Ciaran and Michael have spent their entire lives by the sea, in fact, they were only 11 and 12 when they met, aptly while running on the beach as members of the local surf living saving club. 14-year-old Ciaran even developed a crush on Michael, although, her future husband remained oblivious. It wasn’t until they matured a little, grew a little, that these two finally realised what seems was always in store for them. And now today, we’re telling the story of their wedding, aptly, by the sea.

With beautiful photography by Kristie Carrick Photography, Ciaran and Michael wanted a wedding day that was “centred around our family and friends celebrating our love and life together.”

The beautiful, sleepy Austinmer Beach setting the scene for a day that was simply beautiful and filled with modern touches. From the bride’s off the rack Australian designer down to the beautiful floral details filled with white blooms and native Australian greenery by the talented Nunu Designs. It’s all part of the story we’re so excited to share with you today.
But first? How did these two become engaged? Ciaran fills us in “Michael had organised a picnic by the beach, we had a beautiful afternoon with wine and cheese. As we were packing up to head home Michael got down on one knee to propose.”

Wanting a simple, modern look for the day, the bride found her gown at Carla Zampatti. “I loved my dress, it was a simple yet elegant dress with a diamond cut out in the back. We came across the dress after we had been to some bridal shops and tried on so many dresses that weren’t quite right and then we just happened to wander into the Carla Zampatti store and whilst trying on other dresses found some Carla wedding dresses out the back of the store near the change rooms.”

Alongside modern pieces, the bride added something very sentimental to her wedding day look. “I wore my Mum’s ring on my wedding day, it has a sapphire in its setting so it was my something borrowed and blue.”

Guests were greeted at the seaside ceremony by a beautiful, simple floral adorned arch, styled by Nunu Designs. Ciaran telling “All of our vendors were amazing – in particular, Steph from Nunu Designs because she created such beautiful florals for our wedding arch, bouquets and reception. Honestly, I had complete trust in Steph and she created such a beautiful atmosphere for our wedding.”

Ciaran and David chose Little Austi Beach, Austinmer, for its close locality to their chosen reception venue, and its stunning views.

Ciaran and her father walked down the aisle to The Lumineer’s “Ho Hey”.

Deborah Jenkins officiated proceedings, the bride sharing “Deb has known Michael and me through the surf club since we were kids, so it was really fitting that she the one to marry us. My two sisters and best friend did readings during our ceremony.”

“Kristie is so relaxed and down to earth, ” tells Ciaran of their chosen photographer. “She makes you feel like you’ve known her for years which made it so much easier to take our wedding photos with her. Kristie perfectly captured our day including plenty of pictures of the smaller details that you would forget and also the moments of our guests enjoying the day that you don’t always get to witness.”

Beautiful bouquets of white flowers and plenty of greenery were dreamed up by the bride and  Nunu Designs, who executed her vision. Ciaran tells  “I love Australian Natives and wanted a simple white and green colour palette, so I spoke with Steph from Nunu Designs and she created amazing bouquets with native flowers like proteas, gum leaves these amazing gum nuts and native berries. We discussed my bouquet being unstructured and not symmetrical – “wild” was I think the words we used and I let Steph choose the florals and assemble them all. I couldn’t have been happier with all the florals on the day. She also created beautiful native florals on an arch for our ceremony and natives on all our tables at the reception too.”

Ciaran and Michael wanted to honour their love of the beach for their wedding, and it all started with their reception choice of Headlands Hotel. The bride explains “Because we met through surf lifesaving and the beach is a big part of our lives, we always knew we would want a coastal location for our wedding day. Headlands Hotel Austinmer only opened about a month after we were engaged, so when we started looking at locations Headlands was definitely high on the list, it’s such a beautiful space with amazing views of the beach and the escarpment around Austinmer.”

It is the memories of family that made this day so special for Ciaran and Michael. “It was so special to have all of our friends and family there on our day, in particular, my Nan who was 92 yrs old at the time. Nan wasn’t as mobile on the day but still wanted to get onto the dance floor, so we had a dance together to dancing queen by Abba before she went home.”

As a big Kanye West fan, Michael chose a remake of Kanye West’s “Bound 2” for the first dance.

A big congratulations Ciaran and Michael! How wonderful it has been to share your day. Thank you also to Nunu Designs and Kristie Carrick Photography for today’s beautiful details & images!