When Lewis and Ella dreamt up their wedding day, they wanted it to be less about formality and tradition, and more about their friends and family getting together. They ditched the traditions they hated, and instead invited their guests to an off-grid country property, for a celebration under the most amazing old oak tree.

And there was still fun, don’t worry, and Ingrid Coles documented all of it. From the BBQ feast everyone dined on, to the unforgettable first dance not between Ella and Lewis themselves – but between Ella and her dad! The ease of the day, absolute perfection.

The couple first laid eyes on each other in Brisbane way back in 2012. Ella lived next door to three young men who would talk about an elusive ‘Lewis’. “He developed a bit of status as an enigma and was legendary in our overlapping circle of friends and neighbours, but it took some time for us to meet. “Then at a backyard BBQ at my neighbour’s house, I finally got to meet Lewis. It felt nice to finally meet this famous ‘Lewis’. However, it’s fair to say that he made more of an impression on me than I did on Lewis! On a subsequent night out, I plucked up the courage to cross the floor and strike up a conversation with Lewis, by saying, ‘Hi, we met at Tom and Cody’s place’. But he responded with, ‘no, we have never met before. You must have met my brother Nick’!
I thought at that moment he was the rudest person I’d ever met. I walked away feeling a bit shaken. Lewis, on the other hand, remembers being captivated by the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and thinking that she ‘obviously doesn’t want to talk to me, she must be talking about my brother.’

Then we kept seeing each other at different events with friends and liked each other’s Instagram photos. Eventually, some of our friends noticed our flirting at these events and started to insist that we start dating. Finally, in 2013, we did. We met up for a drink at a whisky bar under the guise of ‘it’s just a casual catch up, not a date, anyone is welcome’. But no one else came – because it was a date.”

Lewis chose one of Melbourne’s hottest days on record to pop the question “in the Carlton Gardens. Far, far, far away from air conditioning” laughs Ella.”I was meeting my friend Bec for a drink after work, and nearly cancelled twice (once in the morning when I said to Lewis, I wasn’t sure I’d want to go out in the heat and he profusely told me I had to). Then in the middle of the day when I nearly called it off, Lewis again insisted that I go and catch up with Bec – he even said he was going out so it was more of an incentive not to come home.

Bec said she’d booked a restaurant on the other side of Carlton Gardens – and as we were walking there, I was close to pulling the pin. I kept saying ‘Bec, it’s so hot, why are we going to dinner out in Carlton Gardens’ and she did a remarkable job at convincing me. She said I was going to love it. As we entered the gardens, I saw someone who looked like Lewis – only to realise it was Lewis, but he was wearing a button-up shirt and long pants. I was quickly very confused by this considering the temperature. As I walked closer, my heart started to race – and when I looked at Bec she said ‘we’re not going to dinner’.

At that point I was so overwhelmed with emotion, I had to bend over! I just started crying and was so hot, I was a mess. Lewis had a picnic set up with roses, cheeses, olives, and pictures of our cat under a stunning fig tree.
The gardens were completely empty, so Bec left us and Lewis said a beautiful speech before asking me to marry him. I burst out YES, and was then so hot with shock and emotion, that I emptied the ice bucket down my dress to cool myself down. After an hour or so in the park happy crying and being full of endorphins, we went to Embla for dinner in the city.”

“Lewis wanted to get his suit made and after some research, he went to Oscar Hunt for a woollen suit” remembers Ella. “He had a wonderful experience with Oscar Hunt, they worked with him to find every design exactly how he wanted. They colour matched the tie and overall it was a brilliant experience.”

Ella chose a simple, elegant gown by Nikita Couture from Fairytales Bridal Boutique. She remembers  “I had gone to three wedding dress shops around Melbourne, and although the dresses were beautiful, nothing had felt like ‘me’. I was starting to feel anxious and a bit unhopeful that I’d find the right kind of dress. My prerequisites were it had to be comfortable enough to dance in, it needed to suit a wedding on a property with possible mud, rain and grass – and it needed to feel like my style.

I took my friend Jess with me to the final store I was going to try. And after 15 minutes, I’d decided there was nothing for me. I was about to walk out, but Jess was adamant we’d find something. She went through every single dress and found this one at the very back of the store. She pulled it out and said I had to at least try it on. As soon as I walked out, I looked at her and realised this dress was the best one I’d tried on. I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t have picked it out, but everything about it felt right. Huge thank you to Jess for not giving up!”

For their wedding, Ella and Lewis booked out country venue Half Moon Creek in Wandiligong. for their wedding. “It’s the most beautiful property, with a creek running through” explains Ella. “The property is off-grid, so being surrounded by mountains in the Wandiligong valley felt special. There is an oak tree on the property that was around 200 years old, and it’s incredible. For the reception, there’s a huge barn with a fireplace, bar and outdoor area with fire pits and lights – it’s the most stunning spot.”

“Lewis and I entered the ceremony together” explains Ella. “We met on the property beforehand to have some time to gather ourselves and to feel as relaxed as possible. It was incredible walking in with Lewis, it meant a lot to me to do that together. We walked into the ceremony to “Natural Blue”, by Julie Byrne.”

Says Lewis “After worrying about it in the lead up the weather turned out perfectly. It was such a beautiful location and we felt so lucky to have everyone together for the first time in years. I remember being nervous up until the point we saw all our guests’ faces – as soon as I did I realised we love everyone there and they love us and the nerves went away.”

Ella and Lewis chose Custom Celebrations By Dee to perform their ceremony, sharing “The ceremony was so much fun, there were huge belly laughs and plenty of happy tears. As we entered, all our guests were cheering. The ceremony was casual, it was honest about who we both were and it was sincere. Our friends and family thought we were related to our celebrant because she was so brilliant at authentically telling our story. it was everything we’d hoped for. It was relaxed and everyone just had the best time.”

The flowers on the day were styled by Floral Isle remembers Ella.  “Sarah did two bouquets, two hanging decals for inside the barn, and two buttonhole pins – all made from Australian natives.”

These two wanted to maximise their party time, and they enlisted their photographer to work her magic at lightning speed. Says Ella “Ingrid Coles is a legend. We said we only want to do portraits for half an hour, and she was so amazing at working with us to get what we wanted. Lewis and I spent half an hour getting photos before joining the party, and Ingrid then captured candid moments with our friends and family – which was just perfect. Ingrid also did just an amazing job at capturing the beauty of the venue and nature that was all around us.”

The day unfolded exactly as Ella and Lewis had planned- with relaxed ease. “There was no formal structure, so people felt at ease to eat, drink and go where they liked. We’d advise anyone getting married to try to remove the formality if you can! It honestly makes everyone feel at ease and makes weddings just a funner party.

We loved having friends and family travel and seeing different friends and family meet each other and spend time together, groups came together and watching them all have fun was the best. We got to talk to everyone at the wedding, we felt really connected to everyone there.”

There may have been a lot of celebration, but we can’t forget to tell you all about the food! Tells Ella “We went with Burn City Smokers, and the food was everything we wanted and more. We had so many vegan and GF options, and we wanted hearty and grainy salads. The meats were incredible and perfect because it was getting to around three degrees at night. Burn City Smokers were so lovely to work with, they’re legends.”

“We had photographs of special family members who are no longer with us placed in the barn, just to acknowledge how much we would have loved them to be there. They were happy and funny photos with grandparents and others who would have had the best time at the wedding,” tells Ella.

“We did nearly everything ourselves.  Drinks, sound/music, and decorations throughout the barn, we organised the busses to and from the venue. It was a big DIY wedding. I loved creating multiple playlists for the day, I had about five in the end. I also loved creating our drinks menu! We had more than eight different options, with lots of non-alcoholic options and it was fun to create a little menu for everyone.”

Another tradition ditched? The first dance! Tells Ella “Lewis and I didn’t do a first dance, instead, my Dad and I did a special dance. My Dad and I share a love of music and we wanted to do something to honour that. We danced to Relax-Ay-Voo by Dean Martin and Line Renaud.”

“Lewis and I completely forgot about the cake, we were too busy dancing. So our cake photo is of the knife just shoved into the side of the cake. We shoved a knife in with just one cousin there and then went back to dancing.”

Congratulations on your marriage Ella and Lewis! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us and thank you to Ingrid Coles and Custom Celebrations By Dee for so graciously working with us on this feature.