Elisse & David
If you dream of celebrating your nuptials with just a handful of your favourite people, an amazing backdrop of Mother Nature’s shoreline and your own private villa then Elisse and David’s Canggu private villa wedding is sure to inspire you. The happy couple worked with Keelan Christopher Photography.
Elisse tells their story. “Just over two years ago, Dave and I met at our local beach weeks before he was about to get on a plane and work on a remote island off Perth for the next 2 years. Fast forward 2 years’ worth of teary goodbyes at the airport each month, some solid emotional meltdowns from me (total girl thing) and 2 x amazing holidays of our own to Bali when the going got tough and we needed to reconnect – and you find Dave working back here in Sydney settling into life together, spending time at our favourite beach at every moment we can AND most recently finding out we have our own little legend planning to arrive late January 2016!!!”
“Growing up I was really really close to my Nan on my Mum’s side who passed away 2 years ago so I always knew that the lead-up and the day of our wedding was going to be an emotional time feeling that huge sense of loss from her not being there. Two days before the wedding, Dave and I went out for dinner to one of our favourite restaurants in Seminyak – Sardine, and there he surprised me with my Nan’s wedding band and one of her favourite brooches that he’d secretly conspired with my Mum to bring over and for me to wear on the day.
I just remember him showing me and bursting into happy tears at his thoughtfulness in acknowledging what she meant to me and how important it was for me to have a part of here there with us on our day. So in the end, I had ‘something old’ and something borrowed of my Nan’s and my ‘something blue’ was a sapphire ring of my Mum’s that I also wore, with my ‘new’ being my headpiece!”
Elisse and David chose Villa Paloma for their destination wedding festivities. Elisse remarks, “When we chose to elope to Bali, Indonesia we knew that we wanted to be married and hold a beautiful, intimate dinner following our ceremony in the one location and so for us – a private villa was a perfect backdrop for our magical day. Our venue was Villa Paloma in Canggu which provided the most perfect backdrop for our sunset marriage ceremony and intimate dinner for 6.”
The bride wore a gown from Zimmermann with a Bo & Luca hairpiece, telling, “It was important for me to feel comfortable on the day, so I wore a simple, off the rack silk dress by Zimmerman with a deep V front and back – it was the only dress I tried on and as soon as I looked at myself in the mirror, I felt beautiful and knew that this is how I wanted Dave to see me when I was walking to meet him at the end of the aisle. My headpiece was from Bo & Luca where I was spoilt for choice in finding something that would add that perfect touch of “special” without making me feel like I wasn’t being true to my own style.”
Wedding planner Libby Doherty Weddings planned and styled the wedding, the newlyweds telling, “We didn’t really have a particular style or theme in mind for our day, we just wanted a really personal and romantic setting that reflected who we are as individuals and a couple and where we are in our life. The day was never going to be about it being a big event for either of us so we took a pretty relaxed approach to this from our first planning conversations. We handed over choices like table décor and flowers to our wedding planning team, trusting them completely and we were amazed at how beautiful everything turned out in reality from what Dave and I both talked about wanting for our day.”
Heather Boylan Weddings officiated the wedding, the bride remembering, “It was important that whilst still holding a completely legal ceremony in Indonesia recognised by Australia law, that our ceremony was still personal and true to us. Our celebrant – Heather Boylan was amazing alongside the local Minister who officiated our marriage. Heather took the time to get to know Dave and me, hear our story of where we started to where we are now and was able to bring that personal touch that was so important to us. We spoke traditional vows and our sister in law gave a prayer reading that recognised all of our family, present or that have passed that weren’t able to be there in person for our marriage.”
Of their photographer, the bride remembers, “We were recommended Keelan Parish and when we spoke to him for the first time, we both instantly connected with him. Keelan has a beautiful eye for location and shots and our photos on the day are a credit to his skill as a photographer and his ability to read people and situations with respect and understanding. Having a photographer that can bring your personality through into still shots that capture the day beautifully is so important and every photo Keelan took does that for us! ”
“Our single dinner table was set up between frangipani trees with candles, fairy lights and lanterns providing the most beautiful lighting.”
“One thing that meant a lot to Dave and I was to acknowledge and honour our parents and grandparents who weren’t able to be there on our day. In the week leading up to leaving, we took a photo of each of their own wedding days and hung this from the frangipani tree behind our reception dinner table. We kept looking over at them throughout the night at just how special each of these individual couples is to us and the roles they’ve played and continue to play in shaping our characters and being the examples that Dave and I now base our own marriage on. I think personally, it’s potentially my favourite thing about my whole wedding.”
“I’m sure everyone says this about their own weddings; but for us, the intimate atmosphere that they created for us with having the 6 of us share dinner around the one table really was just completely romantic and magical – I’ll never forget how relaxed everyone was and how throughout dinner, without any structures or formal speeches, everyone just chose their own moment to say a few words when it came to them, it was truly beautiful.”
“We actually didn’t have any dancing at our wedding, but music played such an important part for us on the day and every song carried its own special meaning. We chose songs for our ceremony and throughout the day that hold special meanings to us, like Vance Joy’s Rip Tide that we belted out at high volume driving down the coast on one of the first weekends away we ever did.”
Congratulations on your marriage Elisse and David! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us. Thank you also to Keelan Christopher Photography for sharing today’s celebrations.
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