Bonnie & Chris

When it comes to historic wedding venues, there are few places that live up the enchantment of the beautiful  Montsalvat and I think Bonnie and Chris, todays happy newlyweds agree. The beautiful stone buildings set the scene for a day that was about good food, good wine and plenty of loved ones. A beautiful marsala and blush colour palette wove it’s way throughout the day adding a rustic touch to a chic and beautifully understated day.

We’re lucky that Marie-Luise was there to capture it all in beautiful stills because this one? Settle in, it’s a stunner!

Bonnie and Chris chose the beautiful Montsalvat for their day, telling “Montsavlat had great service, so easy, so professional. We couldn’t have been happier.”

Bonnie wore a beautiful gown from designer Nevenka. She tells “We didn’t plan our wedding well in advance so making a dress from scratch was way out of the question due to time constraints. So I tried on a bunch of ready to wear dresses from different designers/makers and this was the only one that felt right. It was constructed from a french embroidered silk/cotton and just felt amazing against my skin. I loved the sheerness of the fabric and the way light passed through the delicate layers.
I’m grateful it was a cool breathable fabric because we had beautiful sunny weather for our wedding and even as the night came to an end there was warmth in the air.”

Francesca Mountfort played the cello as the bride walked down the aisle. “One of our good friends is a professional cellist. She played Bach’s Cello Suite Prelude No. 1 for us as I walked down the aisle. It was ‘shiveringly’ romantic…. a real tear-jerker.”

Bonnie and Chris chose Zena Lythgo to officiate their wedding, telling “We asked for no phones or cameras during the ceremony (except the photographer). We wanted everyone to be fully present in the moment with us.

We had two readings, “A Blessing for The Journey” by Sensei Wendy Egyoku Nakao and “To Love is Not to Possess” by James Kavanaugh.”

The bride and her bridesmaid arranged the bouquets themselves, using fresh blooms from Flowers Vasette. Bonnie explaining “Shayna Quinn-Bowyer (bridesmaid) and I chose the flowers the day before the wedding. We just strolled into Flowers Vasette on Brunswick Street and had a bit of a play. Shayna is great with arranging flowers and had made bouquets for friend’s wedding before, so I felt confident in her ability to transform our collection into beautiful arrangements.”

Of their chosen photographer, Bonnie raves “We had been recommended Marie-Luise Skibbe by our photographer friend Kristoffer Paulsen. We loved her style and were really happy with her work. She did a great job of being in the right place at the right time and captured many incredible memories for us.”

Guests gathered for a reception lit by candles. Explains Bonnie “The food had to be good, the booze flowing, speeches not too long and ample time for dancing!”

The newlyweds kicked off the dancing and celebrations by surprising their guests. Bonnie explaining “We sang a song together which totally surprised everyone including myself as I had never in my life sang in front of a crowd. We chose Leonard Cohen ‘Dance me to the end of love’. Chris was on guitar and singing, I was  singing with Fran our friend on the cello.” The couple also chose Real Love Baby by Father John Misty for their dance floor debut.

A big congratulations to you both Bonnie and Chris. Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us. Thank you also to Marie-Luise for today’s beautiful photographs.