This loved-up couple have been together for four years and nine months after a romantic proposal overlooking Lake Como in Italy, topped it all off with intimate nuptials in front of five of their nearest and dearest. The bride wore this cute dress she found in “the most unexpected of places” with rings by our friends over at Grew & Co. Lucky for us, one of our favourite photographers, Alexandra Cohen, was there to capture it all, so scroll down for all the details…
THE VENUE “We spend a lot of time exploring country Victoria and are moving out to the Macedon Ranges, so looked for a place we could stay and potentially use as a venue depending on the weather. Ellis House was at the top of the list, and was beyond our expectations. I’d stalked it on Instagram and our overall vibe was weekend country escape. Ellis House is an old 1800s homestead in Kyneton, and there was a nod to both Australian and English vintage country vibes in our styling as it came together piece by piece.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Katie and the team at North St Botanical went above and beyond my brief with the incredible bouquet they created. I first met our photographer Alexandra Cohen when she was a bridesmaid at my friend’s wedding and she flew over from Perth to capture our day. I met our celebrant, Deborah Holder, at a work meeting at the start of the year and knew she’d be the perfect person to officiate our wedding. My sister-in-law Kylie makes cakes and made the perfect rustic gluten-free carrot cake, which her sister Nicole, who was also my hairdresser on the day, decorated with lavender and rosemary from the garden. It meant that on the day and the lead up, we were surrounded by the most incredible people.”
DIY “We did the catering ourselves. We spent the day before at Victoria Market picking up food, marinated a shoulder of lamb using the Cumulus recipe the night before and had it slow cooking in the oven throughout the day. There was one moment when I was chopping herbs for a grain salad in my wedding dress and suddenly thought ‘whose idea was this?!’ but it worked out perfectly when we sat down at the dining table with our favourite food and wine.”
THE DRESS “I tried on some incredible dresses, but nothing that I felt was suitable, or that I’d feel comfortable in with the intimate number of people we had! As it was the depths of winter, I wanted something with long lace sleeves and had left it too late to get something made. In the end I found my dress in the most unexpected of places, asos. It was absolutely perfect.”
MEMORABLE MOMENT “Ben, Alex and I were gone for an hour after the ceremony to take portraits. We jumped in the car and headed off down country roads together and had an absolute blast. At one point, we pulled off the dirt road and there were kangaroos in the field to the right and alpacas in the field to the left! So Australian- to the delight of an English bride and French photographer. Then Alex spotted a field and all three of us jumped over the gate just in time for the most glorious sunset, minutes before the rain set in.”
WE’RE GLAD WE… “As I’m English and Ben’s Australian, we knew that whatever we chose to do was going to be difficult logistically! We decided to elope for our ceremony and have a wedding party in both respective countries to celebrate with our friends and family. We had an intimate ceremony with our brothers as our witnesses. My brother flew in from Dubai for the weekend- it was so special to have him there. We didn’t stick with tradition, we got ready together and walked down the aisle together.”
Check out more real wedding inspiration from couples we have featured that have been photographed by directory vendor, Alexandra Cohen, here and brides who have worn Grew & Co wedding and engagement rings, here.
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Alexandra Cohen Florist North St Botanical Ceremony & Reception Ellis House Cake Kylie’s Custom Cakes Celebrant Deborah Holden THE BRIDE Bridal Gown Little Mistress Hair Piece Viktoria Novak Shoes Shoes of Prey Hair Nicole Fallshaw via St. Martins Barber Shop Makeup Simone Anderson Rings Grew & Co THE GROOM Suit M.J. Bale Shoes R.M. Williams Watch Raymond Weil Grooming Kings Domain Barber Shop Wedding Band Lord Coconut