A self-made dress, sake tasting and karaoke: Inside Yoshino and Isaac’s Melbourne wedding

“Our friends and family really helped us put it all together, and the setup was almost as fun and memorable as the day itself.”

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.

Yoshino Maruyama met her now-husband, Isaac Laughton, in high school in their hometown of Ōtautahi (Christchurch) in New Zealand, though they didn’t begin dating until university. Eight years later, he proposed to her in her dressing gown, just as she was getting ready for bed.

“It was great timing, a week before our move to Japan,” Yoshino tells me. The pair spent two years engaged and living there, before returning to Aotearoa and eventually settling in Melbourne.

For more content like this, tap through to our Life section.

Before the official wedding, the couple travelled back to Japan to celebrate their nuptials with Yoshino’s grandma. “We were photographed in the same local park I’ve visited since I was a child, as well as in my grandma’s house, which was so special,” she says.

From there, they headed to Melbourne’s Old Treasury Building for their “registry wedding”, coinciding with their 11-year anniversary. The official wedding day came a little while after in Fitzroy North, where 110 guests joined them from Aotearoa, Japan, the UK and Europe.

With a background in fashion design, Yoshino, who works as Studio and Store Manager at Post Sole Studio, took on the task of making her own wedding dress. “My ceremony dress was more traditional, off-the-shoulder and sweetheart neckline with a laced-up back,” she says. She designed this using ivory silk dupion and made a veil from silk organza, worn with custom white heels from Post Sole Studio.

Along with a sake barrel opening, a personalised quiz and a welcome board designed by Isaac, every touchpoint was considered. “It was really cool for us to have all the different people from the different stages of our lives come together and celebrate with us,” Yoshino says, reflecting on their day.

Fashion Journal: Hi Yoshino! Congratulations on your beautiful wedding. Can you walk me through how you and Isaac met, and how you two got engaged?

Yoshino: Isaac and I met on our first day of high school in Ōtautahi, Aotearoa. After a long friendship, we got together in our second year of university. We weren’t in a rush to get married but after eight years, Isaac surprised me with a proposal.

He completely caught me off guard in my dressing gown, ready to go to bed. It was great timing, a week before our move to Japan to start a new chapter of our lives. We lived in Japan for two years, engaged with no plans for a wedding, then headed back to Aotearoa. After a short stint there, we moved to Melbourne and decided to get married on our 11th anniversary.

How did you approach wedding planning? Did you take your time organising, or was it spontaneous?

The vibe we were going for was just a relaxed party in a community hall with people we loved. We spent the year steadily ticking things off, working together and playing to our strengths along the way. Isaac is a graphic designer, so he designed our invites, name cards, drew our welcome board and designed our sake cups. We are both detail-oriented and creative, so we had lots of fun working on this big collaborative project together.

I know you went to Japan for a pre-wedding shoot. Can you tell me more about that?

One of the main reasons I wanted to get married was to celebrate with my grandma. She’s in her late ’80s and is a big part of who I am today. I wanted to capture some special moments with her in her home and local area.

Her hometown is not a big place, so I wasn’t sure if I could find a photographer who aligned with my taste. Luckily, I came across Ryoko Ichikawa’s work online. I loved the way she captures people and nature. My sister Kinomi is a hair and make-up artist in Tokyo, so she came over and Ryoko organised a company for the kimono hire and dressing. We were photographed in the same local park I’ve visited since I was a child, as well as in my grandma’s house, which was so special.

Can you walk me through your registry wedding and how it came together?

For our registry wedding, I wore a Jess Grindell corset cover, a skirt from Mutual Muse and Margiela Tabis. Isaac wore a blazer from an op shop in Belgrave, a vintage YSL shirt from my dad, Porter James pants and Post Sole Studio Loafers. We had the wedding with two close friends as witnesses, then went to Antara for brunch.

After that, Isaac and I stayed in the city and spent the day playing arcade games and mini golf. We went to La Pinta to finish off our first day as a married couple and to celebrate our 11th year together.

What was your wedding day like? Where did the ceremony take place and how many guests joined you?

We had our wedding at 75 Reid Street in Fitzroy North. When we first saw it, we fell in love with the old red bricks. It’s a beautiful space, and the team there were so accommodating and great to work with. We wanted the venue to be easy to get to for our guests.

It’s also across the road from the beautiful Edinburgh Gardens, where we’ve spent a lot of sunny days. We had around 110 guests on the day who flew in from Aotearoa, Japan, the UK and Europe.

What about afterwards? 

We had both our ceremony and reception at the same venue. We wanted to keep the day as simple as possible and create a relaxed environment so we could just enjoy spending time with everyone.

Where was your wedding dress from, and what was the process of sourcing it?

My background is in fashion design, so there was a lot of anticipation for the dress and whether I was going to make it or not. I decided to take it on, and even though there were some lost weekends and late nights involved, I’m happy I did it.

My ceremony dress was more traditional, sitting off-the-shoulder with a sweetheart neckline and laced-up back. It was made in ivory silk dupion from Tessuti Fabrics. I also made my veil, too, with silk organza from Rathdowne Fabrics. I was running out of time tweaking the design for the first dress, but when I was sourcing fabric, I came across this fun floral lace from Darn Cheap Fabrics that I just had to get!

The reception dress was designed with comfort and dancing in mind. It was a simple A-line dress with bound details and ties all down the back. I currently work for Post Sole Studio, so I was lucky to have two custom shoes made for the occasion. Breeze, my boss, was kind enough to be on board with all of my ideas, and she made me a white Beat Ballerina on a high heel with silk organza laces. For my second pair, we made a mule and covered them in the same lace as my dress. They were both so perfect, and I felt very spoilt to have two pairs of custom shoes.

What about Isaac’s outfit?

Isaacs’ suit was from P. Johnson Tailors. He was set on a chocolate brown suit from the get-go. He also wanted something that was a relaxed fit and breathable for the summer. Picking out the fabric swatches and details and seeing the suit come to life was so satisfying. For his second outfit, he wore a vintage shirt from Retropolis, shorts from Porter James, and, of course, Post Sole Beat shoes.

What kind of beauty and hair look did you go for?

For both my Japanese photoshoot and wedding looks, I wanted a clean and minimal look. Luckily, on both occasions, my sister, Kinomi, was there to help me out. I don’t usually wear a lot of make-up, so it was important to me that I looked like myself. We spent a day or two trialling looks and hairstyles, which felt like what we used to do for fun growing up. I also love real flowers as a hair accessory, so we used some for both occasions.

What kind of food did you serve and how did you choose the cake?

We organised our own charcuterie board and got a team of our friends to put it together for us on the day. For dinner, we had Primo pizza truck, an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet and salads. They also did a gelato course!

We had an incredible vegan pistachio and lemon curd cake by Yolanda Whelan, whom we had met soon after moving here. It was equal parts beautiful and delicious.

What did you do for entertainment?

We had a quiz, our friend Nick DJ’d to get the dance floor going and we finished the night off with karaoke!

Who did you turn to for florals?

We had Soffa from Soflower. The brief was “ikebana x meadow”, and she was on board from day one. We had a minimal colour palette, mainly greens and whites with pops of blue and lilac. She and her partner, Jacob, brought such good energy to the venue. We knew the venue would look great on the day, but seeing it transform after the floral installation was really magical.

How did you capture your wedding day? Was there a certain vibe you were going for?

We had our dear friend Jessica Grilli of Sentient Studio as our photographer. She captured our day so beautifully, getting all the intimate interactions between friends and family. Her warm energy made everyone feel really comfortable, which in turn gave the images a relaxed, natural feel.

We also had our childhood friend and videographer Tilaye Sweeney make a special film for us. He captured our vows and thoughtful speeches from friends and family, and the finished video is truly special.

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

Before the actual wedding, we had a registry wedding where we did all the legal stuff, which meant we could have our good friend Lisa as the faux celebrant on our wedding day. It made the ceremony feel intimate and personal in the best way.

We also did a sake barrel opening, which is performed on celebratory occasions in Japan. We had custom sake cups made with our faces on them for people to drink out of and take home.

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

Our friends’ speeches and the coming together of all the people we love! It was really cool for us to have all the different people from the different stages of our lives come together and celebrate with us. It was quite overwhelming. Our friends and family really helped us put it all together, and the setup was almost as fun and memorable as the day itself.

For more wedding dress inspiration, try this.