Ashleigh and Nathan’s winter vintage wedding at Riverstone Estate

“We wanted to design a day we were 100% happy with, so we planned the entire wedding before we invited anyone.”

Exactly one year after they had to postpone their July 12, 2020 wedding, Ashleigh and Nathan held their Riverstone Estate wedding in Victoria’s Yarra Valley — and it was exactly as they envisioned it.

Fast forward to July 12, 2021, on their 13-year anniversary, the couple who met as teens during Year 10 work experience tied the knot on a crisp winter day between Melbourne lockdowns.

In the 365 days between save-the-dates, Ashleigh and Nathan made the most of the extra planning time, saving to make their wedding “a bit more fancy.” This included a gorgeous classic car from Sherbrooke Hire Vintage Cars and live music from Melbourne Entertainment Co.

Seventy guests and their pup, Percival, joined the duo for the outdoor ceremony set before lush rolling hills and a beautifully adorned hexagonal arbour from Always Eventive. Styled with a nod to the roaring 20s, the elegant vintage aesthetic photographed beautifully among the winter elements.

We fell in love with the whole vibe of Riverstone Estate, we didn’t even consider another venue. It ticked all the boxes of delicious food, epic views of the Yarra Valley, and incredible staff who looked after everything for us. They were extremely supportive during all the postponements.

Our wedding was so much fun, we couldn’t wipe the smile off our faces all day! Every time we looked around to take in the energy of the day, people were just smiling, eating, laughing and dancing. It was pure joy!

We would do everything exactly the same way again. Focusing on what we wanted for the day and not worrying about anyone else was the best.

Ashleigh & Nathan

This winter vintage wedding at Riverstone Estate was captured beautifully by Rick Liston.

“The postponements ended up being silver lining for us.”

With our extra wedding budget, we hired lush car transport – a gorgeous 1920s vintage car from Sherbrooke Hire Vintage Cars. It was amazing.”

Ashleigh

“We’d envisioned a 1920s-inspired wedding.”

I found this incredible book of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald called ‘The Intimate Strangers’ and was obsessed with the artwork on the front. We used the picture for our invitations and welcome sign, and replicated the artwork in the bridal suite at Riverstone. The picture inspired our look for the day as well.

Ashleigh

“It’s safe to say that none of our guests went home hungry.”

We had the grazing table and full set menu at The Riverstone Estate. The menu included:

• Arancini – Pumpkin, blue cheese and sage

• Beef medallion – Wrapped in prosciutto with Dijon mustard

• Duck – ‘Conchiglie’ baked shell pasta filled with savory duck mince

• Halloumi – Crumbed with sesame and honey

• Parmesan biscotti – Beef carpaccio with Dijon

• Sliders – Crumbed chicken with slaw

• Gnocchi – Potato gnocchi with Napoli and parmesan

• Brownie – Macadamia brownie

• Bombolini – Mini Italian donuts rolled in cinnamon sugar served with nutella cream

• Brulee – Vanilla bean crème brulee

• Tart – Lemon meringue

• Wafer cone – Dark chocolate cone with white chocolate mousse and raspberry

Ashleigh

“Our guests loved the fun vibe.”

We booked Melbourne Entertainment Company and had an acoustic singer and hybrid DJ-Saxophonist. This was one of the extras services we spent money on after having two postponements and it was SO WORTH IT! Our guests loved the fun vibe and it was the weekend where dance floors had just been approved for 50 people at a time!

Ashleigh

“Rick Liston was incredible.”

He went the extra effort to get to know us and make us feel extremely comfortable with all our photos. We can’t get over the quality of the photos taken on the day and how quickly they were sent through.

Photos courtesy of Rick Liston.

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