Emily and Steve wanted to incorporate lots of things they both love into their wedding. The day ended up being vintage-inspired, nautical, nerdy, cat themed!

“I saw a picture of Steve on a popular website about a year before we met. It was a funny photo of him pretending to cook a ginger cat in a frying pan and, as a fan of cute men and ginger cats, I saved the image to my hard drive”, Emily explained. “About a year later I was browsing a dating website and saw the same image as a profile picture of a young man that lived in the same city a couple of suburbs over. We started chatting and eventually met up at a small local craft beer bar and I guess we really hit it off because here we are.”

The bride made her own blue wedding dress which she wore with family heirloom earnings. “We’re pretty frugal, low-key people and wanted this reflected in the kind of wedding we chose”, she continued. “I kind of wanted an Audrey Hepburn in Funny Face vibe with my bridal look. I looked at so many pictures of vintage wedding gowns before I came up with a design I liked. We had been to lots of weddings during our engagement and we were always picking up ideas and tips. And I got a lot of inspiration from Rock n Roll Bride too!”

“We didn’t have a bridal party and walked into the ceremony room together”, she said. “We took photos in our backyard on the way to the reception as we were travelling with our photographer. It was important to us to have portraits with our cats and I’m so happy we got to include them. The reception was held in the afternoon in the courtyard of a café near our home. The guests all mingled and had a great time being able to sit or stand wherever they like. We had our favourite two beers from our favourite brewery on tap in the courtyard, Pacific Ale and Garden Ale from Stone & Wood Brewing in Byron Bay.”

“At the reception we had cardboard cat standees, nautical themed bottle table decorations – both DIY. The nautical themed table decorations were homemade too. We had customised wedding candy by Sticky. The treasure chest for the cards and gifts was made by my brother. The venue already looks really cool and matched our aesthetic so we didn’t have to do much.”

The wedding budget was $9000. “We spent the most money on our photographer and nice beer and wine for the reception. It was important for us to have beautiful images to remember the day and for our guests to have a really good time. We saved a lot of money by not having to hire a venue, we just had to pay for consumables. The reception was in the afternoon and we only provided finger foods, though everyone said they had heaps to eat and never went hungry. We didn’t have any flower arrangements as it’s not really our thing and that can be a huge expense. I did my own hair and make up and made my own dress. Not having a bridal party probably saved us lots of money too!”

“My advice to other couples would be do what will make you happy on the day! Stay true to your own vision and find ways to make it work. Don’t hold yourself up to other people’s weddings and expectations.”