Mia and Harper danced to Nick Cave and Justin Bieber at their Melbourne wedding

“I wish we could do it all again.”

Here at Fashion Journal, we make no secret of our love of weddings. We’re suckers for a bit of romance and have a soft spot for weddings that do things differently, whether it’s a Las Vegas elopement, a tropical getaway or a Town Hall celebration.

Mia and Harper Roux met on their first day of Year Seven in homeroom. Their friendship continued through high school and into university, with the pair moving out together as friends and officially starting to date during a trip to Europe.

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They maintained a long-distance relationship while Harper was on semester exchange in France, before deciding to get engaged in 2023. Melbourne jeweller Seb Brown designed their engagement rings, which Mia brought to France when she visited Harper.

When it came time to get married, the pair opted for a small ceremony at the Melbourne Registry, before heading to Bar Carnation with friends. They later celebrated with 100 guests at Old Palm Liquor, with Mia’s grandparents making the trip from Avignon.

Though the couple admit wedding planning was initially “overwhelming at every stage”, finding their outfits came naturally. Harper fell in love with the first dress she tried on, by local designer Kalaurie, while Mia had a custom suit made by Melbourne tailor Emily Nolan.

After exchanging vows, Mia and Harper shared their first dance to ‘Into My Arms’ by Nick Cave, before it transitioned into ‘Beauty and a Beat’ by Justin Bieber. “After a long night of dancing, we walked home, shoes off,” Harper says.

Fashion Journal: Hi Harper and Mia! Congratulations on your beautiful wedding. How did you first meet and when did you get engaged?

Harper: We met on the first day of Year Seven! We were put in the same homeroom class and Mia managed to switch the seating plan so we could sit together. We were best friends from that day on. After high school, we moved out together (still just as friends) and then finally started dating during a trip to Europe together.

A couple of years later, I was doing a university exchange in Paris and being apart from each other was hard. We just missed each other so much. I think the distance showed us how much our relationship meant because Mia suggested getting engaged. Initially, I was sceptical (I thought we were too young at 20 and 21) but I was quickly convinced. We had the rings designed by Seb Brown and then Mia brought them over when she came to Paris to visit me.

How did you approach planning? 

Planning was overwhelming at every stage and even doing what we thought was a very low-frills event took so much work. The team at Old Palm Liquor were amazing and kept us on track but decision fatigue hit us hard. We were very lucky to have friends as vendors – Aaron Lee, our longtime university friend, was our DJ, and Mia’s family friend Paul Hyland from Glasshaus was our florist – which made planning easier because we didn’t need to tell them what we wanted.

When we walked into the florist a week out from the event to work out the arrangements, bouquets and Mia’s boutonniere, Paul immediately put together the bouquet I had been imagining in my head but couldn’t articulate.

Tell me about the day itself. Where was your ceremony and what did you do for the reception?

We got married legally at the registry a few days before the actual wedding with just our two witnesses, our closest friends, Anya and Iris. The ceremony was beautiful and simple and we went out afterwards to Bar Carnation on Rathdowne Street to celebrate.

The actual event was at Old Palm Liquor on Lygon Street in Brunswick and we had about 100 guests. It was slightly overwhelming walking in and having everyone’s eyes immediately on us – we felt a bit like animals in a zoo! But as soon as we saw our friends from uni who had known us as friends and now were seeing us getting married, we all started crying.

After greeting everybody, we had our version of a ceremony. We exchanged vows with each other in front of everyone and Mia started sobbing before she even began speaking. This was our favourite part of the night. After our vows, our MC, Jules, my fairy stepmother, had secretly organised for Mia’s French grandparents, who had travelled all the way from Avignon, to give a toast in French. This was a complete surprise and so moving.

Then we sat down for dinner and speeches. We had speeches from my two mums, Helen and Robyn, and Mia’s mum and dad, Melanie and Guillaume, as well as our friends, Iris and Anya. Then came dessert, before the dance floor opened.

We had Aaron, also known as Makoyana, a friend from uni, on the decks. He managed to transition from our first dance song, ‘Into My Arms’ by Nick Cave, into ‘Beauty and a Beat’ by Justin Bieber seamlessly. It was the best dance floor of my life. After a long night of dancing, we walked home, shoes off.

Harper, your wedding dress looked beautiful. Can you tell me about how you found Kalaurie and what the process was like?

Mia’s sister, Leigh, actually suggested Kalaurie, a Melbourne-based designer. She showed me her Instagram page and I instantly loved her designs. I had an appointment with her where I tried on a sample of the dress and I knew it was right. It was the only wedding dress I tried on!

Kalaurie was amazing throughout the whole process – we altered the dress slightly, lengthening it and then, at Mia’s suggestion, adding some velour ribbon bow details on the back and front. I had a second (and final) fitting when it was done and it fit perfectly, no further alterations needed.

During the wedding, we were outside for a cigarette and we met a couple walking past who had literally had an appointment with Kalaurie that day to try on the dress for their own wedding. It just felt like a sign.

What about your suit, Mia?

Mia: I knew that I wanted to wear a suit because I rarely wear dresses. I literally searched on Google ‘not ugly suits for women’, and E Nolan came up. I wouldn’t suggest that as her new catchline but I’m so glad I found her. I made an appointment and basically the whole family came – Harper, my mum, my sister Leigh and my two newly-born identical twin nieces, Amélie and Margot.

The appointment was amazing and Emily knew exactly what I wanted. The fitting process was so fun – selecting the suit material, colour, the lining, the buttons. It felt like a video game. Emily hand-stitched a red heart into the inside of my right sleeve cuff, the hand that I always hold Harper’s hand with.

Did you both do your own hair and makeup, or did you hire someone?

Harper: My childhood friend (from pony club), Nellie Playfoot, did both ours and our two closest friends’ makeup on the day. For me, it was very important to have someone I trusted doing our makeup and Nellie just created the warmest atmosphere as well as making us look amazing.

How did you capture the wedding?

Liam Quinn was our photographer and he did the most amazing job. We wanted the event captured candidly and the photos to reflect what the night actually felt like. We didn’t want anything overly posed and just wanted to feel like ourselves. He worked so hard throughout the whole night to capture the whole event and we’re so incredibly grateful. He completely understood the vibe we were going for.

Did you have any other fun or unique quirks about your wedding?

One of my non-negotiables was to seal each invitation to the wedding with a wax seal. We had a little assembly line set up – Mia wrote everyone’s name on the envelopes in her very neat handwriting while I did the seal.

Looking back, what was the best part of your day?

All of it was incredible, I wish we could do it all again. Everything went perfectly and it was somehow even better than we had imagined. I think both of our most special memories are of our vows.

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