Real Wedding: Kendelle & Mike

"We really wanted our wedding to feel like a true reflection of us both in the details and aesthetic"

Beautiful Wedding in Melbourne | Bright Flowers, Vivid Décor and Love

Kendelle and Michael's wedding was a complete embodiment of the couple's personalities and vision. The bride and groom's stylish looks paired elegantly with the vibrant aesthetics of the venues and blooming seasonal flowers. Read the interview with the bride below for more details on the wedding organisation and enjoy photos by our wonderful member, Kinship by Kristy.

Tell us a little about yourselves. How did you meet? What do you do for a living? What are your hobbies?

Mike and I matched on a dating app seven about years ago. We had our first date at Howler in Brunswick, Melbourne. What was meant to be a casual drink ended up going well into the night, with us sharing our first kiss over a game of Uno. Shortly after we met, I travelled to India for a six month exchange. Mike came to visit me during the trip and I think this was the moment we both realised this was something special. Mike is a Financial Planner and I work as a Textile Designer. Naturally I’m the creative, spontaneous one in our relationship and Mike is the organised, calm and grounded one. Our sense of humour however couldn’t be more alike. We’ve found this makes us a great team in most situations, especially when planning a wedding.

Can you share your engagement story?

We were engaged in Florence in 2022, it happened on our last day. Mike had purchased the ring the morning of, while I was getting my hair cut. I had absolutely no idea what was coming. We met at the bottom of the Giotto’s Bell Tower along-side the Duomo before we ventured up. Mike insisted I walk up first, I assumed this was because I was always much slower (not because he had a ring bulging out of his pocket). We got to the top and caught our breath. At the top of the tower there was fencing along the edge, so I put my camera in between the wire to take a photo of the city. I absolutely nailed the first photograph, but Mike looked at it and suggested that I take one from a different spot. This probably should have been a give away, as he would never suggest I take more than one photo — but I was completely oblivious. He ushered me off to the other side where there was nobody else. I put my camera up to the fencing again to take a photo and I turned around to Mike down on one knee. In all honesty I think I blacked out a little after that, I was in so much shock I forgot to say yes! Until Mike whispered, “this is where you answer”. Spoiler, I said ‘yes!’ We celebrated with champagne on the rooftop overlooking the city.

Where was your wedding? Why did you choose this venue?

Our ceremony took place in Kallista, Victoria about an hour out of Melbourne. The venue is the home of Liz and Rob — a wonderful couple who had built a beautiful European/French provincial style home for themselves. When we first visited the venue, it felt like we were transported to a home in the French countryside. The architecture and views were breathtaking and nothing else felt truly like us until we visited there. Straight out of a postcard. Our reception was held at The Hotel Railway Brunswick back in Melbourne. We loved the idea of having part of our wedding take place in a pub in Brunswick as this was how we first met.

What was the concept behind your wedding and how did you find your inspiration?

We really wanted our wedding to feel like a true reflection of us both in the details and aesthetic. We took influence from our travels, with touches of Europe featured throughout the day. Spritzes, a sun-soaked ceremony, beautiful vintage details through the styling and location, cannoli and an all round relaxed vibe. All the dreamy details you would get from a destination wedding (only an hour out of Melbourne). The reception was a bit of a contrast to our intimate ceremony. We wanted this to be a big party bursting with colour, flowers, music, and delicious food. It was relaxed, warm and full of dancing and laughter — a little less about the details and more about the company.

How long did it take to plan your wedding? Did you encounter any challenges during the planning process?

We began planning in July 2023, eight months prior to our wedding in February 2024. Everything went pretty smoothly with planning thankfully, outside of the regular stresses of organising a wedding. Funnily enough a week before the wedding Liz called to let us know that there would be a scheduled power outage at our ceremony venue, the day of our wedding. This meant that we needed to get a little creative and adjust a few things from our original plans (a few ice buckets, a portable amp and a generator later..) But ultimately we were lucky to have such beautiful weather on the day that we barely even noticed.

How many guests did you have? And what was the seating arrangement at the wedding like?

We had an intimate ceremony of 20 guests. When we set out to look for our venue, we initially discussed the idea of having a small elopement style wedding. When we came across Rob and Liz’s beautiful home they informed us that although they once offered large scale weddings. In the last few years they had begun to down scale and offer only small elopement style weddings of up 20 people. We fell in love with their home and it was the easiest decision to make. We were so happy to be able to share such an intimate moment with our closest friends and family, it was really special. Our reception was more of a big party with 100 of our friends and family which was so much fun! We had a cocktail style reception with canapés, grazing boards and a Sicilian cannoli tower. Later in the night when the dance floor was heating up we served deep dish pizza.

Tell us about your outfits. How many different styles have you tried?

I work in fashion and have a deep appreciation for colour, texture and beautiful fabrications, so I naturally had a lot of ideas and mood boards going on in the beginning. I wanted to find something that was fashion-forward and directional, and wasn’t interested in anything too traditional. My two closest friends were a big support in helping to refine my choices. I loved the idea of upcycling a vintage dress as this is a huge passion of mine, but I hadn’t come across anything quite right during my search. Van Der Kooij was a local designer that I had followed for a little while and I was drawn to her beautiful statement silk dupion sleeves. My instincts were right. The second I tried the sleeves on I fell in love and it just felt like me. I remember leaving and calling my friend so elated that I had found the outfit. Natasha worked with me to customise the details and she was such a dream to work with. The two piece was made to order and toiled to my body measurements, which made the process even more special and intimate. I love to create, so I crafted my handbag by sourcing a vintage bag from Depop in the shape I was looking for as the base. I covered it in a floral embossed jacquard fabric I had lying around. Then finished the handles with some of the off cuts of the silk Dupion fabric from Natasha.

My second outfit was a dress by Jacquemus and was fluid and sculpted to my body. This was a more relaxed step change from my ceremony outfit and catered towards a warm summer night of dancing. I kept this as a surprise from everyone, even my two best friends. The moment I tried it on, I knew it was perfect. However - the highlight of the outfit was definitely the shoes. I wasn't necessarily searching for ‘something blue’ but when I saw the Amina Muaddi Rosie slingback heels I knew they were just perfect. The statement pop of colour and the way the crystal bows caught the light was a detail that turned out better than I could have ever imagined. Topped off with a pair of Pearl and blue resin drop earrings by completed works. Mike is a bit more classic and timeless in his style and was fitted for a tuxedo at MJ Baele. He had owned a few suits from them in the past and has always loved their quality and fit. This was an easy decision for him and he was super happy.

Did you have any special performances or entertainment?

Our friend Adam who married us on the day, had also prepared a short pub style trivia framed around us, to get the crowd involved and injected a bit of our signature sense of humour into the night. Mike's oldest friend Tom played acoustic guitar at our ceremony and as I walked down the aisle. Our friend Brendan MC’d and our talented friends Emma and Greg play music throughout the night. We feel really lucky to have had so many of our friends so involved in the wedding and ceremony, as it made the day so much more special.

What was the most memorable moment from your wedding day?

We shared a really memorable moment just after our ceremony. As we walked back into the house both on a high ready to sign our wedding certificate. We had this surreal moment of ‘We did it!’. There were even a few unexpected tears. After such a lead up with the stress of planning a wedding you don’t really get a moment to stop and reflect. I think this was the moment for both of us to do this, it was like time stood still for a moment and it was just us (as cliche as that might sound). We can’t thank our photographer Kirsty enough for capturing this moment so beautifully. She’s really managed to document such genuine emotion throughout the day. This moment was particularly special to look back on.

Are there any vendors that you would like to tell us a little more about?

We had so many amazing vendors on the day that helped to bring the day to life. However, two people really come to mind and we couldn’t sing their praises more! Kristy, our photographer was truly magic! We came across her page on Instagram and loved her style of photography and documentation. It was the perfect amount of editorial, candid and relaxed. From the first few emails we shared - to our venue walk through — to the big day, Kristy was so incredible. It was really important to us to feel comfortable and not feel like our photos were too forced or posed. She’s captured some really natural and genuine moments that we are so grateful for. She really was our best friend for the day. We were lucky enough that one of our close friends is also an amazing celebrant who married us on the day. He made the experience so much more personalised to us and it really added to the intimate nature of our ceremony. Adam was such an amazing support in prepping us in the lead up, we couldn’t have done it without him by our side... literally.

What gift from guests do you remember the most?

Our family member Tony gifted us a cannoli tower at our reception. It was 100x Sicilian cannolis stacked high, it was glorious. We both indulged in what felt like an endless amount of cannolis in Sicily, shortly after our engagement. We’ve both had a soft spot for them ever since.

What helped you cope with the anxiety before the wedding?

We have such a wonderful, supportive group of family and friends to lean on. They all really hustled for us both in the lead up and on the day, we were very lucky. We also both took up running, it was really nice to do together and really helped us to calm the nerves and relax a little more during the planning stages. We both found that the stress leading up to the wedding really calmed down in the few days beforehand. It’s like our minds switched and we realised that whatever happens at that point is out of our control so just enjoy it!

What advice would you give to couples who are currently planning their wedding?

Enjoy the time at the beginning where you get to really talk about what’s important to you both. Stay true to that along the way, it’s so easy to fall into doing things because you feel like you should and listening to other people’s opinions because that’s what they think your wedding should be. This is your day to celebrate you, enjoy every minute and embrace the things that are unique to you both. For us, that’s what made the day feel so special and memorable.