MERRY MARRIAGE A very Disco balls and Christmas tress lined the halls of Hayne House for Melissa and North’s wedding Images courtesy of Jade Greenbrooke Melissa and North’s wedding took place on the 12th December and had an elegant theme of Christmas, class, and disco. They met when they were 16 and have been in love ever since. This all came to a romantic high in 2019, when North decided to pop the question to Melissa. This wasn’t your typical candle-lit proposal; North decided his firefighter graduation ceremony was just the place to ask Melissa to be his forever spark. He flew across the crowd in a cherry picker and got down on one knee in front of the entire fire crew and the couple’s families. When it came to picking a venue, Melissa had been eyeing up Hayne House for a long time. “I’d seen it on social media and ogled over weddings there for years,” says Melissa. “I loved how it was a blank canvas and how bright it was in the orangery – essential as we were having a festive wedding and didn’t want it to be gloomy.” Melissa and North’s theme was a festive one, with pops of disco balls throughout and elegant textures such as pine and velvet. They had deep green velvet scattered around the venue, with bows on the back of the chairs, and ribbons on crackers. They also incorporated disco balls in the table arrangements, placed on the floor by the entrance and underneath their focal Christmas trees. The cracker place names were filled with silver hats and personalised messages from the bride and groom. Melissa and North served their guests a classic Christmas turkey dinner for their wedding breakfast, followed by an apple crumble and chocolate pudding for dessert. But that wasn’t it for sweet treats, as this couple ditched the traditional wedding cake and opted for a tower of 150 Krispy Kreme doughnuts. “We’re not huge on cake, and never actually eat anyone’s at their wedding,” shares Melissa. “The doughnuts went down a hit…everyone was dancing the night away with their drink in one hand and a doughnut in the other!” On the special day, Melissa wore a Morilee dress that she had altered to include sleeves. “My mum and sister went silent when I tried the dress on and when I spun around, they both teared up,” recalls Melissa. “I absolutely loved how I felt in it! I had no fake tan, no makeup, messy hair and still felt amazing.” North wore a tuxedo from Tuppers Tux and paired that with a velvet jacket from Bennetts Menswear – the groomsmen followed suit in tuxedos from Tuppers Tux. The bridesmaids (both of which were pregnant at the time) wore deep green velvet dresses with flared sleeves and the maid-ofhonour wore the same dress but in a chiffon material. During the ceremony and drinks, Melissa and North hired a pianist to play music from John Lewis’ Christmas adverts, they also had an illustrator draw the guests throughout the day, which acted as a fun conversation piece and memento. They had a saxophonist and a DJ in the evening to really keep the party pumping. “One moment that stood out was walking into our wedding breakfast,” says Melissa. “We opted for This is What You Came For by Rhianna and Calvin Harris; which had everyone waving their napkins in the air, smiling and singing their heads off. You could see the happiness and excitement in everyone’s eyes. Sitting on the shoulders of our best friends blaring out Oasis was pretty amazing too. We had the odd Christmas song play and it just put everyone in such a festive spirit.” REAL WEDDINGS 27
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