Chic Surprise Wedding at The Calile Hotel

Rachel and Matt’s wedding was the kind of magic you usually only see in movies – a beautifully unexpected surprise wrapped in romance and joy. What was meant to be an engagement party at The Calile Hotel turned into an unforgettable wedding, where guests found themselves witnessing a love story unfold in real-time. With Aleisha Edwards Weddings capturing every heartfelt moment on film and Lauren Wild Creative behind the lens, the day was filled with dreamy florals, emotional vows, and the kind of happiness that lingers long after the last dance.

Rachel and Matt first crossed paths while working at the same theme park, but it wasn’t until a mutual friend’s housewarming party that sparks truly flew. A few distracted run-ins at work later (because who can focus when fate is at play?), they finally went on their first date. From that moment on, their love story was set in motion!

In late 2024, this duo had planned to travel to South Africa for a safari holiday but, unfortunately, had to cancel their plans. Matt thinking quick on his feet planned a weekend away in Byron instead. He proposed at their beautiful Airbnb with panoramic views of the lighthouse and ocean surrounding them.

Keeping with the surprise theme of the event, Matt had two separate tuxedos custom-made by Germanicos. The first for the engagement party portion of the night was a classic black tux, and he later changed into a white tux for the wedding section.

Rachel wore a custom dress for the engagement created by Herz Designs on the Gold Coast. Inspired by Elsa Hosk’s Gabrielle Gown, her engagement dress featured a strapless neckline, a high/low skirt and a drop waist with a gorgeous bow detail on the back.

Both Matt and Rachel had three people in their respective wedding parties. Matt had his three best friends since school, each wearing a matching tux with a black jacket to contrast the groom himself.

Rachel’s wedding gown was custom designed and crafted by George Wu, complete with a high leg slit showing hints of lace and finished with an incredible draping effect. “I wanted my wedding gown to be both classic and modern. The design of the dress focused around the draping of the dress and the high leg slit,” Rachel shared.

Three days after they were engaged, Rachel and Matt submitted their enquiry for an engagement party to The Calile Hotel. And two days after that they changed their plans to a surprise wedding! “We had never discussed wedding plans or venues prior to getting engaged. When we got engaged it was difficult to think of potential local wedding venues given that we are in the industry and had worked behind the scenes at many of them. We love visiting the Calile Hotel for dinners and also hadn’t had an event there before. We thought it was the perfect venue for an engagement party with a great ceremony space also!”

Rachel had her two sisters and her best friend in her wedding party, each wearing a different stunning silky gown in varying shades of pink.

In terms of DIY projects, Rachel and Matt’s biggest is running their own wedding hire business! AisleSuite provided the furnishings for their surprise wedding – including this incredible ceremony platform! “On our wedding day, Matt helped set up our ceremony platform and French sofa whilst my sister/bridesmaid/business partner set up our champagne tower.”

Maddie Jayde Floral Design created all of the beautiful florals you’ll find throughout this feature. She brought Rachel and Matt’s soft, whimsical dreams to life. “The ceremony florals were our big statement piece, particularly with the platform to frame the flower meadows,” Rachel explained. “We requested florals that were in the colours of soft pinks, yellows, with touches of burgundy.”

Rachel walked down the aisle with her father as an instrumental version of Sleeping at Last’s “Turning Page” floated through the air.

Led by their celebrant, Maria Stauber, the ceremony was a beautiful collection of their love stories. “We wanted all of our friends and family to witness the love that we have for each other, being vulnerable and sharing our love in front of nearly 100 people.”

Their favourite detail of the day? Just how much fun they had surprising their friends and family! “We were very lucky the timeline worked out! We had to navigate some last minute guests who couldn’t make it due to various reasons and prepare for guests to arrive late and potentially miss the surprise (luckily none did).”

Some of their favourite shots with photographer Lauren came from these post-ceremony rooftop candids! “We both love the rooftop photos where we are walking and laughing with one another,” they shared.

Speaking of their photographer, Lauren Wild Creative is someone Rachel and Matt had worked with on a styled shoot and just knew they needed her to capture their surprise wedding! She captured their wedding in a mix of 35mm film and digital. “We’d been lucky to work with Lauren in a professional capacity almost one year prior to the day of our wedding through mine and my sister/bridesmaid’s wedding business, AisleSuite,” Rachel explained. “I have to mention that Matt is pretty much a silent partner of AisleSuite since he’s been involuntarily dragged along to help out with any weddings/events since we launched. We reached out to Lauren and couldn’t be happier to have her capture our special day.”

With only five months to bring their dream wedding to life, Matt and Rachel didn’t have the time to second guess their decisions – something they’re grateful for. “It was a big team effort with Matt and I. We ultimately didn’t have to wait months or years in anticipation for our wedding day since it was only 5 months.”

A true showstopper was the wedding cake by The Sweet Society Co. This three-tiered masterpiece featured white icing artfully sculpted, creating a soft, romantic texture. It was almost too beautiful to cut into (but absolutely worth every bite!).

The top four things that made Rachel and Matt’s surprise wedding so unique included:

“1. All of our friends and family being in the same space to celebrate us,

2. The uniqueness of our event, a surprise element which made it really exciting for us to see our guests reactions and for it to be memorable for them,

3. Our first dance,

4. Our celebrant, Weddings By Maria Stauber, “love story” she wrote and shared with us and our guests.”

“Bed Chem” by Sabrina Carpenter was their song of choice for the first dance, choreographed by one of their groomsmen! “We wanted a song that reflected us as a couple – fun, flirty, not too serious, but with all the effort.”