The gorgeous actress ties the knot with her beau Matt Kingston, and Clare Rigden is there to share all the romance of a truly magical day.
Cold weather? Tick. Wintry skies? Tick. Rumbling trams in the background? Tick! When it came to the wedding of Winners & Losers star Melanie Vallejo, the setting couldn’t have been more Melbourne. All she needed was for the heavens to open and she’d have the quintessential Victorian winter wedding. “Someone was telling me the other day that if it rains on your wedding day, it’s good luck. And let’s face it, we’re in Melbourne – so there’s a very good chance of that happening!” says Mel, 31, as she catches up with Woman’s Day beforehand.
She needn’t have worried. Although it was cold, the skies cleared as Mel, who plays Sophie Wong on the hit Seven Network series, wed her fiance of a year, Matt Kingston, 29, at The Melbourne Supper Club in the inner city. As the sun dipped below the spires of the distant St Patrick’s Cathedral, guests couldn’t help but feel as though they were witnessing something special as Mel stepped out onto the terrace towards married life. “She just looked amazing,” says Matt, who was blown away upon seeing his gorgeous bride walk towards him.
“I was just telling myself, ‘Don’t lose it. Do not lose it.’ I was in pure survival mode. I knew I couldn’t get too caught up in the moment or else I’d just self-destruct!” In a creme floor-length dress designed for Mel’s gorgeous figure by Melbourne couturier Jason Grech, and with diamond earrings and bracelet from Anton Jewellery, she looked breathtaking.
Not one of the 50 guests could take their eyes off her as she made her entrance on the arm of mum Anna Phillips. “Mel is the most beautiful bride I have ever seen… like a Hollywood siren,” says her good friend and Winners & Losers co-star Virginia Gay, who attended the wedding with another co-star, Tom Wren. “I’m just so happy for her.”.
See all the stunning pictures of Mel’s big day and find out who performed a surprise serenade and what the couple replaced their wedding cake with in this week’s Woman’s Day on sale June 13, 2011.