If you thought pulling together a wedding in a week sounded impossible, Nigel and Maddie are here to prove otherwise! Choosing a date that had been part of Maddie’s family story for generations, the pair planned a heartfelt Sydney elopement in just eight days, complete with their daughter, their dog and a romantic vintage boat ride across the harbour. Lucky for all of us, Sean Drury Photography and Dave Hann was there to capture every delightfully spontaneous moment!

Nigel and Maddie met when they were just 16 years old at school. Fast forward to a birthday trip at Sydney’s Park Hyatt with their two-year-old daughter, and a spectacular view with an even more spectacular question. “When we first arrived, we went on to the balcony to look at the view of the Opera House, and when I turned around to come back inside, Nigel was proposing. Our “photographer” was our 2-year-old daughter with my film camera, and the photos are as chaotic and as beautiful as you would expect!” Maddie shared.

Maddie wore a mini dress she’d actually bought for their engagement party but never ended up wearing. And it made the most beautiful addition to their summer elopement! “My veil was also a quick online purchase with pearl details, and my shoes also had pearl floral details. I wore them again in November to our ‘actual wedding’.”

Nigel went with a similar simple look, with a black suit and shirt from MJ Bale. “We decided to just go very classic and liked the idea of the contrast between my full white outfit and his being fully black,” Maddie explained.

They only needed three guests to join them for this secret elopement: their adorable daughter, Nigel’s younger sister Annette and one of their closest friends, Blair. “Annette lived in Sydney with us at the time and was one of my bridesmaids, & Blair flew down from QLD with less than a week’s notice.”

The only flowers Maddie wanted for their secret elopement were a simple bouquet for herself and a mini version for their daughter, created by the talented Kiko Design. “I wasn’t very picky (& knew I couldn’t be very picky with the very limited deadline); I just knew I wanted it to be colourful. The florist was an absolutely beautiful shop just around the corner from where we lived, Kiko Design, that I had walked past a thousand times and always loved the look of,” she shared.

After Maddie got ready at Park Hyatt and Nigel got ready at their apartment, both parties made their way to Wendy’s Secret Garden in Lavender Bay. “Our ceremony location was actually suggested to us by our jeweller when we mentioned that we were debating eloping. We went and had a look and a walk around about a week before, and the location and the views were absolutely stunning, so we couldn’t pass it up.”

Maddie wasn’t sure if there was any music at all as she walked up to where Nigel stood; all she knew was that she wanted to be with her soon-to-be husband and their beautiful daughter, Amman. “Amman went just ahead of me, and I ended up walking down with our dog, Manila, which I didn’t plan to do, but Amman decided to pass me her lead before she took off!”

Led by their celebrant, Megumi Carver, Nigel and Maddie had a super-simple, quick ceremony in the gardens. “We didn’t have any readings, just our own personal vows (which I finished writing about 2 minutes before we left for the ceremony). It was simple, easy, private, and everything we wanted it to be,” they shared.

The most special detail of their summer elopement was the date: February 4th is the date that Maddie’s parents and grandparents were married! “Any member of my family could tell you that from the moment Nigel & I began dating, I had always said I wanted to eventually get married on the same date & keep the tradition going, to which Nigel agreed how special it would be. After getting engaged in July the year before, by the time we got around to starting to think about possible dates to have our wedding, we decided that the nearest 04/02 would be too soon. We didn’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves by trying to pull something together in such a short time,” she shared.

“Only for it to get closer and closer to that date, and the Monday before (8 days out) we ended up pretty much saying “screw it, let’s just do it” and managing to pull a secret elopement together within a week. We had always discussed eloping & it just felt like the right move for us. We knew how important that date was to us, and with my grandparents being 91 & 93, we knew there would always be a chance we would regret not doing it.”

Later in the year, Maddie and Nigel had their ‘official wedding’, where they invited their friends and family to an event only to announce that they’d already been secretly married for months! “We didn’t tell anyone that we were already married & continued to plan our “wedding” for November. We had a beautiful ceremony & reception at Nigel’s family farm in Gawler, Tasmania. We asked my older brother to be our fake celebrant as both of Nigel’s younger brothers were groomsmen, both of his younger sisters were bridesmaids, & my older sister was my maid of honour, so it was a nice way to have all of our siblings up there with us and such a special part of our day,” Maddie explained.

“We did a ring exchange and then when I was given the microphone to “read my vows”, I instead got to tell all of our guests that we had actually already been married for 291 days. We then had photos from our elopement printed and framed and a photo book with all of the photos, all on display in our reception area for everyone to look through.”

Beginning their planning just over a week before the date, Maddie and Nigel understandably were overwhelmed when it came to finding a photographer. After posting on Sydney Wedding Photographers’ Facebook page, they were flooded with comments and began the long task of vetting each portfolio. The standout? Sean Drury Photography! “Sean actually happened to be the first message I got after I put up the post and was the first person we looked at. We immediately loved his work, and to be quite honest, out of at least 30 other people that we looked at afterwards, nobody stood out to us quite like Sean did. He was just as excited as we were when we told him our plans for the day, and it just made us more excited. Sean was so lovely, and we just immediately got along, which was such a relief,” she explained.

“Our photographer and videographer, Sean & Dave, were so amazing throughout the whole day. They were so lovely straight off the bat and did such a good job at making us comfortable in front of the camera. The photos and footage they got of the day exceeded our expectations so much, and we all got along so well that we immediately knew we had to ask them to fly down to Tasmania for our “second wedding” later in the year. Having them be a part of both the elopement & the “wedding” when we revealed we were married to all of our friends & family was so special, and we truly could not have asked for better people to be there for it all and capture it so beautifully!”

Their favourite detail of this incredible summer elopement? Well, it was this vintage Italian wood boat from Any Boat that picked them up in Lavender Bay! “It took us under the Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House and dropped us off at the dock by the Park Hyatt where we stayed for the night. It was so special & something that we would never do on another occasion, and the photos from it are just beautiful and exactly what we pictured when we thought about hiring the boat,” Maddie shared.

The five things that made Nigel and Maddie’s summer elopement so special for this couple included:

“1. The date, of course.

2. Having our daughter be there and be able to be a part of it.

3. Having it be so private and intimate, which is something we had always wanted.

4. Not having a big event to go to after, just being able to walk through Circular Quay to Aria restaurant where we had dinner just the two of us.

5. Being able to keep it a secret for almost 10 months & finally reveal it to our loved ones later.”

The piece of advice Maddie wants to leave for couples planning their own days is to do whatever feels right for you! “Don’t do something just because it’s what other people want or what is expected of you. It’s about you and your partner, not about anybody else, and you are allowed to be selfish.”

A huge congratulations to Maddie and Nigel (and even more congratulations for keeping this a secret for so long!). And thanks to Sean Drury Photography for capturing this beautiful summer celebration on short notice and for sharing it with us.