Beth and Pablo invited just a few guests to celebrate their wedding. A day in which they danced in the rain, braced the freezing (summer) temperatures and were enveloped, every bit, by the love of their community. “We wanted something elegant but simple” explains Beth. “It was an intimate wedding, with around 30 of our favourite people” with, of course, photographer Lea & Lens to document it all.

With the Snowy Mountains as their wedding locale, it seems apt that the mountains were what brought these two together – the pair meeting while they were both living and working in the Rocky Mountains of Canada in Kananaskis.

And not only did the couple choose the beautiful all-in-one venue Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa as their wedding venue, as it turns out, but it’s also the place Pablo asked Beth to marry him. “We had moved down for the winter season to work. On our second anniversary, we spent the morning skiing/snowboarding, and Pablo had organised a picnic at Lake Crackenback. Beth grew suspicious throughout the day when Pablo didn’t have any snacks organised. Turns out it was all ready and organised by the resort.”

Beth found her stunning beaded gown on a weekend trip to Canberra at Affordable Bridal. “Wedding planning for me was difficult. I tend to procrastinate on difficult decisions, but finding a venue and setting a date meant I had no choice! My favourite part was probably trying on wedding dresses!

I went on a weekend away to Canberra with my bestie to go wedding dress shopping just a few months before the wedding. The experience was interesting. The first few places we went to didn’t feel overly welcoming or supportive, asking things such as ‘You’re getting married THIS December?!’ (We went shopping in late September..oops). When we pulled up to the final dress shop we planned to look at, we weren’t instilled with much confidence. But as soon as we walked in we were welcomed and felt confident we would find a dress! As soon as I tried the dress on, I knew it was perfect! It’s not at all what I expected I would wear to my wedding, but it was perfect!

I was lucky enough to wear my late grandma’s earrings, which were given to her by my late grandpa, who unfortunately passed away about a year before the wedding.”

Pablo’s wedding day attire? From yd. Clothing. “Pablo walked into YD and half an hour later walked out with his suit and shoes!” laughs Beth.

Beth and Pablo held every part of their day – from ceremony to a reception at Lake Crackenback Resort & Spa. “Lake Crackenback was also the perfect venue for us. Everyone was able to stay at the property and meet for breakfast every morning. There were multiple options for locations for the ceremony and reception.”

The couple chose local florist Thorn & Snow to create their wedding day floral details. Beth explains “I really wasn’t sure what I wanted, so went to see Nicole with a few photos and left the rest up to her. I loved what she came up with! My only request was I wanted something I could keep, so we went with dried and preserved flowers, and my bouquet and the large florals at the base of our arbour are lovely decorations in our home.”

Cold weather meant the couple’s venue team stepped up to make sure the guests were protected from the elements. “We had originally planned to have the ceremony on the grassy area overlooking the water and mountains, however, the weather on the day was windy, rainy and about 5 degrees. We were lucky that Lake Crackenback had several weather options, and on the day we moved the ceremony to a large undercover area, where we still had lovely views of the water.”

Beth walked down the aisle by herself to “Only Love” by Ben Howard.

One of the things Beth & Pablo did their way, as was a non-denominational, simple wedding ceremony. “Our ceremony was perfect. We wanted it to be intimate and just be with our closest friends and family. We wrote our vows and did not have a religious ceremony. We decided against having a formal wedding party. We had some of our closest friends and family do ’traditional’ roles at the wedding, such as signing the wedding certificate, saying a speech etc but everyone wore whatever they liked! My cousin, who  I hadn’t  seen in 8 years due to living in a different country, was able to come to the wedding, and I surprised her on the day and asked for her to sign the wedding certificate.”

“Thanks to technology, we were able to live stream our ceremony to Pablo’s family in Costa Rica. We were lucky enough to be able to go to Costa Rica in October of last year to have wedding round one with his friends and family.”

Yet to tie the knot? Take Beth’s advice. “Do it your way. Whether you want a big wedding or 10 of your closest friends, do what you want. Spend the money on a good photographer, you will want to hang the photos all around your house. Don’t stress about small details, everything will come together in the end!”

“Lea from Lea and Lens was the absolute best!” raves Beth of the couple’s photographer. “We found choosing a photographer probably the hardest decision to make while planning our wedding. From our first consultation phone call with Lea, we knew she was the one. Neither of us wanted awkward posed photos, and Lea perfectly captured candid photos of us on the day. The photos of us dancing in the rain, which looks like sparkles is pretty special. It’s hard to tell just how cold it was on the day, Lea did such an amazing job capturing everything but the bad weather!”

 

The benefits of an all-in-one venue meant Beth & Pablo were able to welcome their gets for drinks and dinner in the resort’s onsite venues. “After the ceremony, we had drinks in a venue called Cuisine, which is still within Lake Crackenback. It has beautiful large windows which look out onto the water, where we all watched the rain and wind, and celebrated with Champagne. For the reception, we moved to a beautiful, smaller venue called the Alpine Larder. I was initially worried this venue might feel a bit crowded, but it was perfect. It was cosy with a real fireplace, we had plenty of room to move around without feeling on top of each other and plenty of room for a dance floor at the end of the night.”

 

The couple’s first dance was casual but very romantic .”We didn’t rehearse a dance in the end, but danced to “Beyond” by Leon Bridges.”

One of the newlwyed’s favourite memories of the night? “Everyone dancing to Latino music (Pablo is from Costa Rica, Central America) at the end of the night!”

Congratulations on your marriage Beth and Pablo! Thank you for taking the time to share your stories with us! Thank you also to Lea & Lens for sharing this beauty with us.