Claire & David

Moody and urban, Claire and David’s intimate Geelong wedding was put together to represent the lovely couple! Dark red and black details added to the candlelit ceremony, with leafy foliage and skulls as decor. Love & Other Photography captured the day.

The two first met through a love of cars! Claire remembers, ”I first noticed my favourite car driving around Geelong and found out who owned it, and added him on Facebook. David accepted and instantly sent me a message, and from that day onwards we haven’t gone a single day without speaking. The first time we locked eyes was at a car meet in Melbourne.” David proposed while the couple were on holidays, Claire sharing, ”My father and his fiancée came up for a weekend to stay with us. One night we all went out for dinner together, when David asked him for his blessing. That night, once we got back to our hotel room, we sat on the couch and David got down on one knee and proposed!”

Remembering dress shopping as one of her favourite wedding planning days, Claire found a fitted lace gown at SoHo Bride. She tells, ”My dress was a less than traditional style ivory dress. At first I was wanting to wear a black dress. But I know straight away when the one is the one. My mother in law helped this ‘clueless with shopping’ bride try on around 30 dresses all in one day, for me to decide on the very first one I tried on. My experience was special, and the staff were just incredible, made me feel so relaxed and comfortable, didn’t pressure me at all and were so honest in their opinions. They also had patience with me leaving everything until the last minute!” The groom wore all black with a patterned maroon suit jacket and maroon bow tie.

Holding the intimate ceremony with only immediate family, Claire arrived in the couple’s beloved car. She shares, ”We wanted it to be unique, relaxed, natural, meaningful, and 100% representative of our relationship and who David and I are as people. Jessie Belle managed to leave every one of our guests in awe feeling as though she had known us our whole lives, and knew exactly who we were. She was so accurate in her choice of words and stories. We did not have any formal readings! We used all gender neutral terms as we are a very non gender conforming couple and feel most comfortable that way. My love for David is not shaped by his gender or race or religion, purely who he is as a person.” Claire walked down the aisle with her father and father-in-law to ‘Follow You’ by Bring Me The Horizon.

Decorating The Warehouse Geelong with foliage and dried leaves, Edera Flowers created a hanging installation of peppercorn. Claire tells, ”I decided not to have flowers on our wedding day as I dislike most fresh flowers. Although I mentioned to Yolanda that I loved dead, dried up flowers. The day before our wedding, she surprised me with some recycled wedding flowers made by Edera Flowers for a previous bride that she had kept and left to dry out and die to decorate the arbour/couch with and also a recycled dried up/dead bouquet, which I just LOVED.”

Geelong’s sunny streets provided the perfect backdrop to Claire and David’s photos, with Love & Other Photography capturing every moment. Claire says, ”Marc was incredible. Had us constantly smiling, laughing, in a natural and informal way, that helped us feel super relaxed, and in turn, created wonderful photos to cherish forever!” Of their favourite part of wedding planning, Claire remembers, ”It was getting to think about and look forward to the special day. It was like a blank canvas for me as I never grew up dreaming of marriage because back then same-sex marriage was illegal and I didn’t know whether I’d end up in a relationship with a man/woman/gender fluid/non-binary human or anyone in between. But it was a learning experience and we put all of our effort into it! I loved seeing the arbour that David created, I loved feeling comfortable and trusting The Warehouse Geelong to understand our taste and bring it to life. Other than that, we admittedly had no idea what we were doing! My number one most favourite part of preparation would have to be the special day I got to spend with my mother in law, wedding dress shopping! I’m super lucky to have had her help and taste because I do not go shopping and have no idea with fashion! I must also add, the honeymoon planning was also just as fun. Best holiday ever in the USA!”

Planning their wedding and honeymoon in 6 months, the couple added some DIY touches to the styling. They share, ”David built our wedding arbour out of scrap timber that we kept when we first bought our house and pulled down our carport. We also painted our own wishing well box, and bought all of the black fabric, plates, cutlery, serving ware, napkins, some special candles! We then left it all in Yolanda & Darren’s capable hands to bring it all together!”

Moody and dark, with loads of Autumn colours and urban styling, Claire and David were overwhelmed by the support of Yolanda and Darren from The Warehouse Geelong. They share, ”How lucky and thankful we are to have chosen them for our small and intimate special day. It was the first venue we looked at and were sold straight away, and chose to have both our ceremony and reception here! They went above and beyond to work alongside us from beginning to end, from communications through social media, sending us inspiration, and when it came to it they went to SO much effort to put together the most INCREDIBLE setup using our far from ordinary criteria – dead/dried up flowers, lots of darkness, black, red and skulls, they even transformed the ceremony area into a sit down reception area while we were all outside getting our photos taken, we didn’t even have to venture off for photography. We used their beautiful laneways and unique brick walls outside of the venue and their awesome apartments upstairs! They are so easy to work with and be around which contributed to the most comfortable and stress free day! I still tear up just thinking about how amazing everything went and we cannot thank them enough for everything.”

Once the married couple returned to the long reception table, set with tall candlesticks and dark fabric, they were able to spend time with their family. Claire shares ,”One of the most special parts of the day were the speeches made by my father and David’s father. These were so heartfelt and emotional, included the most wonderful words, stories and wishes, it had me in hysterics! We included almost everyone in our immediate family in the ceremony. My father Wayne and David’s father Stephen walked me down the aisle, David’s mum Linda was our ring bearer, my little brother Louis and David’s little brother Michael were our witnesses. We also made sure we included our car, as it represents one of our biggest passions and is a big part of why we met! The day was one big happy, love-filled blur! The part that stood out to me the most was reaching my husband at the end of the aisle, seeing his face when he saw me in a dress and wearing make up for the first time ever! I never wear makeup and don’t wear dresses. My favourite colour to wear is black, so it was a massive shock for David to see me show up in an all white dress!”

Although there was not a first dance, Claire’s brother was in charge of the playlist while family ate, enjoyed cake and speeches. Claire tells, ”We did not have a bridal party. Our wedding was so small and intimate that we only invited immediate family, and we included them as part of our ceremony/entire day in their own unique way. We were so close with everyone on the day and got to communicate and have everyone mingle together all on one table without anyone being left out! Plus, David and I have been happily writing our own story and walking our own path together since the day we met and that was represented in our special day too!”

Thank you so much to Claire and David for sharing your stunning wedding day, and congratulations! Thank you also to Love & Other Photography for your beautiful images!