Forget tradition – Caris and Brett’s reverse rollerskating wedding was a masterclass in reimagining the modern wedding. Bold, creative, and unapologetically fun, their multi-day celebration started with a rollerskating reception, followed by a disco-themed bash, and finished with a heartfelt forest ceremony. Their approach seamlessly blended theatrical flair, sentimental moments, and retro aesthetics, all while staying true to their unique personalities. With every detail, Caris and Brett turned their love story into an unforgettable work of art. All captured under the talented eye of The Beautiful Strange!

When Caris and Brett first met, their thing was stories – they’d send silly made-up stories about different characters back and forth as they got to know each other better. “This tennis ball of fiction fuelled our burgeoning love!”

Brett took Caris to Marriot Falls under the guise of a picnic; all the while, he carried a near-empty picnic basket. “We got lost driving the wrong way down a gravel road. We walked to the waterfall, and Brett had a picnic basket that he’d acquired as a ruse. Inside the picnic basket was a box, quite large and wrapped in foil. I asked what was inside the box, and he got down on one knee and opened it. It was a music box. “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes started to play, and he asked if I’d ‘be his baby’. I would have been a fool to say anything, but yes!”

Instead of following the traditional ceremony and THEN reception, Brett and Caris took a different route – and did a reverse wedding! To kick off their day, the couple and their guests had the first part of the reception at Malaga Rollerzone for the rollerskating part of the events!

Over the three wedding events of the week, Caris wore many outfits, starting with a rollerskating ensemble of a red metallic jumpsuit and a frothy tulle jacket! She finished the look with a pair of Chuffed Skates rollerskates and, when the skates came off, a pair of Ziggy Stardust style  platform shoes.

For this portion of the night, Brett embodied the energy and sexuality of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever in a pair of black flair pants and a patterned retro button-up.

Following the rollerskating part of the night, Caris, Brett and their guests moved to Night Owl Studio for a 70s-themed disco reception. “The space was fantastic because it had a stage and access to a screen. This meant my sister could perform a ventriloquist act with a Rocky Horror theme, my Dad could do a stand-up act (and a wedding-themed episode screened of his famous YouTube show Jimmy the Squid), and we could make 10 music videos to count down our top 10 songs of us,” they shared. “Also, there was disco line dancing, and Caris’ sister had pre-recorded herself doing the instructional video in a 70s get-up. Night Owl Studio was amazing, accommodating to our AV requests and lighting our many performers and people delivering speeches.”

Caris wore this incredible L’IDEE dress with dramatic bell sleeves and a disco crown made by Crown of Sol in the first part of the evening. She then switched into a vintage 1970s dress with fluttery sleeves to better dance in.

For their dance, Caris and Brett tried to replicate the “More Than a Woman” dance from Saturday Night Fever – and did a pretty good job by the looks of these photos! “There was a record scratch halfway through the song to transition into our self-choreographed ‘Making Flippy Floppy’ line dance to kick off our dancing. We’d recorded ourselves in various locations doing our David Byrne moves, and every time we squid jumped to the next side, our location would change. This was projected on the big screen at Night Owl Studio so our guests could join in.”

Being the design teacher she is, Caris made all the invitations and place cards for this reverse rollerskating wedding! “There were two sets of invites for both events. Carly, our photographer, came to our house and did a 70s-themed shoot for the disco reception – we made these into vinyl covers, and the invite was on an old EP inside. We did all our own styling for both events. My Mum and Aunt put together the floral arrangements and backdrops for the disco,” Caris shared.

With so much incredible styling and planning, it should come as no surprise that Caris and Brett can’t pick just one photo as their favourite. “There are way too many beautiful photos – everything Carly took perfectly captured all the special moments of the day. Looking back at them, it felt like we were reliving everything all over again.”

For the final event of this wedding week, Caris and Brett invited their closest family to their forest ceremony in Upper Warren. This day, Caris picked out a simple dress and veil and then wore a gorgeous embroidered bodice made by Sumarokova Atelier. Later in the evening, she pulled on a custom jacket made by Be My Boots, which was made from a vintage Uzbekistani textile and Mongolian sheep fur.

Brett wore a tux he’d bought from Myer that didn’t fit very well, but after some help from Callum from Edward McCann, Tailoring and Alterations was perfect! “Great guy. It fit much better.”

Caris’ son and daughter made up the wedding party, with their son Bowie wearing a lilac suit from the Iconic and a Perte D’ego shirt. Her daughter, Viola, wore a vintage 50s dress with beautiful hand-crafted pansy flower flips made by FlowerFromEugene.

The actual ceremony itself took place at Snake Gully Lookout in Shannon National Park, where Caris walked down the aisle with her Dad as “Quand Les Larmes D’un Ange Font” by Melody’s Echo Chamber floated through the air.

All of the beautiful flowers from this day were created by Linda from EarthBlooms Bridgetown. “I gave her a colour palette and wanted something vivid and sprawling that matched the table decor and embroidery on the wedding dress, and she definitely delivered it using organic, seasonal blooms. Lots of ranunculus!”

The ceremony was written by Caris and Brett, sticking to the specific idea they had in their minds. “Sentimental but silly. It was magical. We wrote our own vows and said too many nice things to each other.”

The top five things that made this reverse rollerskating wedding so incredibly unique to Caris and Brett included:

“1. Our ceremony was in the lush forest of southwest Australia with only our parents, Caris’ sister and her children. It was very intimate and meant we could be unselfconscious and comfortable expressing our abundance of love.

2. Getting a chance to make the music videos and radio countdown – this was fun. It helped express who we are as a couple – two very silly, creative, like-minded, strange people.

3. Allowing Caris’ family opportunities to perform and be silly. My family is very theatrical and has a ball dressing up, dancing, and performing in various ways.

4. Rollerskating – we just like rollerskating. Brett and I bought each other rollerskates for our first Christmas together. We have spent many nights rollerskating around the neighbourhood and trying to do tricks in parking lots ever since.

5. All the thoughtful speeches – from the ceremony we wrote together, to the vows, to the many thoughtful and hilarious speeches delivered by family members.”

The photographer who captured every intimate moment of this reverse rollerskating wedding was Carly from The Beautiful Strange! “It was like getting photographed by a friend who’s an expert. She made us feel very relaxed and comfortable, and the whole family loved her. She captured every detail and beautiful moment. She was more experimental and captured the high energy of the disco. She was also a genius when capturing golden, light-infused ceremony photos. The contrast in photography between the two events is perfect. We are honestly thinking of excuses to do other silly photoshoots with her because she was so much fun and talented. And we hate having our photos taken, so that’s saying something.”

Back at their AirBnb, Hampshire Farmshouse, they had a dinner catered by Winyup Catering in Upper Warren. “Brett from Winyup catering (different Brett) cooked a 3-course meal for our family at the AirBnB following the ceremony, and everyone raved about the food. It was absolutely incredible!! The chef and waiter came in, cooked the meal, and disappeared, leaving a spotlessly clean kitchen. We highly recommend them.” 

The meal was plated up on all of these gorgeous vintage flower plates collected by Caris and Brett, creating the perfect finishing touch to their wedding dinner!

Congratulations, Caris and Brett, for this breathtaking reverse wedding! And thanks to The Beautiful Strange for sharing this beautiful celebration with us.