Lauren & Mladen’s Re’em Yarra Valley Wedding

A venue Lauren found first

Lauren had set herself a challenge: find somewhere no one she knew had used before. After several unsuccessful venue visits, she found the new Re’em Winery on social media and booked an inspection almost immediately.

Mladen was sick on the day Lauren first visited, so her cousin came instead. The place ticked the practical boxes Lauren had been looking for: accommodation onsite, a bridal suite, and the freedom to include traditional Croatian drinks. But it took a second visit, this time with Mladen, for the decision to become official. Seeing the winery views and hotel, he gave Lauren the approval she had been waiting for: “Yep, you’ve done well.”

By the wedding day, what stood out most to them was not a particular feature of the venue but the way the team handled everything. Lauren barely noticed the staff at work, which she considered the highest praise possible. If the couple do not need to chase answers or solve problems themselves, someone is doing their job properly.

Her one piece of practical advice for future couples planning a Re’em Yarra Valley wedding: order more spirits than you think you will need. Lauren and Mladen’s guests proved that point conclusively.

The message Mladen never saw coming

For all Lauren’s planning, she still found a way to surprise Mladen. Before the ceremony, she had recorded a secret message for him. It was played without giving anything away beforehand, and it was the first moment he cried.

That detail says a lot about the balance of the day. Lauren had thought through the schedules, the custom pieces and the contingencies, but she had also made space for something that could not be rehearsed or managed: a few private words landing at exactly the right time.

There were personal details threaded through the celebration, too. The custom reception runners, napkins and neon sign included their monogram, horses in honour of Lauren’s riding, and Croatian florals and landmarks. They were not simply decorative choices; they were Lauren’s way of making the day feel like theirs, with both sides of their story present in the room.

Ring security, tangled dresses and The Horses

The page boys had been given the important title of ring security, though they apparently began their walk in the wrong direction. No harm done, but it was a strong early indication that the adults were not going to be the only ones making the day memorable.

Later, Lauren got tangled in her dress during the first dance. Again, it was not a disaster — just one of those moments that strips away the pressure of getting everything right and gives everyone permission to laugh.

The moment Lauren still talks about, though, came during the father-and-daughter dance to *The Horses*. The whole dance floor joined in. She remembers looking out at a room that had suddenly become completely full and being unable to stop smiling. It was not prompted by a schedule or a formal announcement; people simply wanted in.

During the speeches, Mladen’s mum Sue offered her own line on marriage: “The secret to a good marriage is a bloody good wife.” It landed exactly as it should have.

A last-minute run for the evening

Mladen’s favourite photographs were the nighttime winery images — the ones neither of them expected to love as much as they did. Getting there required a little urgency. The MC was running long while the sunset disappeared, so Lauren, a bridesmaid, her hairdresser and the photographer made a quick run upstairs for her second look.

It was a very Lauren and Mladen solution: make the plan, allow for the unexpected, then move quickly when the moment calls for it.

What their guests will likely remember is not only the heat, the Croatian drinks, or Bobby’s brief disappearance. It is the way the room responded when it mattered — Mladen crying at Lauren’s message, Sue’s perfectly timed advice, and everyone joining in for *The Horses* without needing to be asked.