Weddings

Brigette & Tyson’s Melbourne Rooftop Wedding at Tonic House

Words by Anastasia Monaghan / Images by Jonathon Ong
July 31, 2019

After calling New York City home for four years, Tyson and Brigette brought their urban romance back to Melbourne to tie the knot. Photographed by Jonathon Ong, the couple truly embraced their love of the concrete jungle atop Tonic House’s rooftop. You wouldn’t believe this picture-perfect wedding was all planned from the streets of New York!

Adorned with floral pillars by I Heart Flowers, the Immigration Museum’s courtyard walls provided the perfect city haven for Brigette and Tyson’s ceremony. The couple then mosied on to their rooftop reception, eager to mingle with guests, gorge on Blake’s Feast’s family style banquet and get the party started.

From there, the party didn’t stop! Brigette and Tyson chose to serve espresso martinis over wedding cake (where do we sign up?!), danced to INXS’s ‘Never Tear Us Apart’ for their first dance, and finished off their boogie with a sax solo from DJ Dan Martin.

Finally, can we just take a moment to appreciate that dress! Brigette’s Georgia Young Couture dress characterised the city lifestyle perfectly through the architectural one-shoulder structure. As for Tyson’s threads, his look was complete with hot air balloon socks, a small nod to their romantic proposal.

While Brigette and Tyson’s wedding was more than pleasing to the eye, Brigette’s last piece of advice is to spend your energy and resources on making your wedding fun, not just pretty. ‘You cannot and will not make everyone happy…don’t get hung up on the things that will not matter 10 years from now’, she suggests. Hear hear!

structural wedding dress by Georgia Young Couture

modern typographic wedding invitation suite

After a failed attempt to find her dream dress in New York, Brigette discovered ‘the one’ in Melbourne, thanks to local designer Georgia Young Couture. “Nothing came close to Georgia's designs and I felt absolutely incredible wearing the gown”, she shares.

modern Melbourne wedding / photography by Jonathan Ong

The couple decided on a first look and pre-ceremony portraits with photographer Jonathan Ong. 'We didn't want a large gap between the ceremony and reception for ourselves, we wanted to get into the party!' Brigette explains, 'We loved being able to speak to each other, tell one another we looked downright incredible, and steal a pre-wedding smooch!'

green and white floral pillars wedding backdrop

modern Melbourne wedding at Immigration Museum

The couple booked Anthony Cribbes as both celebrant and MC, sharing “We know just how hard it is MCing a wedding, and we wanted all of family and friends just be a guest and have a great time. So many people asked how we knew Anthony, presuming he was a close friend! He was so personable and easy going, truly a Rockstar celebrant.”

Melbourne rooftop wedding at Tonic House

Little personal touches can really make a wedding. The couple took inspiration from Brigette's rose gold engagement ring for the invitations, photobooth backdrop, and cutlery. With gorgeous florals by I Heart Flowers and contemporary furniture from Dann Event Hire, caterers Blakes Feast brought the pair’s vision together on the rooftop of Tonic House.