D A V I D & E L L E
F R O M T H E B R I D E ...
Meeting...
David and I met at a barbeque in west London one bank holiday long weekend in 2007. David had been invited by a friend of the host, and I had been invited by one of the flatmates of the host. After a few bubbles we spotted each other across the room and started chatting.
Love...
Elle: When I was visiting my parents in Norway later that year while David stayed in London, when I realised I was missing him like crazy.
David: I was feeling unwell, and Elle came over with soup to help me feel better. The road to man's heart is always through his stomach.
The Proposal...
We got engaged in the Botanical Gardens of Melbourne. I already had an inkling that it would happen as David had asked me to visit a jeweller in London that winter, to look at a few diamonds. I came back to cold Melbourne from beautiful sunny Europe and got a cold. On my sick day David dragged me out of bed for a coffee at Domain Cafe and a little stroll. He got down on one knee and proposed on a hilltop in the gardens, with a view over the lake.
Wedding Style...
I knew all along that I wanted a modern wedding. Considering that we had planned to have two wedding celebrations; one in Melbourne and one in Norway, I knew I would have to spread the budget, which in turn allowed for a lot of clever solutions. The colours that inspired me for the Melbourne one were yellow, white and black. Mostly white on white, with yellow and black accents. I took inspiration from minimalism and Japanese aesthetics. The yellow accent was caught in the Phalaenopsis orchids, Veuve Cliqout, Capi soft drink and yellow chevron patterned straws from Typo.
Ceremony Venue...
Our ceremony was held at the Swedish Church in Toorak. We live close by, and as I am Scandinavian, there was a connection there. David was the one who suggested it, as he liked the feel of the little chapel and the chilled out humerous approach of the vicar. We were originally going to only do a civil ceremony in the city with a smaller group of friends and family, however now I'm really glad that we chose this venue, as we got to include everyone in our ceremony.
Reception Venue...
After securing the chapel, we also managed to secure their function room that had large windows facing the garden. It was very plain, and is often used as a classroom for the Swedish school. So it did take a bit of visualisation and a lot of planning of the decorations and setup of the room in advance.
The Dress...
My gown was from Burberry. I have a connection with the brand, as I used to work at Horseferry House, the Burberry HQ in London. So when looking for a modern, timeless design that would suit my minimalistic style and also would have some deeper meaning/connection to me, I decided Burberry would be the natural choice. It was very exciting receiving the massive box at my front door. The dress has a minimalistic bow on the front which was echoed in the design of the veil. My veil was designed and created by Milliner Cecilia Dowd. She is all about aestethics and details, and so not only did she capture elements of the dress in the veil, but also added a tiny embroidery on the inside of the veil, above the comb. It says Elle and David, written in Futhark letters, also known as the Runic alphabet from the Vikings. Its cut-out design was also mirrored in my choice of shoes, which came from Sophia Webster.
Flowers...
My flowers were completely last minute. The Bouvardia I picked up when at the South Melbourne market, at Emerald Hill Florist. I was there to collect the flowers for the decoration of the venue, and I loved the scent. The style of the bud and the open flower reminded me of the monograms for Louis Vuitton, and so I bought them not completely sure what to use them for. On the Saturday before the wedding I ran over to Sally's, the Toorak Village florist, bringing the Bouvardia and picking up some beautiful scented garden roses. They also had some Lambs Ear leaves, which David has said that he likes. They have a soft, silky, almost slightly furry touch, and later on several of the wedding guests said that they matched my shoes perfectly. Lucky fluke!
Decorations...
As mentioned I used mostly white on white with accents of yellow and black. There were statuesque tall glass vases with Phalaenopsis orchids planted together with banana leaf. In a centrepiece on the cake table we had three of them. We had softened the room with white curtains and white table cloths. Luckily the floor was of golden wood. Some venues have those horrendous patterned carpet flooring. We also added tissue paper pompoms and fans to brighten up the venue. Some of these were "recycled" to decorate the venue in Norway.
All decoration was done by me, my husband, and a few close and dear friends and family. If they didn't come and help, we would never have been able to finish the job.
The Cake...
Cake was the Jackson Pollock inspired cake 'Pollock Nights' from Zumbo. They don't normally do double tier, however I went to speak with thepâtissier at Zumbo the day before and he promised he would do it. Another one of the last minute lucky touches.
Which company(ies) did the flowers, decorations and cake?
Flowers were from Emerald Hill at South Melbourne Market and partly from Sally's in Toorak Village.
On the Menu...
We had a cocktail reception. We served Veuve Cliqout Champagne, accompanied with various canapés and finger food. The champagne was an obvious choice, as our first holiday together was to Reims in France where we visited the cellars and caves of Veuve Cliqout. The menu was created by my husband, and the food was created by Luscious Affairs.
The menu:
Crab salad with coriander lime and avocado
Mini spinach quiches
Mini Vietnamese rice paper rolls with light clear dipping sauce
Mushroom arancini balls
Blini with salmon and mascarpone
Tuna tataki with sesame seaweed salad
Serrano ham on crusty tomato bread
Peking duck pancakes
Scallops with cauliflower puree and bacon
Memories...
Bride: My most memorable moment would be when we made our speeches and my parents were able to take part via Skype, from back in Norway.
Groom: I would have to say when we were standing outside the chapel and the music started. I felt a build up of emotion and got a lump in my throat. It was really special.
Photographer...
I chose Amber as I had worked with her before, modelling a bridal collection for Intique & Co Bridal Boutique in Brighton. This was shot on the rocks of Black Rock Beach. I don't have that many photographer contacts as in London, and since she not only was a great fashion photographer but also shot weddings, it felt natural getting in touch with her. There is no need to gush about the quality of Amber's photography, as this is obvious. For me the most important thing, which I think Amber captured, was getting photos of the crowd of people, really managing to lock in the group shots and family shots. When looking back at old photography of weddings, you always find yourself studying the fashion of the time and then reminiscing of the people, naming the friends and family in the photo. And so to me, even though I love photos of me and David and Oscar, it was so important to include everyone in the photos so that we had captured that memory.
Wedding Music...
In advance of the ceremony I had made a little collection of classical and soundtrack tunes, such as Vide Cor Meum from the Hannibal soundtrack and Intermezzo Rusticana from the Godfather soundtrack.
We walked in to Fields of Gold sung by Eva Cassidy. During our signing of official documents we played Songbird sung by Eva Cassidy. And we walked out to Paul Simon's boppy tune Diamonds on her Feet.
We hired a jazz band to play music at our reception, and danced our first dance to The Girl From Ipanema. They started off fairly smooth then lifted the vibe as the afternoon progressed, it worked really well.
Honeymoon...
Our Honeymoon was spent in Kos, a Greek island and Bodrum, a beautiful medieval town in Turkey. Honeymooning with a baby is not quite a honeymoon; however we had a wonderful time. We were also staying at my summerhouse by the sea in Norway, when we were there for the "second wedding" and in many ways that was part of our honeymoon.
Life After the Wedding...
We live in Toorak, Melbourne and at the moment we are taking it easy, as the past couple of years have been a whirlwind of changes and new adventures. It's nice taking a bit of a backseat, before venturing into another new adventure with buying a larger house. I also look forward to getting back into the workforce after my maternity leave.
Photographer Innermuse Ceremony & Reception Venue Swedish Church in Toorak Bride's Dress Burberry Bride's Veil Cecilia Dowd Bride's Shoes Sophia Webster Cake Adriano Zumbo Patissier Caterers Luscious Affairs
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