Lara and Michael

I think the thing I love most about destination weddings is the thought of friends flying in from all over the world to a location that is as much a holiday as someone could ask for. Michael is Australian, Lara is German and together they chose Berlin for their wedding day.

Michael tells,”We met at a cafe. A delightful French Bistro in Los Angeles. Lara worked there, I would go there to work on my screenplays. One day we met – sparks flew … It turned out we lived in apartment buildings right next door to each other. In fact, it turned out Lara was stealing my wireless internet for 8 months before we even met. Lara relocated to Berlin. We’d write each other long missives detailing our days – our love story developed here, thanks to modern technology and a commitment to stay in touch. And then, by chance I had to be in Berlin for business and … sparks flew again … Following a stint at the Cannes Film Festival, I had to be in Paris for two days. I took the bull by the horns, called Lara up and asked her to join me for a romantic escapade in Paris. We’ve been inseparable ever since. We were engaged a year later in St. Tropez. And married a year after that in Berlin on May 5, in Lara’s home town, surrounded by family and friends who had traveled the world to share the day with us.”

The fun and fresh photography of today’s wedding comes from Rachel Marsden .

Lara found her dress at a small store in LA, her bridesmaids wore their own gowns.

Lara and Michael married at Berliner Dom.

Lara walked down the aisle to Bach’s Arioso.

“For both of us there was a constantly strange and disconcerting feeling to look around the faces of those people we know – from our lives in Los Angeles or Australia or Germany and see them all gathered in one place … in Berlin. That was the real magic of the day – and so many of the moments were captured beautifully in Rachel’s lens. ”

“The city of Berlin with it’s majestic architecture, which gave us the perfect backdrop for our wedding and is captured in the photos, giving them their timeless look. But one detail we’ll never forget. We found out the day before that the church was not going to close during the wedding – that it would be open for the public. We were instantly nervous about this. However, as it is with weddings, we were fortunately facing AWAY from everyone. When we turned there were our 70 guests and perhaps another hundred on-lookers, all snapping away, cheering and applauding. When we stepped outside, the pavements were lined with tourists stopping to cheer us on. It is so touching that random strangers can be so moved by a wedding that they’ll stay and watch and in some small way be part of the ceremony.”

“This was a truly international affair. An Aussie marrying a German girl, both of whom live in the US, with guests arriving from three continents. With such a commitment from everyone just to be there, we felt the need to make this a day we – and they – would never forget. We had our Rehearsal Dinner in the oldest restaurant in Berlin, built in 1621. We were married in the magnificent Berliner Dom, one of Europe’s grandest churches. We walked with our party by the Spree River between the historic buildings of Museum Island and through the Saturday markets to our boat and then cruised the canals of Berlin for 5 hours with food, wine, music, laughter and love. Unforgettable.”

Of their photographer, Lara says, “When we were looking for wedding photographers the google search engine led us to Rachel. We were taken by her photos and excited to discover she was a young Aussie photographer pursuing her art in Berlin. As Michael heralds from Australia, we took it as a good omen for the wedding and contacted her immediately. We never looked back. Her images captured the classic, nostalgic, floating quality of our day – the mix of people, the passion of the city and our old souls. Her images tell a great story.”

Lara and Michael held their reception aboard the Stern und Kreissfahrt River Cruises who also catered the wedding and the wedding cake.

For their first dance, Lara recalls “The final few days had been such a time-crunch that we hadn’t rehearsed or even decided what we were going to do. Only that we were dancing to “Smoke Gets in your Eyes” by the Platters. Moments before the dance was due to start in front of all and sundry, I started roping in my mates to get up and dance with us before the song ends. PLEASE! HELP ME! But as it happens, as the song started and I took Lara in my arms, we did what came naturally – and it was magic.”

Congratulations on your marriage Lara and Michael! Thank you for sharing your story with us! Thank you also to Rachel Marsden for sharing your photographs with us today!