With a super-cute mini dress, striking rocky scenery and that overcast sky delivering ‘moody dramatic’ in spades, we are vibing Bless and Jem’s wedding day hard, people. This right here is how you do an elopement!
“My mum gave us the idea to elope,” spills the bride. “I had always been stressed about who to invite as we had a solid 400-person guest list between us and knew that wouldn’t be feasible for us, especially as we had just purchased a home together and I had opened a shopfront earlier in the year. Add lockdown to that mix and a wedding just seemed a bit too much for us.”
So Bless and Jem called up the fabulous Hayley Rafton (one of our fave mates!) and hit the cliffs in Kiama for what turned out to be a bloody gorgeous, intimate elopement. Just peep those pics!
THE VENUE “We had originally planned to get married in the home we had recently bought together, however due to the COVID restrictions this was not permitted so we decided to get married in the Blue Mountains. The week of the wedding, we found out that the lookout where we wanted to get married was closed and that it was scheduled to rain. This forced us to change locations again and our amazing photographer Hayley Rafton suggested Kiama. We are so glad we chose this place. I had sent my dad the location asking what he thought about it and he replied with images of him visiting the venue before, so we took it as a sign that it was meant to be!”
THE DRESS “As soon as I knew I wanted a short dress I searched every possible website I could that was within budget. The next day, a dress from the Aisle Edit by DISSH was promoted onto my Facebook page. It was meant to be and I fell in love immediately. I pre-ordered it and waited two months for it to arrive. When it came, it fit like a glove and I felt beautiful in it. My husband on the other hand… I told him to purchase his outfit during lockdown but, typical him, he left it to the last minute and bought it on the day of our wedding! I was incredibly stressed haha. Fun fact: His shoes cost more than my whole outfit in total!”
REFERENCES “I knew my photographer, Hayley Rafton, from church and we built our friendship through social media. I always knew I wanted to have her a part of my elopement as she is a dear friend of mine who is incredibly talented and oh so lovely. My florist, Kollaj Events ,was one of my close friends’ mothers and my dad was our officiant.”
COOL CUSTOM “The scarf with the cross my dad wore was used in a tradition from my ‘Karen’ (Myanmar-Burma) culture and represented bonding us together through the wrapping of the scarf over our hands.”
WE’RE GLAD WE… “We are very glad we had a budget-friendly wedding, everything in total cost less than $3000, we were happy and truly loved that it was a one of a kind that fit us.”
STANDOUT VENDOR “Hayley Rafton, our photographer. She was so understanding with payment plans due to my business being shut during lockdown. She sent through a location and elopement guide that answered any possible question I could have about my wedding day.”
Speaking of Hayley and her snap-savvy ways, you can get in touch with her over on our directory if you want some heckin’ good snaps of your own. We personally recommend this gal, she’s a star!
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photography Hayley Rafton Florist Kollaj Events Location Bombo, Kiama THE BRIDE Dress DISSH Makeup Jizelle Angelique THE GROOM Shirt Big W Pants Target Shoes Solovair