These two legends met when they were just 17 “after one too many UDLs at a friend’s party”, bride Krysten tells us. “I ended up in the pool. Jim was quick to show some chivalry and offered me his flanny for warmth… The rest is history!” Honouring his mum’s Scottish heritage by wearing a kilt was a no-brainer for the groom, even if trying to keep it as a surprise was awks. “My mum and her family are from Scotland and wearing a kilt was something I had always considered for our wedding. I decided to keep this fact a secret from my mum, a decision that ended up causing a great deal of stress in the lead up to the wedding. My parents had very generously offered to buy my wedding suit and as the months went by my Mum was becoming increasingly agitated that we hadn’t gone suit shopping. It got to the point where I had to go suit shopping with my mum and buy a suit to put her at ease. At the end of the day, her reaction to first seeing me in the kilt at the ceremony (she almost passed out) was worth the web of lies I found myself caught up in!”
Krysten and Jim called in the big guns, aka Madeline Kate, to take some bloody stunning snaps of their day – and it was 100% the right move, because these shots are super fun, just like this couple!
THE VENUE “It took a few visits to different venues around Melbourne for us to land on what we ultimately envisioned for our wedding. The Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne is somewhere we have spent a great deal of time together and was an easy choice for our ceremony location (once we determined they had a solid wet weather option if needed, luckily it wasn’t). We knew Glasshaus Outside well as we had bought plants from there over the years. We loved the greenery and how it tied in with the Botanic Gardens.”
THE THEME “It dawned on us that our wedding was likely to be the only day where we would have all of our family and close friends in the one room together. This was front of mind when we were selecting our venue and vendors with the hope to create a fun and relaxed environment. We wanted the whole event to feel like a big garden party.”
FAVE DETAILS “Two of our great passions in life are food and music so nailing these on the day was a priority for us. Booking DJ Slymewave (Jo Syme from Melbourne band Big Scary) was the first thing we organised and we were absolutely stoked when she said she was free. She absolutely nailed it, playing tunes that appealed to all ages and kept the dance floor going all night! Firecracker Event was one of the caterers recommended by the venue and when we first met with Cassie we knew she was the perfect fit (that was before we had even tried any of her delicious food!). Cassie was incredibly professional and her nature put us at ease when trying to navigate our way through the timing of the event and menu selection. Most importantly of all the food was bloody delicious and there was plenty for everyone!”
THE JUMPSUIT “My jumpsuit was from Sass & Bide. I was feeling quite anxious about wedding dress shopping; the dresses I saw online all seemed quite traditional and not very ‘me’. I had spotted the ‘Symphony in the Sky’ jumpsuit on Instagram which I fell in love with, but unfortunately given it was ‘out of season’ it was no longer stocked. I managed to find it on eBay, albeit in a large, and bought it that day at work. Linda Leech, a very talented dressmaker based in Essendon, was able to work her magic and spent some hours hand picking sequins, tailoring it to fit me perfectly.”
RESOURCES “Most of our key vendors were found through word of mouth (our photographer, Madeline Kate, through a friend’s wedding, our caterer, Firecracker Event, through the venue), however we did spend a large deal of time early on in the process reading through the ‘Real Weddings’ on the Hello May website!”
CUTE CUSTOM “We spent a long time lying to my beloved grandma ‘G’ about our celebrant. She had mentioned numerous times throughout the course of our engagement that we should ask her dear friend Joan Mitchell to marry us. Little did she know we had actually met Joan and organised for her to be our celebrant. I felt quite bad lying to my G and saying things like, ‘Ohh no… We didn’t want to bother Joan and thought we would go with someone else’. When I finally told my G a week before the wedding, she was absolutely stoked, she cried and just kept saying, ‘This has made my day.’ As Joan is also of Scottish heritage she suggested we perform a ring warming as a part of our ceremony. This involved our rings being passed around to all of our guests throughout the ceremony so that they could hold our wedding bands and pass on their well wishes to us. It does feel very special knowing those closest to us warmed our rings which were made by our amazing friend Aph Ellen.”
WE’RE GLAD WE… “After a little deliberation, we were really happy with our decision to have a cocktail style wedding as opposed to a sit down function. We felt it helped to create the relaxed atmosphere in which guests and ourselves were able to mingle easily.”
STANDOUT VENDOR “Madeline Kate was everything we hoped for in a wedding photographer. She had a knack for making us feel comfortable in front of the camera, when it is definitely not something we are used to.”
No doubt about it, Madeline Kate is a superstar behind the camera, and you can see if she’s avails for your big day over at her directory listing. And if you think you’ve seen these snaps before, you’re right – this dreamboat wedding first appeared in our drop-dead gorg Real Wedding Special, which you can pick up on our online store along with every other fab issue. 
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Madeline Kate Florist Glasshaus Stationery Paperless Post Ceremony Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne Reception Glasshaus Outside Catering & Signage Firecracker Event Entertainment DJ Slymewave Celebrant Joan Mitchell Rings Aph Ellen Transport Kombi With Me THE BRIDE Bridal jumpsuit Sass & Bide Robes Cotton On Shoes Bared Accessories Dinosaur Designs (earrings) Hair Ceres Mason Makeup Jonathon Thorpe Bridesmaid dresses Tigerlily, Shona Joy Bridesmaid Gifts Elk (earrings) THE GROOM Jacket, Kilt, Shirt & Shoes House of Scotland