We met in 2010 on a university pub crawl after lots of drinks and dancing. Mark reeled me in on the dance floor – quite literally! That was where it first started and then further down the track, on our five year anniversary Mark surprised me with a trip to Bali.
On the first night we were there we went to Kamandalu Resort in Ubud. We had a beautiful candlelit dinner outside, on the edge of the Ubud jungle, cooked by a private chef. After telling me a list of reasons why he loved me, Mark then dropped to one knee and asked if I would marry him. Between tears of happiness, I of course said yes. We are both outdoorsy people and we wanted our special day to reflect this as much as possible. We were hiking in the forest one day when we saw a fenced off area, there was a beautiful beam of sunlight shining through the dense forest canopy onto a clearing with a huge old gum tree and it looked so magical. We couldn’t get to it because of a high fence so we followed the fence all the way around to a gate which had a sign with a phone number on it. We called and asked if we could get married in the clearing and to our surprise and delight they said they did allow wedding ceremonies on their land. We even managed to negotiate to have our reception there too. It was important to us that whatever we brought into the forest had to suit the environment. We decided on a giant tipi with scattered furniture flowing inside and out with a wooden dance floor set up under the stars. Festoon lighting was strung up in between the trees creating ambient and romantic lighting. Then we had up-lights on the feature gum tree which created a dramatic backdrop. We decided on food trucks for dining and drinks which worked really well considering we were in a forest with no amenities. Cargo Catering cooked all the food in their van and also set up a huge outdoor grazing table as well as a special panna cotta buffet table for desert. The Speakeasy Hotel served drinks from their van which was equipped with its own booth seating and even had a chandelier. The highlight of the day was hearing each others vows, and the feeling when we first saw each other, knowing we were starting the rest of our lives together and creating a union of two lovers who are now each others family. We live by the motto of be happy, be kind and show love to each other always.
Photography – Joshua Kane Photography | Location – Burbrook Forest | Bride’s Dress – Custom C Pop Bridal Couture Gown | Grooms Attire – Wolf Kanat & Uberstone Blazer | Hair – Mirra Hair Lounge | Makeup – Anna Karpathakis | Flora – Lilli-Anthus Floral Design | Catering – Cargo Catering & The Speakeasy (mobile vans) | Bar – The Speakeasy Hotel (mobile van) | Cake – Quintessential Cakes | Groomsmen – Wolf Kanat | Bride’s Earrings – Samantha Wills | Styling – Two Brothers Event Co | Special Songs – ‘Latch’ by Disclosure & ‘Breezeblocks’ by Alt J (both acoustic)
