they wanted something timeless and elegant while being unique their own style. They wanted to avoid the usual wedding floral, scripty fare and go with clean geometric lines and a colour palate that would inspire the wedding theme overall. They chose rose gold foiling, blush pink and grey inks on a textured white stock. The design was inspired by a Gatsby theme on Pinterest and the effort. The couple believed the invitation was critical for setting the benchmark for an amazing event.
They didn’t want florals or anything in the way of their invitation designs. That then steered the theme for their table settings and menus. They landed with an art deco theme with pink and gold colours, and it was made all the more beautiful by the stunning New York loft style layout of Panama Dining Room. The greenery and big arch windows just framed everything perfectly.
Wedding Date: 23 November 2019
How many guests? 135
How did you and your partner meet?
KM: We meet by pure chance at a popular bar in Chapel Street in December 2014. I had taken my younger brother and some of his mates out for dinner for his birthday before descending upon the bar. Phoebe was playing wing woman to one of her best friends that wanted to meet up with a guy at the same bar. I opened the door for Phoebe as she came out to the balcony and she looked just like a princess. It was an instant attraction and we shared a kiss on the same night we met. The rest is history.
How did he propose?
He proposed the night before my 30th birthday. It was a Sunday night and Kane left the house to run some errands, he then called me and told me he wasn’t actually running errands, and that I need to check under my pillow because there was a letter for me. I read the letter, from Kane, which told me to pack an overnight bag, dress up nicely and meet him at the Cullen Hotel. I then went to the Cullen and reception gave me a room key and told me my next note would be on the bed. I got to our room (still no Kane), and there was another note from Kane. It was such a beautiful message, and my heart started racing at this point. It then told me to meet Kane upstairs on the Cullen rooftop. I raced upstairs to find my handsome man standing on the rooftop with a bottle of champagne ready to pop. We had a glass of champagne and looked out over Chapel Street (where we had met 4 years back). He then said he wanted to give me my present. He brought over a huge square (meter by meter) gift which was all wrapped up, I opened it and realized it was a piece of art, it was graffiti art on a canvass frame, which read “Phoebe Wallace will you marry me?”, I then turned around and Kane was on one knee with the most beautiful ring in hand. The answer was most definitely YES.
Length of Engagement?
Just over a year.
What do you love most about your partner?
PW- Kane is so caring, compassionate and always sees the good in things. He always manages to make me feel safe. I love how clever and creative Kane is and Kane’s wealth of knowledge. I love how much of an amazing father Kane is to Hunter and I love his calming nature which makes me always want to be around him.
KM- Phoebe is naturally beautiful, inside and out. Intuitive, thoughtful, funny, witty, considerate, caring and always fun. She supports me and motivates me in the right ways. She is my inspiration, standard, reason and to be perfectly honest, my favourite person in the world. I particularly love that she makes me a better person and has taught me to be kinder to myself
How would you describe your wedding in one or two words?
Absolutely REAL and heart felt.
Tell us about your wedding invitations:
We got our invitations and matching cards, menus, welcome sign and seating chart all from Giant Invitations. We both love art deco design and wanted something timeless and elegant while being unique to us. We wanted to avoid the usual wedding floral, scripty fare and go with clean geometric lines and a colour palate that would inspire the wedding theme overall. We decided with rose gold foiling, blush pink and grey inks on a textured white. The design was inspired by a Gatsby theme on Pinterest and the effort and time to design it ourselves and get it right was well worth it. In our opinion the invite is critical for setting the benchmark for an amazing event. In this case, the most important event in our lives.
Tell us about your wedding gown and how you chose it:
I saw the gown in the window at Raffaele Ciuca in Brunswick. I thought it was stunning and so unique. I loved the halter neck and beading in the way of big flowers. I was with my Mum and decided to try it on. As soon as I put it on, I definitely knew. It was very me, I could also see my mum loved it and I very much trust her judgement. It was only the 6th or so dress I had tried on and I had lots of appointments scheduled for the next week with my bridesmaids but I cancelled them all after trying this dress on as I just fell in love.
What sort of style did you envision for your wedding day?
To be honest we didn’t think about it too much, thinks sort of fell into place. We didn’t want florals or anything in the way of our invitation designs, we wanted something geometric and classic, so we landed on the art deco vibe. That then steered the theme for our table settings and menus. We chose the bridesmaids dresses early on, which were a pale pink, so we wanted to incorporate the colour scheme throughout the wedding. Pink, gold, art deco vibe was where we landed, and it was made all the more beautiful by the stunning New York loft style layout of Panama Dining Room. The greenery and big arch windows just framed everything perfectly.
How did you come to choose the location and venue?
KM: We love Fitzroy and feel that it captures everything we love about inner city Melbourne in one area from the houses, ex industrial buildings, commission flats, eateries, street art and boutique stores. Panama we knew of and loved the elegant meets informal NYC vibe and incredible food. Having a place where we could have our ceremony and reception all in the once place was important to us for throwing the ultimate wedding party by capturing the best atmosphere possible.
Can you describe what type of ceremony you had and how you were able to personalise it?
KM: We introduced the bridal party as individuals so everyone could get to know them a little as they are so important to us and we wanted to include them.
We had my 6-year-old son, Hunter, hold and handover the rings for us to include him in the ceremony and thought this would be a heartfelt and symbolic gesture.
Describe the cake (including the flavors) and cake topper:
We decided to go for a cheese wheel stacked cake instead of the traditional wedding cake. Kane and I both love cheese, and thought our guests might appreciate some savory deliciousness after their roving desserts. We love creamy cheese and goats cheese so this was our selection:
1 x Bay of Fires Cheddar (clothbound cheddar, cows milk, TAS)
1 x wheel Le Dauphin Double Crème (whitemould, cows milk, France)
1/2 x wheel Chevre Rambouillet Bleu (blue, goats milk, France) 1.3kg
1 x wheel Normandy Camembert (whitemould, cows milk, France) 250g
What flowers did you use in the bouquet and at the venue?
Lucie from lulu bird did an absolutely phenomenal job with the flowers. She saw our vision and made it even more than we could’ve imagined. We wanted soft pinks and mauves and whites. Lucie tied these colours in with some greenery, along with the greenery which Panama provides in abundance so well! She selected the most beautiful orchids and roses, which had been hand folded the petals out to make them appear so full and blossomed.
How did you choose your table décor?
We kept it simple with plain white table clothes and napkins. We wanted to carry the art deco vibe through to the table settings, and we also wanted to compliment Panama’s brown glass water glasses, so we decided to go with some gold mirrored table numbers, which Make and Keep created for us. They were perfect and offset the place cards, glasses and flowers so well. Kane did an amazing job at designing the place cards and menus, in line with our invitations. They were simple, elegant and sophisticated.
What was the menu for the reception?
Entrees
Prawn and fish raviolo, pomelo, salmon roe, butter sauce
Asparagus, kohlrabi, macadamia, black sesame, cured yolk
Main
Beef rump, broccolini, horseradish and marrow custard
Market fish, cabbage, spinach, cider poached apple
Sides
Potatoes, chicken fat, rosemary, garlic
Roast pumpkin, shanklish cheese, radish, za’atar
Dessert
Roving desserts
What were your favorite moments from the day?
PW- My dad walking me down the aisle and seeing Kane standing at the end looking sooo handsome! It appeased all my nerves seeing him.
KM- Seeing Phoebe walking down the aisle towards me. I have never been so speechless with total happiness. Everybody was cheering and there was this electric atmosphere of support and genuine happiness which helped keep my emotions in check.
Name your wedding soundtrack (aisle entrance & exit, reception entry, first dance songs):
- Van Morrison – Crazy Love (Walk down Aisle song)
- Florence and the Machine – You got the Love (for congrats and back down the aisle)
- Stevie Wonder – Signed, Sealed, Delivered (sign the certs)
- Kool and the gang – Celebration (For when wedding party arrives back to venue for reception)
- Curtis Mayfield- Move on Up (first dance song)
Any DIY décor elements?
No
Any sentimental personal touches?
My brother was the MC and it made the day so special. He knows Kane and I so well, as well as our bridal party and made everyone feel at ease. He set the tone for the night with his warmth, humor and genuine love for Kane and I. He could not have done a better job, we were so grateful.
What was the biggest splurge of the day?
The dress
How did you save on costs?
We didn’t really have an active approach to this, we just knew we didn’t want things to get out of hand so we capped it at a certain number of people, and we discussed rough estimates around what we were prepared to spend. Again, everything sort of fell into place and we were so lucky with our vendors as they were all absolutely fantastic and also provided their services at a reasonable cost, considering the quality! The most important things to us were music and photography. We were so lucky in that Luke and Eliza are our good friends and they are also phenomenal musicians. As a wedding gift to us they played at our wedding, and honestly, we couldn’t have asked for anything better. They are so talented and made sure the dancefloor was pumping at all times.
In hindsight, anything you would have done differently?
PW- The only thing I would’ve tried to do more of would be seeking out my hubby! We were having far too much fun with friends and family that after the formalities, it was hard to get any time together!
KM – I too wish we could have had some more time together.
Where did you go on honeymoon?
We went to Noosa for a week straight after the wedding, and then have our honeymoon in South Island New Zealand at the end of the year for 10 days.
Any tips that you can give to future brides?
– Try to enjoy the planning process and the lead up to the big day, and of course, the big day itself, because it all goes so quickly! Don’t sweat the small stuff.
If you could sum up your wedding in one sentence, how would you describe it?
It was the most honest and fun representation of our love and one hell of a good party!
Wedding Invitations: Giant Invitations
Dress: Caleche Bridal
Veil: Didn’t have one
Makeup: Danielle Gardiner
Hair: Vittoria Boyle
Shoes: Edward Meller
Accessories: Head piece by Stephanie Browne
Bridesmaids Dresses: Rebecca Vallance
Groom’s Suit: Calibre
Groomsmen Suit: Joe Black
Cake: Harper & Blohm; we had cheese wheels instead of a cake
Food: Panama Dining Room
Flowers: Lulu bird
Photographer: Jeremy Blode
Venue: Panama Dining Room
Entertainment: Pete Mitchell on Saxophone; Eliza Jacobs (DJ ELIZA) and Luke Martin as DJs
Celebrant: Shura Taft
Transport: Lachlan and Grant from Heritage funerals (family friends)
Wedding Favours: None
Any Other Vendors:
The I Do Crew (Wedding Day Management)
Make and Keep (Table Numbers)
