Karen & John

Oh I do love today’s celebration- in the middle of winter, Karen and John took the June long weekend and celebrated with their guests at a beautiful south coast wedding. Winter. By the beach. I love a couple who isn’t afraid of the cold!

Karen tells of how they ended up walking down the aisle. “We met randomly in a Melbourne bar after work one night and got to know each other in the coming months and eventually became inseparable and fell in love.”

The photographs today are by Michelle Fiona Photography  who captures weddings with elegance, light and little whimsy fun.

Karen wore an asymmetrical gown from Alexis George. Karen recalls, ” I fell in love immediately with my gorgeous Alexis George dress and bought it directly off the girl modelling it without even trying it on.  It was perfect.”

Karen and John held their ceremony at St Peter and Pauls Anglican Church  in Milton. Karen remembers “We used ‘Yay’ flags for the ceremony – I wanted to inject a bit of colour and fun into the church while trying to respect the religious aspect so we thought these were a sweet and easy addition.  After trawling through hundreds of readings for the ceremony we eventually decided on writing our own because we wanted to tell our story in a unique and personal way.”

Music for the day was carefully chosen. “We walked down the aisle to ‘Even when I’m sleeping’ by Leonardo’s Bride,  signed the register with ‘Harmony to my Heartbeat’ by Sally Seltmann and ‘Light all my Lights’ by Seeker Lover Keeper and walked back down the aisle to ‘A-punk’ by Vampire Weekend to start the party!”

Of their photographer, Michelle recalls, “We found Michelle through researching blogs on south coast weddings and just loved her style.  We’re a pretty relaxed couple and wanted the day to reflect that.  She was a superstar, captured our day, our love for one another and our happiness in every shot.”

Of their decision to marry in June, Karen remarks “We chose a winter wedding because we really needed a long weekend for our guests to be able to travel and there is something so romantic about the season.  The weather gods shone upon us all weekend and it was gorgeous.”

For wedding day transport, Karen remembers, “We hired an awesome red convertible Morris Minor, a tight squeeze but so much fun!”

And the bright balloons – “We wanted to make our photos unique and memorable so we threw in some balloons for a pop of colour and a bit of fun!”

Mollymook Surf Life Saving Club played host to Karen & John’s wedding reception (which was catered by Hacketts Catering). Karen remembers, “We had originally planned to get married in Melbourne where we live, but went back to Mollymook over Christmas where my childhood summers were spent and my grandparents live, and decided to change the venue purely because we knew we could make the wedding exactly how we wanted with a blank canvas to work with. It was held over the June long weekend so all of our Victorian family and friends could make a weekend of it and it couldn’t have worked out more perfectly.”

Tables were decorated with the couple’s own personal dose of humour. Karen explains “The little pictures on the tables are a theme of cards we have given each other over the years, we love their quirky hilariousness.”

The floral arrangements for the day were designed by Flowers By Stacy. Karen says “Stacy was amazing, I literally told her the colours I wanted and just to go with what was in season being winter and she came up with the most gorgeous arrangements.  Because it was winter we wanted the room to feel as warm and cosy as possible and the flowers were just perfect!  ”

Karen says, “We did all the decorations and setup ourselves, a little stressful prior to the day but knowing it reflected our personality and style, it was worth the effort.   I had my mum and granny collecting bottles and making pom poms for months! Our family and friends were our happy helpers in the lead up which made our lives a lot easier.  I found my creative streak and ran with it!”

As favors “We had cute little button badges for our guests that were in the same design as all of our stationary as well as a lolly and ice-cream buffet for guests to help themselves to.” Karen’s sister in law made red velvet cupcakes as the wedding cake.

For music? Karen says “We had a 5 piece band called The Escalators who played for us our first dance to ‘Wedding Song’ by Angus and Julia Stone.”

Karen’s favourite part of the day was the love of her family and friends, she remembers “Our friends and family mean the world to us and to feel their genuine love and happiness for us was so touching.  When John made his speech I couldn’t have been happier or more in love.  He’s never been shy in telling me how he feels and I was so proud to become his wife on our special day.  They don’t lie when they say it’s the best day of your life.  Wow.”

Congratulations Karen & John! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Michelle Fiona Photography for sharing today’s photographs with us!