Our Wedding

Today marks one month since Jack and I got married in Byron Bay, just the two of us. It still feels a little surreal that I’m a wife, with a husband, a new surname and a work-in-progress signature but in the best of ways. Our day was amazing but also went by so fast – a blur of nerves and elation. We got our wedding photos back a couple of weeks ago and we are so ridiculously delighted with them. We had the photographer of dreams (Tessa Shannon) and receiving our photos was the perfect way to relive the day – helping us to remember all the little moments that may otherwise have been forgotten about.

We always knew we wanted to elope. Our families are on two different continents – the stress of organising everyone to be in the same place at the same time was too much. On top of the logistics, spending lots of money on one big day wasn’t something that either of us were keen to do – we felt that the money could be better spent elsewhere (on a property, or an epic honeymoon). Ultimately the day was ours, and we did what felt right for us – not what pleased everyone else. Thankfully our families and friends have been very supportive.

Whilst eloping was always on the cards, I wanted to make sure that the day was still as special as if we’d gone down the traditional wedding route. I wanted the dress, the beautiful flowers and having photos and a video marking the day were even more important to us as they would provide a snapshot for our family and friends. In order to achieve the perfect day, we were lucky enough to work with a company called The Elopement Collective – a squad of wedding industry leaders that create epic and intimate elopements in Australia, New Zealand, Bali, Europe and the USA. They organised everything for us – we put our complete trust in them and they did the most exquisite job (so much better than had we done it ourselves), meaning that we were able to relax in the lead up to the big day and not be stressed out by logistical nightmares.

The flowers (The French Petal) were wild, over the top and undone – they were absolutely enormous (and pretty heavy) but well worth the sore arms as they were incredibly beautiful. I just wish I could have kept them forever.

We tried to keep our ceremony relaxed, we played rock-paper-scissors to decide our vows (I lost), and we wrote our own words to one another rather than sticking to traditional vows which helped to inject our personalities and humour into the day.

Despite the wedding being in Byron Bay, the British weather followed us and it poured with rain. We managed to exchange our vows in the dry, but as soon as it was time to take photos the heavens opened. Thankfully there were plenty of sheltered spots for us to work with, and by the end of the day I was twirling around in the rain screeching ‘I FEEL LIKE BEYONCE’. Note for future brides: don’t waste time worrying about the weather, just go with the flow.

To us, getting married was about starting our lives together – just the two of us. Even though we would have loved to celebrate with our family and friends, eloping made the start of our marriage about one another, ready to take on the years ahead. I’m a big fan of weddings matching a couple, and I believe that eloping matches our style much better than a big ceremony would have.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. I think it’s important to do whatever is right for you as a couple. Everyone has different values, ideas, and budgets when it comes to getting married. Whether or not someone goes the traditional wedding route, spends no money, or a lot of money, the only thing that matters in the end is that they are marrying the person they love.