Anthea and Kes

A surprise wedding is always one that gets my love radar blaring. How magic it is to surprise your favourite people with such a romantic occasion! The day and the epic surprise was captured by Simon L King.

The newlyweds met at The Barwon Heads Beach House through a  mutual friend, deciding to cement their relationship with their surprise wedding, skipping the overwhelmed feeling bride Anthea had, and making the day a truly relaxed occasion.

The celebrations kicked off at Leura Park Estate, the eventual wedding location, with guests gathering for the couple’s engagement party. Anthea remembers, “Kes and I both arrived at the venue. I was in a different dress. We both greeted our guests and after 45 minutes I quietly snuck off with my mum and bridesmaids to change into our outfits.”

The Gathering Florist pulled together the floral arrangements and styled the occasion, Anthea remarking, “The Gathering Florist was amazing. Victoria went into so much detail and went the extra mile to make our day perfect.”

Anthea chose a polka dot wedding gown by Carla Zampatti.

Of the surprise wedding decision, Anthea tells “I always wanted a relaxed wedding and was so overwhelmed when it came to organising our wedding. We couldn’t decide weather to have an engagement party and then it just made sense to combine the two and hold a surprise wedding. It was so exciting to plan and it took the stress out of the whole wedding preparations. We decided to have our ceremony/reception at Leura Park Estate  we wanted a relax atmosphere so it was a perfect location. ”

And then came the surprise, Anthea recalling, “Kes announced that we were here to get married. All our guests cheered it was such an amazing feeling and so exciting that I was about to walk down the aisle. The boys put on their jackets and ties in front of the flower wall and waited for us to come down the aisle. Surprising our friends was the highlight of the day. It really was magical seeing the joy in their faces it really created so much atmosphere.”

Anthea walked down the aisle to Lover of Light, Mumford and Sons.

There was plenty of family involvement in the surprise occasion with Anthea’s mum making the bridesmaid dresses and Anthea’s aunt making the wedding cake.

The Gathering Florist also created the backdrop for the wedding, Anthea remembering “We needed a backdrop to stand in front of during our ceremony and Victoria created a beautiful coloured flower wall. The style of the flowers were romantic and rustic and really complemented the venue and dresses. ”

Of the first dance, Anthea remembers ” It was a beautiful moment – my uncle (Sun Hyland) sang ‘so much beauty in life’.”

Andrew Congues (0418 588 878) kept guests dancing all afternoon, Anthea telling, “We tried to avoid a traditional wedding and make it as relaxed and fun as possible. We decided against a band and had an amazing DJ and all out guests danced the whole time.”

Congratulations Anthea and Kes! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Simon L King. and The Gathering Florist for sharing the photographs with us!