Modern Handmade Desert Wedding

Zoe & Kurt

As a lover of cold weather I’m not sure I would have ever considered a desert caravan park for a wedding but this modern handmade desert wedding is darn well changing my mind! You would never believe Zoe and Kurt married in the heat, in the middle of nowhere. But they did, surrounded by incredible scenery, incredible weather and of course their incredible story. Jodie and Karoline of Merge Photography were there to capture every moment.

Zoe kicks off the story with the tale of how she and Kurt came to be. “We had been friends for a few years… then one thing lead to another. We lived in Mandurah for 3 years before moving to Exmouth in 2010. Kurt proposed to me one lovely afternoon, by spelling out “Zoe…Marry me?” in pebbles in our friend’s back yard.”

Zoe chose a wedding gown by Anna Campbell . She remembers, “Getting ready we didn’t hire a hair dresser or make up artist. Two of my bridesmaids did our hair and makeup. We all painted our own nails and had a beautiful morning getting ready after a night of laughing and tears with a movie montage of my life the girls had made for me.”

Zoe and Kurt chose Light House Caravan Park Exmouth for their wedding day. Zoe remarking, “As most girls, I had been dreaming of my wedding day for many years & with the help of Pinterest my dreams came true. We turned a few bare camping bays into a beautiful wonderland, with lanterns, jars, candles, wine barrels, flowers, glass baubles, fairy lights, lace, tissue paper pompoms, wooden crates, old books and vintage suitcases.

The ceremony and the reception were both at the Lighthouse caravan park in Exmouth. It’s a beautiful caravan park in a little protected cove at the tip of the Cape Range right by the ocean, with a old lighthouse up on the hill. We chose April as it is a lovely time of year before the tourist season and the caravan park was quite empty. We got married up on a raised level of the park where you could get glimpses of the ocean and there was a beautiful cool breeze. We rented a few camping bays for the reception and decked them out in a rustic vintage style which looked adorable.”

Zoe and Kurt wanted as many family and friends involved as possible, Zoe remembering, “Our nieces and cousins (flower girls) looked adorable in their Tea Princess dresses and our nephews with their vests and cheeky faces. My dad walked me down the aisle after my bridesmaids, mum, brother, sister-in-law and kids. Our friend Sarah did a poem, Larissa sung acoustic version of You’ve Got the Love, and our friend Louise was our ring bearer. My sister in law Kadie and Kurt’s sister Sally were our witnesses.”

Zoe walked down the aisle to “This Years Love” by David Gray.

There was one slight problem with the ceremony – forgetting the rings!

Everything was mismatched, Zoe explaining, “The boys all wore vintage time pieces and mismatch pants, shirts and bow ties, and the bridesmaids all picked their own dresses (from DAHL NYC ) shoes and jewelery that was suited to their own individual style.”

Of their photographers, Zoe tells, “After many hours spend researching wedding photographers I came across a photo Merge Photography had taken… I immediately fell in love their style. Once I got in contact with Karolina & Jodie I knew we had made the right decision as they were so friendly & helpful, it felt like I was emailing old friends. On our wedding day we went to an old vintage yellow caravan parked on the side of the road and a dirt bush track for our location photos… the girls even stayed back to take photos of everyone dancing. We received our wedding photos within 6 weeks and what can I say! They are amazing!

I said to my husband that when ever I am grumpy just tell me to look at our wedding photos as they bring back such great memories and I can not wipe the smile off my face. The girls were so great to work with on the day and had fun laughing and joking with us. We have received so many complements about the girls’ photos and I would highly recommend them to anyone.”

There were plenty of handmade elements in the day – including the three cocktails which greeted guests upon entering the reception space. Zoe remembers, “There were many hours spent with the help of my bridesmaids and Mum. We did DIY wedding invites, table settings which included mismatch jars, decorations, take home jams/chutneys made by my mum, we did a polaroid photo board of all the guests, we made the cocktails for the guests and we re-styled my mum’s wedding veil that I wore on the day!”

The favors were made by Zoe’s mum. ” My beautiful mum made delish mint sauce, apricot jam, tomato chutney and berry sauce for all our guests to take home and we had stubby holders for everyone to keep their drinks cold in sunny Exmouth.”

The lack of power caused a funny story the day of the wedding. Zoe remembers, “There were a few hiccups on the day starting with there being no power for the caterers. My brother-in-law who was one of our groomsmen and an electrician had to wire up a new system the morning of the wedding, then that same groomsman got locked out of his house so had to remove part of the roof and climb through the man hole to get his clothes and the boys’ flowers!”

Guests enjoyed oversize Jenga under the moon lit sky.

“We had fantastic speeches from Kurt’s brother Neil, my sister (MOH) Khandas, our best man Damon and my dad which got lots of laughs with his joyous story telling.”

In lieu of wedding cake, the newlyweds served Italian gelato in paper cups from local restaurant Pinocchios.

Of the first dance, Zoe remembers, “We are both huge fans of the Waifs, so we chose the song Love Serenade, which is a upbeat duet! We were planning on doing a proper styled dance but time got away from us, so we ended up doing our own thing and I finished the dance with my dad and Kurt with my mum which was quite sweet.”

Cape Collective provided the musical entertainment for the night. “We had great entertainment with the Cape Collective band and Kurt and I even got up to sing a song each (I cannot sing, but Kurt can hold a note). A few friends and Kurt’s brother who is musically talented did a few numbers too.”