Caitlin & Rob

What happens when two theatre kids tie the knot? Well not only is it every bit as fun-filled as you’d expect (blowing of bubbles, cricket, and even a concert after dark!) but it turns out, it’s also an occasion full of moments, full of attention to detail, of treasuring the tiniest, but most momentous of touches. It’s details like Caitlin wearing the very same hairpiece her mother wore when marrying her father, it’s a wedding cake that could easily be mistaken for the couple’s favourite paintings, it’s a ceremony that honours just who they are. And it’s a festival inspired wedding, full of everything we adore. Caitlin and Rob invited Matt Elliot along to capture their day – and aren’t we the luckiest to witness it!

And of course, with a love of theatre, it makes sense that that’s where these two met, the duo sharing “We met a long time ago through the improvisation/theatre world, but it wasn’t until years later that we became an item! One blustery May afternoon our eyes locked across The Wesley Ann in Northcote while Rob was recording a live podcast, and we both instantly knew that this was something big.”

The night when Rob proposed? On stage, but of course! “Rob knew there were two requirements for his proposal to Caitlin: 1. It had to be a surprise. 2. It couldn’t be out at dinner.
We adore performing together. We also have a huge love of Harry Potter. Rob always knew he wanted to propose to Caitlin on stage, in front of all their friends and family after a show they had created together.
So that is exactly what happened. Rob and Caitlin created the Harry Potter-themed comedy show ‘Wizard Actors: A Brief History of Magic’ at their favourite venue, The Butterfly Club, and for a week they performed this show in front of packed houses and received glowing reviews.
On closing night, after the show had just finished, in front of a sold-out crowd of friends and family, Rob proposed.”

Want to see how their proposal unfolded? Click on over to the video capturing it all here. 

Rob’s look was set around a beautiful waistcoat from UK company Tom Sawyer Waistcoats. And of course, Converse sneakers were a signature finishing touch!

The bride found her gorgeous ballgown at Brides of Brunswick. She knew what she wanted from day dot sharing “I  knew I wanted a dress that was tea-length from the outset. There was less certainty about the rest of the dress… but surrounded by my mum and bridesmaids we found the perfect strapless, lace, corset design in Brides of Brunswick. Suzy who manages the store was so amazing – especially when I said that I planned to have the dress shortened (it was originally a full-length gown). It’s longer than I was originally planning, but when we saw it at the longer tea-length we just loved it!
The bridesmaids chose their dresses from many places within an “autumn” colour palette. It seemed right that they should choose something that suits their different styles and colouring, and I think they looked amazing!”

The carefully chosen details, were what made this day so special, tell the bride and groom.  “For heirlooms, Rob’s mum gifted Caitlin with a beautiful sapphire and diamond ring that belonged to Rob’s grandmother. Caitlin also wore a headpiece in her hair which was the same one her mum Jenie wore when marrying her dad, Stephen.”

Instead of traditional bouquets, the bride and bridesmaids carried hoops of flowers, Caitlin explaining “It was thanks to scrolling through Pinterest that Caitlin discovered the idea of the “flower hoops”, and even then they were quite different to what we ended up with! Robert and Caitlin went into a Bridge Rd Florist in Richmond two days before the wedding, and bought up armfuls of flowers we loved… including babies breath, blue thistle sea holly and oh so many gum leaves!
It was also important for us to have a yellow rose in Rob’s boutonniere and on my hoop, in memory of his late grandfather Len who always wore a yellow rose.
Together with the bridesmaids, my (Caitlin’s) mum and a few other friends, we spent the night before the wedding making the bridal party’s hoop flowers and groom’s peeps boutonnieres while watching a movie. The bridal party also put together the flowers for around the venue, in jars that we’d been collecting for the past year. It was such a wonderful crafty way to prepare for the wedding!”

Caitlin and Rob Scrub Hill 1869 chose for their wedding “festival”, sharing “The entire day was held at Scrub Hill 1869, a stunning DIY venue that allowed us to have the whole property for the day (plus the day before and after for set-up/pack-down!). Thanks to the help, support and unending patience of venue managers Jenni and Jennie (it was a wedding FULL of Jens), we were able to craft the wedding we had imagined, and it was a significant undertaking!”

Caitlin walked down the aisle with her mum and dad. “The only song I could walk down the aisle to was “Geronimo” by Sheppard! It’s our song, through and through, so we found an acoustic version online and dove into the waterfall! Both my parents walked me down the aisle, they have both been such a huge and wonderful support throughout my life, it felt right to have them both.”

Caitlin and Rob were married by Jessie Belle. “We held our ceremony in the bushy, dappled light area at the back of Scrub Hill. There was beautiful greenery that formed a perfect space for the ceremony and a natural arc to frame everything. It was also far away and hidden from the main roads to the property, so we were practically cut-off from the outside world. It was simply perfect.

We were so fortunate to have Jessie Belle as our celebrant. Rob has been friends with Jessie for years, as they use to perform together with the improvisational troupe The Big HooHaa. Jessie brought joy and glorious sense-of-humour to the ceremony and understood exactly the tone we were after.”

“Caitlin and Rob started their very own tradition on the day, explaining “We decided to create a new tradition for our wedding (more DIY). An important part of the wedding was the coming together of two families, so we decided to centre our new tradition on that.
Caitlin’s mum Jenie is a fantastic glass artist (Jenie Yolland). We have a piece of glass art that we created together in a workshop, and whenever Rob’s mum is in Melbourne she always books herself and her sister in for one of Jenie’s art glass-making workshops.” (continued below)

“So, we decided to represent the fusing together of two families with the fusing together of glass art.
Each member of the Lloyd and Yolland clans were given a small cup filled with smashed coloured glass. During the ceremony we all poured our separate containers into one large bowl and all that glass will be used to create a form of glass art called a Geode. This incredibly specific and one-of-a-kind artwork will be displayed in our home. There is a photo of us presenting an example green and white Geode on our signing table to our guests at the ceremony, with us posing very naturally…”

“We had two readings on the day. “Ulysses” by Alfred Lord Tennyson from Rob’s favourite movie Dead Poets Society, read by Jennifer from Rob’s groom squad. We also had the lyrics to the song “All I Want Is You” by Barry Louis Polisar from the film Juno’s soundtrack was read by Caitlin’s dear friend Jaklene.”

For Caitlin and Rob, this was a wedding that was very much not about “one day”, sharing “We both enjoyed the planning of not only the wedding but also the whole weekend leading up to it. We had ideas of things we wanted to do for the larger ‘event’, including movies the night before, set-up of the venue the day before and oh so much laughter. It was amazing when it all came together and we were able to make a lifetime of memories with friends from all different aspects of our lives.”

For these two, their wedding party was one of their favourite parts. “To be honest, one of the most important parts of the wedding to us was the opportunity for our wedding party to get to know each other, many of whom are from differing aspects of our lives. We stayed in Daylesford from two nights before the wedding with the wedding party and with our family nearby. I (Caitlin) would say the second best part of the wedding was our friends genuinely becoming friends throughout the weekend and the event itself. The best part – obviously – was getting married to Rob (nailed it).”

“Matt and his second photographer Jess were absolutely phenomenal” note Caitlin & Rob. ” He was even more incredible than we could have imagined (and we had high hopes!) We were so lucky to have Matt capture our wedding day. We had several specific requests and Matt was so accommodating, understanding and ready with advice and insights. Both Matt and Jess were truly brilliant and captured the essence of our day and “us”, in every photo. Their photography was utterly stunning, while also feeling unique to us. More than this, they were amazing and humorous supports on the day. It was such a pleasure to have them around as people, as well as sensational professionals.”

It was a handmade day, and Caitlin and Rob note that as one thing they’re incredibly proud of “Literally, everything. One of the reasons that we chose Scrub Hill is that it allowed us to DIY all details of the wedding. From our food truck to having a choice of the wines and beers which were served. From the flowers to the invitations – which we designed in photoshop after painting with watercolour. From the tablecloths to the umbrellas for shade, and bringing everything up in a Budget rent-a-truck. It took a village to raise this wedding, and we are so grateful to our families, bridal party and their partners for helping us create our perfect festival of love!”

Those beautiful paintingS? Turns out, they’re cake! “One other very special detail was the stunning cake, made by Jennifer (yes another Jen!) at Sweet Forgeries, who makes famous artworks into cakes. She crafted for us two cakes, one large Starry Night and one smaller gluten-free Cafe Terrace at Night, both amazing Van Gough pieces. You can eat everything, including the frame. Robert and Caitlin saw Starry Night together in New York, so it’s a particularly special piece.”

“We got to do so much that we wanted to do, like play cricket together, watch our friends sing, perform and puppeteer and make fun stuff up! Somehow, magically (and thanks to a complex combination involving a straw and back-to-front denim jacket) Caitlin didn’t spill a drop of red wine on her dress!”

As night fell, the newlyweds took to the dance floor. Caitlin sharing “Well, true to us, we completely improvised the choreography of our first dance, which meant it was slightly haphazard but very honest and fun. We danced to “Into Your Arms” by Nick Cave, one of my favourites.”

And after dark for these two show kids, it was time for a concert! Caitlin and Rob remembering “One thing we were certain of right from the start was that we wanted to end our wedding with a bang… with a concert. We have so many incredibly talented performers in our life that we had to have them on stage. So, towards the end of the night, everybody gathered inside the beautiful bluestone chapel for a concert that consisted of both our fathers singing, our friends performing as The Mighty Littles (our improvised puppetry company) and Robert surprising Caitlin by singing a beautiful rendition of “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday” from The Muppet Movie, accompanied by Brad on guitar.”

Caitlin and Rob chose Nick Hill Productions to capture a beautiful motion film of the day’s adventures.

A big congratulations to you both Caitlin and Rob! What a wonderful day to be to share! Thank you to you both and also to Matt Elliot for today’s beautiful images!