When Kaylee and Nick were planing their ‘I do’s, there was one thing they knew for sure: elopement was the way to go. “The idea of having to postpone or go ahead with people who couldn’t be there because of border closures or possible outbreaks was heartbreaking,” explains the bride, who said ‘yes’ to her groom in early 2020, just as the pandemic hit. “It also meant that we didn’t have to put our life on hold for another year or two while we waited to get married. We just wanted to be married and turn the next page onto our next exciting chapter.”
And that’s just what they did! With just four guests (hi, Mums and Dads!) and a bunch of bloody great local vendors, this couple got hitched in a truly intimate ceremony in Victoria’s stunning Macedon Ranges. After booking a celebrant and photographer package with Let’s Elope Melbourne, Sarah Matler was the couple’s incredible lens lady on the day, documenting every beautiful moment – and her pics are solid proof of just how special this day was.
THE VENUE “Our hearts were set on the Macedon Ranges, something that felt cosy and whatever we ended up choosing had to be like a little retreat away from the world for a few days. I spent a couple of nights flicking through Airbnb and I stumbled across Terra Mia. Beautiful gardens, a stunning homestead, so many perfect locations for an outdoor ceremony to choose from and lots of gorgeous places for photos, The styling of the estate in the photos was so ‘us’. We knew it was the one the moment we saw it.”
THE VIBE “We both love colour and eclectic vibes, and I love sparkles and glitter. The day had to be bright, fun, sparkly and unique. It also had to be intimate, casual, relaxed and fun. It also had to be a day that didn’t cost a fortune. In saying that, we didn’t purposely set out with a budget we had to stick to. Going into the planning we knew what we did and didn’t want to pay, and we knew what parts of the day we wanted to spend our money on. We just made sure we included the things we wanted and were important to us.”
FAVOURITE DETAILS “We love our fur babies – Hudson (labrador), Watson (ginger and white cat), Oliver (ginger cat) – but unfortunately they couldn’t be trusted to behave on the day so they couldn’t come along and be our groomsmen. The next best thing to having them there was having them on our cake so we had them immortalised in fondant by Creating Monkies. We wanted our cake to be something pretty special and it was all that and more with fondant Hudson, Watson and Oliver watching over the day. It was also the yummiest cake we’ve ever tasted – salted caramel mud with vanilla buttercream. Shaz from Blackbird Cakes cakes knows her stuff. Who says you can’t have a cake for a wedding of six people? It means you can have cake for breakfast for weeks afterwards, too!”
RESOURCES “Hello May was a big starting point for me. I was gifted a few magazines when we got engaged and I had sticky notes popping out of the pages pointing to the ideas and vendors we wanted. I also found the Hello May directory really useful as I just narrowed down the location we wanted and found heaps of options!”
MEMORABLE MOMENT “Wandering around the property, laughing with each other and with our videographer, Glen from Directors Edge, and our photographer, Sarah Matler, is also one of our favourite memories. We both hate photos and were really worried about how we would look on film before going into the day, but these two had our backs and made sure we were comfortable and having fun, which is reflected in both our film and photos. It was such a fun few hours, even more so considering it was an experience we really didn’t think we would enjoy.”
TALK ABOUT TRADITION… “My engagement ring was Nick’s grandmother’s engagement ring, it’s a beautiful natural sapphire surrounded by diamonds, and Nick’s wedding band is his great grandfather’s signet ring. Both rings have been involved in many magical and emotional events over the past 75+ years. It’s so special knowing the sentimental value and years of love we both have wrapped around our wedding fingers.”
WORD OF ADVICE “Do it your own way. If you want something to be included on the day just do it. If you don’t want to do something that’s seen as ‘the norm’ then don’t do it. Don’t plan your wedding around what others want and what you think you should have.”
WE’RE GLAD WE… eloped! The more we thought about it the more we realised a big wedding and the expense that came with it just wasn’t us. Hiring a videographer was also one of the best ideas we had. We weren’t having one until about a month out from the day. We thought because it was such a small, intimate wedding we wouldn’t need it to be filmed, but it just made the day so much more fun having Glen from Directors Edge there with us and it was so nice to receive our film back a couple of months later and relive it all over again.
WE WISH WE… “There is only one thing we wish we didn’t do and that was to go back to work so early. We got married at the start of the Easter week, then both went back to work on the Tuesday after the long weekend. It was such a busy couple of weeks in the lead-up, it would have been nice to have some more time off to just slow down and take it all in.”
STANDOUT VENDORS “It’s so hard to pick just one. We got so lucky with all of our vendors. In the end, we didn’t feel like we were dealing with vendors – it was like we were just hanging out and chatting with friends. You could feel their excitement for us as a couple, but you could also feel the appreciation and gratitude they had for being back doing what they love after a long year of lockdowns and the impact that had on the wedding industry. The vibe from every single person in our team was amazing.”
Now you know all the deets, take a scroll through Sarah Matler‘s stunning snaps from the big day and soak up all the love!
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Sarah Matler with Let’s Elope Melbourne Cinematographer Directors Edge Florist Thrive Flowers & Events Ceremony & Reception Terra Mia at Macedon Catering La Tortilleria via Providoor Cake Blackbird Cakes Cake Toppers Creating Monkies Signage Chalky Signs Celebrant Let’s Elope Melbourne (Amanda Matler) Rings Angus & Coote (Kaylee) THE BRIDE Bridal Top, Skirt & Shoes ASOS Flower crown Thrive Flowers & Events Accessories Shimona Designs (custom-made earrings), Kellective by Nikki (custom-made gold bracelet) Hair Hair & Beauty Retreat Daylesford (Elise) Makeup Hair & Beauty Retreat Daylesford (Kat) THE GROOM Jacket, Shirt, Pants & Shoes Connor Bow tie OTAA Cufflinks Clinks Australia
