Royalty for a day: Lauren & Jacob's chic wedding in Melbourne

“People always tell you that your wedding day is the most special day of your life. I have to agree.”

Lauren Grabowski says she and Jacob Muraca were “treated like royalty” at their chic wedding on January 25, 2014. Surrounded by 175 guests, “we could not wipe the smile off our faces all day,” she says, enjoying every moment of the perfectly still 23-degree weather in their “own little bubble” of love.

It was fate – and mutual friends – who brought the 26-year-old lawyer and 28-year-old accountant together at a debutante ball in their late teens.

“We both did not want to go to the deb but our tickets had been purchased for us already,” explains Lauren. “Jacob was trying to get rid of his ticket on the day but he just couldn’t… Eight years later we are still together.”

Their wedding style was classic with modern touches including the ceremony music at St Mary’s Parish in East St Kilda. “I walked down the aisle to a beautiful cover of Calvin Harris’s “Feel So Close to You” sang by Abbey Stone,” says Lauren. She says their first dance to Lana Del Ray’s “Young & Beautiful” “tied in perfectly with the theme.”

Fitting of the event’s minimalist aesthetic, guests received clear acrylic photo frames to house their In the Booth photos, which also doubled as name cards.

“I just had to have the red sole,” says Lauren of her dazzling Christian Louboutin platform peep-toes.

Jacob proposed to Lauren after a helicopter ride over the Great Barrier Reef in Port Douglas.

The classic Audrey Hepburn-inspired bridesmaids’ dresses were designed by Lauren Acciarito, the bride’s friend. The pearl trim belt complemented Lauren’s Steven Khalil couture gown.