Elke & Kane

Two weddings up their sleeves meant this bride and groom could create two celebrations they loved, and they made both days perfectly them! Set in Geelong, this relaxed and intimate garden wedding is all kinds of lovely! From the first look by the Waterfront, to the mint and sequin wedding gown, and with a heavenly donut cake (JUST WAIT until you see it!), we love this celebration with gorgeous imagery by Louisa Jones Photography!

Elke and Kane met at a music festival in Spain. Impressing his future bride with a beach bought bargain, the two spent every night of the festival together from then on. The bride tells, ”We lost touch but Kane found me on Twitter and began tweeting me a year later #truelove!” Kane proposed at Christmas time, with Elke sharing, ”He told me to check if there was anything else under the tree. When I saw the box I was completely shocked. We chose to go to dinner at the restaurant where we had our first date to celebrate before we shared our news with anyone. I’m really glad we did as once we called my Mum and Dad I’m pretty sure most of Geelong knew about it within the hour!”

Hunting for a wedding dress online, Elke found several options to try. She shares, ”I knew that I didn’t want a traditional dress for my day, I was keen to include some colour. I ordered around 4 dresses from Asos, including the Needle & Thread skirt. I tried them on at home and immediately messaged my friend to come over because I thought that I had found my dress. She came over and I tried the top and skirt on for her. We both looked at each other and couldn’t believe it had been that easy! I then got the dress altered and decided to have the top and skirt sewn together to avoid any wardrobe malfunctions on the day! I found the crown I wore at a Wedding Fair. I went to try it on while three of my close friends from home were in town. Because I hadn’t had many traditional bridal experiences it was so much fun having them there to help me decide. Gail from Rocks For Frocks also made me some simple stud earrings to perfectly match but not detract from the crown.” The groom wore a mulberry coloured suit with a Ted Baker tie and Reiss shirt. The bride included several traditions on the day, telling, ”In the UK it is tradition for the bride to wear a sixpence in her shoe for good luck. My uncle collects coins and had one from the year my grandparents were married. My grandad passed away just before our wedding so it was really special to have that as part of our day.” Elke was thrilled with Arli and Emma from Blush Bar who created a look the bride absolutely loved!

Having two weddings, one in Geelong and one in Manchester, meant an intimate celebration was planned. The bride tells, ”We had a ceremony with only 14 people, all close family. We had separate celebrations so people wouldn’t need to travel. We didn’t have a bridal party, I got ready with my close friends in the morning because I wanted them to be a part of my day and getting ready with all of them was one of the things I had been looking forward to. One of Kane’s brothers was his witness and my Nan was my witness. My mum and dad walked me down the aisle. It was important to me that they were both involved, I’m an only child and we’ve always been really close, I didn’t want to leave my mum out! I also don’t like a lot of the connotations attached to some of the traditional elements of weddings and this was one way we made sure the day represented our values. I walked down the aisle to ‘Here Comes the Sun’ by The Beatles. We live in Liverpool and it was nice to have a part of the city incorporated into the day. We wanted the ceremony to really reflect us and our relationship. Kane’s dad did a reading of ‘Blessing of a Marriage’ by James Dillet Freeman. We didn’t have a lot of speeches so this was a way to include both of our families and the words in the reading really captured what we hope our marriage will be like.”

Visiting the Geelong Flower Farm to find gorgeous blooms, the bride’s mum put together the bridal bouquet. Elke tells, ”We saw a bunch of flowers that was almost exactly what I had imagined. Mum added a few extra pieces of greenery and a selection from my cousin’s garden to complete the bouquet. I love wild looking large bouquets and was keen to include native Australian flowers. My cousin grows loads of native plants in their backyard and was happy for me to use whatever I liked. The flowers on the table at our dinner were all from my cousin’s garden which felt like a really personal touch.” The groom wore a buttonhole incorporating both English and Australian flowers. The couple chose to have their first look images by the Geelong Waterfront, with Elke sharing, ”I would definitely recommend this as it kind of “took the edge off” walking down the aisle, definitely less nerves and butterflies and we could just enjoy that moment.”

Planning a wedding from the other side of the world is tricky at the best of times! Elke and Kane were over the moon in finding Louisa Jones Photography, and her work on the day. The bride shares, ”Considering much of our wedding planning was via Instagram and we didn’t meet Louisa until 7 days before the wedding, we can’t believe how lucky we were to pick someone who totally understood not just the photos we wanted but the whole vibe of the day. When I showed Louisa pictures of shots I liked from Manchester with all the old mills she told me there was a location two minutes from Barwon Edge where we could get very similar shots. I was stunned and never thought this would be possible but her knowledge of the local area and the best places to shoot really elevated our day. Louisa had us laughing all day, made us feel very relaxed and never took herself too seriously. She was so accommodating of our families and we just cannot sing her praises loudly enough. Everyone that we show pictures to cannot believe what an incredible job she has done.”

With the mother of the bride on hand for site visits, the bride and groom chose Barwon Edge Boathouse for their reception. They share, ”We didn’t go overboard with lots of details but my Mum did put in a lot of effort as our unpaid wedding planner! It’s also tradition in the UK to give out wedding favours, kind of like adult lolly bags. We got stubby holders made with our names on them and filled them with my favourite lollies from the UK and Caramello Koalas, Kane’s Australian favourite! We LOVED our donut cake from Sweet Designs By Claire which was just beyond our expectations. Ben at Barwon Edge Boathouse was so accommodating and great at working with my Mum and an absent bride and groom! All of the staff on the night were incredible too. All of the food was great and lots of our guests commented on how great the bar staff were.”

With a sublime donut cake and close friends and family to celebrate with, the newlyweds had their first dance to ‘I Wanna Be Yours’ by Arctic Monkeys. Elke shares, ”I had been most looking forward to this part of the day. The lyrics are a poem by John Cooper Clarke who is a poet from the North of England, very close to where Kane grew up. We danced to a different song in Manchester, ‘Beyond’ by Leon Bridges. I had originally planned to do our dance again to the same song but Kane had been listening to this new one by Leon Bridges and really wanted to dance to this so we did. One of the many advantages of having 2 celebrations!” Sharing of the lead up to their intimate garden wedding, the bride recalls, ”I didn’t really enjoy the planning! I would totally recommend eloping! We loved that we could celebrate with our friends and family in the UK and Australia. Having the two celebrations and a small party we really wanted to make our wedding fun for everyone. We had a BYO BBQ the day after the wedding. This was such a great way to “debrief” from the night before and make sure we saw everyone as much as possible before we flew back to the UK 4 days later. Everyone brought their own food for the BBQ and we ate the left over donuts and cake from the night before, it was a great way to keep the celebration going a little longer.”

Congratulations to our divine bride and groom on your beautiful wedding, and thank you for sharing it with us! Thank you also to Louisa Jones Photography for your stunning images.