Inside the joy-filled Henshaw wedding in Yarra Valley

Inside Laura and Dalton Henshaw’s joy-filled Yarra Valley wedding

Words: Ana Eksouzian-Cavadas Producer: Saskia Tillers Picture: Tess Follett in partnership with

Dalton Henshaw (né Graham) and Laura Henshaw met roughly five years ago at a Christmas party. Their friendship developed into a romance, and although they describe themselves as “such different people”, it didn’t take long to realise they were meant to be.

Like many brides and grooms planning weddings in the shadow of the ongoing pandemic, Laura and Dalton experienced their fair share of cancellations, the couple setting a date four times before actually walking down the aisle. “After going through the cancellations, it made the day even more special—it didn’t matter if it was hailing, we were just so grateful to get to the day.”

One of the biggest challenges Laura and Dalton faced when planning their wedding was trying not to succumb to pressure when it came to time-old wedding traditions. “We are both from separated families, and some of the traditions we didn’t feel were us. I wanted to walk myself down the aisle, Dalton took my name, we didn’t do a father daughter dance, have a wedding cake or do a bouquet toss.”

“Dalt knew how much my name meant to me, and that it was a really important part of my career that I had worked so hard for. I suggested to Dalton we hyphenate, or we don’t change our names, and he said to me ‘why can’t I take your name?’ It meant more than I could put into words.”

When it came to designing her dream wedding gown, Laura had a rough idea—“I wanted my dress to feel romantic and dreamy, but still feel like me.” The rest, she left to Kyha, the founder and director of Kyha Studios. “When Kyha showed me the first sketch I was blown away, it was everything I could have ever imagined and more.”

While brides today tend to opt for a second gown to change into for their reception, Laura and Kyha took a different approach to ensure she would be able to let loose. “I was so in love with Kyha’s vision that I wanted to wear it for as long as I possibly could so we came up with the idea for the bottom of my dress to zip off. I wore flats for the ceremony, and then changed into a pair of gold heels when I took the bottom of my dress off.”

It was important to Laura that she looked, and felt, like herself on the big day: “I had Monica Gingold do my hair and makeup. For my hair, I was planning to have it up for the ceremony and down for the reception, but I decided on the morning of the wedding that I wanted to just go for the bun, so I wouldn’t have to worry. Mon nailed it.”

When it came to accessories, Laura kept them simple, yet meaningful “I wore diamond earrings which were a special gift from Dalton for my birthday. I also wore a diamond necklace, which I hadn’t planned to but my Mum gave it to me to wear right before we left for the ceremony. It matched perfectly and was so monumental because it was my Grandma’s.”

While certain rules dictate that no one else should wear white aside from the bride, that was one more custom that Laura looked right past when it came to outfitting her bridesmaids, who were her Keep It Cleaner co-founder Steph Claire Smith as maid of honour, as well as her two sisters and a close friend, Mina. “They all designed their own dresses with Erika Georg. I was speechless when I saw them all together.”

When it came to selecting a venue, Laura and Dalton wanted to say their ‘I do's’ in a place that brought all their favourite things together: “good wine, food, and an amazing dance floor.” “As soon as we saw the designs for the new event space at Levantine Hill, we knew it was the one,” Laura explained of the space designed by Karl Fender of Fender Katsalidis, the architect behind MONA in Hobart.

The team from Mark Makers Design Studio worked with the Henshaws on the event design and production. “We wanted it to be modern but classic and went with black tie as our dress code. We went for white and green florals, lots of candles, and round and square tables to fill the space and leave enough room for a dance floor.”

“Don’t give in to the pressure, don’t make decisions for anyone except you. Breathe and be present and know that from the moment you wake up the morning of your big day, it does not matter if nothing or everything goes to plan - it will be perfect.”

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