Lauren & Cameron

Byron Bay always evokes imagery of rolling lush green hills and relaxed beauty. What I haven’t seen in a long time is black tie and Byron Bay mixing to create a chic, elegant wedding that is only made more stunning by it’s beautiful Byron backdrop.

Lauren tells the story of how she and Cameron came to tie the knot one Spring day. “Cameron was visiting Byron from Melbourne with friends over Christmas/new years December 2009. He met my housemate who was working behind the bar of the Beach Hotel. She immediately recognised Cameron as someone I would be interested in so convinced Cameron to give his number. I immediately looked him up on Facebook and thought he was handsome. We didn’t get to meet during Cameron’s visit but got to know each other and flirt by email, txt and calls for the next four months before deciding to meet in Sydney. Getting to know each other before meeting face to face meant that Cameron and I became incredibly close and it made the first date over cocktails and tapas even more exciting.”

Lauren and Cameron’s wedding day was captured by Caroline from Mihaja Photography who has captured the day beautifully with her fresh, chic photography style.

Lauren wore a gown and jewels (which included an incredible statement necklace) from Johanna Johnson. She styled her own hair and carried a bouquet styled by Janine from White Ivy Designs.

Lauren’s bridesmaids wore black gowns from Carla Zampatti.

Koonyum Range Retreat set the scene for the day, with Lauren and Cameron choosing to hold the day’s festivities in the one location. Lauren explains “Koonyum Range Retreat is a villa on a cliff with stunning views of the Byron hinterland. The ceremony was held under a four post Balinese hut with the view in the background. In keeping with the relaxed feel we had the reception marquee set up next to the pool and served cocktails, canapes and a sit down dinner. The owners of Koonyum let us choose our own vendors and set up the reception and ceremony any way we please. It gave us a lot freedom to have the wedding we wanted. The venue is 30mins from Byron so guests were transported by bus.”

Lauren walked down the aisle to, ‘We are man and wife’ by Michelle Featherstone. Lauren remembers, “The song I walked down the aisle to was learnt and played by the acoustic guitarists.”

Michelle Shannon married the couple. Lauren remarks “Our ceremony was perfect… romantic and intimate and our celebrant did a fantastic job of making everyone (including the guests) feel comfortable and relaxed. She helped us include (Lauren’s son) Kylan in the ceremony which was important to us.”

Lauren notes, “It was important to include my 5 year old son, Kylan, and he took the role of ring bearer in the ceremony, dressed in a little tuxedo to match the groom.”

Lauren recalls “We wanted and intimate, romantic and relaxed wedding with our closest family and friends. Half of the wedding guests flew in from Melbourne to attend, and some from overseas which we were very grateful for.”

Of their photographer, Lauren says “Caroline was recommended to us by a friend and we instantly fell in love with her style of photography. Caroline spent the entire day with us from getting ready through to the end of the night and captured all the special moments of the day. We are so happy with our photos and we can not recommend Caroline enough.”

Deon Demouche from Byron Bay Events coordinated the wedding. Lauren explains “We did all the planning and styling ourselves with help from Janine at White Ivy Design who did our beautiful floral arrangements, and our coordinator did a fantastic job at making sure everything ran smoothly on the day. The candlelight and white flower arrangements created a soft and intimate atmosphere.”

White was infused throughout the silk lined marquee. “Our tables were decorated with different arrangements of white flowers in twine wrapped jars supplied by our florist, lots of candlelight, name tags attached to vintage skeleton keys from Kennedy hardware and our bomboniere was strawberry and cream flavoured candy with “Lauren <3 Cameron” on them.”

Guests enjoyed a feast and croquembouche wedding cake from The Larder. Lauren notes “The Larder did a fantastic job at providing mojito cocktails, canapés, and an excellent three course dinner that the guests loved.”

Guests danced all night, but kicking it all off was, of course, the newlywed’s first dance. Lauren remembers, “Our first dance was to ‘Never let me go’ by Florence and the machine. We didn’t have a choreographed first dance as we wanted to keep it relaxed and intimate. It’s one of our favourite songs and makes us feel connected. All our family and friends quickly joined us for a dance.”

Congratulations Lauren & Cameron! Thank you for allowing us to share your wedding day! Thank you also to Caroline from Mihaja Photography for sharing today’s wedding with us!