Twelve months after they eloped in the UK, Alex and Caitlin had a marriage celebration in Melbourne for their Aussie friends and family! Think navy sequins, a sharp indigo tux, graffiti laneways, and an unforgettable dance floor – Caitlin and Alex’s Melbourne celebration had it all. With Leo Farrell behind the lens, their night was perfectly captured, showcasing all the personality, laughter, and joy of the night.

Caitlin and Alex met at Clydesdale Bank in London, where they both worked at the time. “Alex is a born and bred Londoner (or perhaps technically a Kentish man) and joined Clydesdale Bank in 2008 on their graduate program and progressed up the ranks. Caitlin moved to London (from Melbourne) in 2011 and got a job at Clydesdale Bank (a subsidiary of NAB at the time, where she had previously worked in Melbourne),” they shared.

“We met in the office and got to know each other during work nights out, often ending up in the notorious “meat market” night club in the City of London, Abacus (no longer in existence, RIP).”

Early in their relationship, marriage wasn’t a super important value to either of them – as it isn’t the only form of commitment. However, after being together for about six years and watching all of their friends start to get married, that thought shifted, and it became clear that getting married was something they both actually wanted. “Caitlin has always been pretty clear in her style and likes, including when it came to jewellery, so Alex knew exactly what to get: an antique platinum and diamond ring from an exclusively antique and vintage jewellery shop on Hatton Garden – London’s diamond district. He smuggled the ring carefully on holiday to Rome, where we had gone for a long weekend (actually to belatedly celebrate Alex’s birthday: the perfect diversion/cover). Walking into a secluded courtyard in Rome’s Trastevere neighbourhood, while Caitlin’s back was turned, he got down on one knee and called Caitlin’s name as it was just the two of them,” they explained.

“When she turned around, summarily forgetting in the moment to say anything other than “will you marry me?” Caitlin’s initial response was shock, and then “are you serious?!” (considering that Alex is well-known for his sense of humour), which was not the response Alex had hoped for! However, after shaking off the thought that this may be a (somewhat cruel!) practical joke, aided by seeing the sunlight glinting off the diamond ring and thus reassuring Caitlin that this seemed like a genuine proposal, and after what felt for Alex like the longest few seconds in recorded history, she said yes!”

The dress code for their celebration was black tie, more common over here in Australia than it is in the UK, so Alex opted for a classic tuxedo. “However, as he is never quite content to blend in and likes to be the centre of attention, the tux was Indigo, which happily (though unbeknownst to Alex, but as intended by me) matched with my dress choice too and ensured that he stood out from the other guests as the groom,” Caitlin explained.

After trying on endless white, cream and ivory gowns across both London and Melbourne, Caitlin was starting to get frustrated. It wasn’t until she laid eyes on this stunning navy blue beaded number that everything clicked into place. “I instantly fell in love with the dress and asked my Mum, “Do you think I could wear this for the wedding?!” i.e. would it be appropriate, to which Mum replied, “Caitlin, this is the only dress that you have smiled in whilst wearing, so yes, absolutely you can wear this to your wedding,” she shared.

“The dress fitted in well with the original wedding venue, an Art Deco mansion (and former medieval palace) in London. It also matched bridesmaids’ dresses (which had already been decided), both in terms of 1930s style and navy colour. It also felt like coming full circle, as after getting engaged but before going wedding dress shopping, I had originally wanted to get a wedding dress that I could wear again at other events. I had been thinking about getting a blue dress (given it’s my favourite colour) and it could serve as the “something blue” for the wedding, but had envisioned something a bit subtler, like a pale blue.”

Leo Farrell was the photographer for this event, coming highly recommended by multiple Melbourne-based vendors Caitlin and Alex encountered while planning. “We really liked his style of more capturing the moment photos rather than staged formal photos. We had a Zoom call from London for a vibe check, and he came across as very friendly, understood our vision and offered to do a recon of potential photoshoot sites in the CBD near our venue,” they explained.

“On the day, he seamlessly blended into the background and captured all the activity. Walking around the CBD, he just let us chat to one another and didn’t request too many posed shots – but also ensuring we got around the city to certain landmarks we wanted like Degraves St and the Flinders St Station underpass for some distinctly Melbourne photos.”

With so many incredible shots captured by Leo, it wasn’t easy for Caitlin and Alex to pick their absolute favourite. But any shot from their city adventures has a special place in their hearts. “Especially the contrast between the high glam of black tie and beads/sequins against the somewhat grungy and graffiti-laden laneways with tourists and residents just going about their day.”

When it came to giving advice for future couples planning their own weddings and lives together, this is what Alex and Caitlin had to share:

Alex: “Communication is super important – never go to bed angry and always try to talk it out at the time; even if it’s not to resolve but just to hear the other person’s side, it helps massively understand and mostly defuse any issues. Having a sense of humour is also key – life can be way too serious if you let it be, and that’s no fun, so keeping a light heart whenever you can makes all the shared endeavours (both good and bad) much easier to deal with.”

Caitlin: “In terms of planning the actual wedding, try not to fret too much over the small details (as much of it will go unnoticed anyway), and the most important thing is having all your friends and family there to celebrate. In terms of the wedding day, savour it and every moment. For married life, or any long-term relationship, acceptance, compromise and communication are critical. As someone who never really wanted/planned to get married, I would now highly recommend it as (once the wedding planning stress x3 was over) it has made us stronger as a couple and team, committed to building a life together and supporting one another in different ways.”

Caitlin and Alex had their legal ceremony at Greenwich Town Hall in February 2024, with just two witnesses. After their original plans of a big wedding were dashed they decided it was going to be much easier to have instead a celebration with their UK guests and their Australian guests separately, what with ageing relatives and so many young families. “So Caitlin asked her Mum to look for potential wedding venues in Melbourne (where she grew up and a lot of her family are based). During a trip home in October 2024, Caitlin and her Mum visited a shortlist of the venues, and there was a clear winner, Rendezvous Hotel, with its period charm and a room which was the perfect size for our guest list of Australian friends and family,” Alex explained.

Before they headed up to celebrate with all of their guests, Alex and Caitlin had drinks with their wedding party and family in a private room. Allowing them to spend some much-needed time with their niblings, who were going to be in bed by the time the real party started. “Our nieces, who fervently love and almost exclusively wear pink and purple clothes, surprisingly agreed to wear navy blue dresses on the day, accessorised with their metallic pink ballet slippers. We had a 50% success rate with them wearing the flower crowns we had made for them. Our nephew wore navy blue chinos and a white top. It was lovely to be able to include all our niblings in this day, as only one, our eldest niece Zoe, was born and would have attended the original wedding,” Caitlin shared.

“Sadly, given this wedding was in Australia, none of Alex’s family or groomsmen were able to attend – but we are planning a London event shortly to complete the trifecta of our wedding celebrations.”

Since they wanted to keep the focus on the celebration, instead of extravagant decor, Caitlin and Alex decided they wanted simple florals created by Flowers Vasette. “For the flowers, we decided to go with just classic white (ideally in-season) flowers and lots of green foliage – also letting the features of the venue stand out. Making sure to include eucalyptus, given it’s native to Australia, and Caitlin had included it in her bouquet for the legal wedding in London. Also, keeping it simple, we didn’t opt for any handheld bouquets for the bride/bridesmaids or any buttonholes for the gents, given we weren’t having a ceremony. The flower crowns made for our nieces surpassed our expectations and were very elegant with small white rosebuds. We received a lot of compliments from guests on the floral arrangements. We also wrapped up the table displays and sent them home with guests at the end of the night, not wanting them to go to waste.”

As the third event they’d planned for their wedding, there was so much that Caitlin and Alex were grateful for. The five things that really stood out among them were:

“1. Fantastic venue, which was great value for money.

2. Lots of friends and family coming from all over Australia to be with us.

3. The chance to celebrate in a wedding style, even though we had already had our legal wedding in 2024 (after the covid-cancelled wedding in 2020) – so we’d branded this event as a “marriage celebration”.

4. Seeing family members who hadn’t seen each other for a long time catch up like it was old times.

5. Family and friends being so happy to finally celebrate our union, 5 years later than originally planned.”

The speeches were a highlight of the celebration, with each speaker’s personality and style shining through. Caitlin’s dad shared stories of her achievements and spoke with pride, while her mum, who hadn’t originally planned to speak, gave a heartwarming toast that also acknowledged Alex’s parents. Both of Caitlin’s parents reflected on when they first met Alex and how naturally he became part of their family. Caitlin spoke about how she and Alex met and why she loves him, weaving in touches from their original vows. Alex brought the laughter, joking that he had planned a 30-minute speech but “the previous speakers had already used most of his material,” before theatrically tearing out pages from his notebook and keeping things short and sharp.

To get the vibe exactly right throughout the night, Alex and Caitlin worked with Logan Entertainment. And to open up the dance floor, they chose “At Last” by Etta James as their first dance. “Conscious that it’s a very slow and mellow song, we didn’t want it to be too much of just the two of us dancing, though, so when the first chorus ended, it was a hard transition into “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston, to get everyone on the dance floor.”

For Alex, the music was super important – in his words, “it’s so key to crafting good vibes”. “He spent a lot of time working with the entertainment company to set the right mood and ensure that it was not too overbearing at the wrong points, but also not too downbeat or low energy when people needed bringing up,” Caitlin explained.

“The song Alex chose for our last dance was the same one planned for our original wedding – “Dance Macabre” by the band Ghost. Whilst some of the guests at our original wedding would have been familiar with it, no one at this wedding was. So while Alex was signing his heart out alone in the centre of the dance floor, Caitlin joined him and all our (remaining) guests formed a circle around us as we danced and sang.”

Congratulations, Caitlin and Alex, on your marriage celebrations (and good luck with your third event)! Thanks to Leo Farrell for sharing this beautiful night with us.