Natasha & Sarah

I adore the woodland vibe of Natasha and Sarah's sophisticated elopement & reception celebration. The couple eloped to new Zealand for their legal ceremony before returning to Melbourne for a chic wedding reception with their family and friends. Every photo is stunningly beautiful - their ceremony captured by Holly Wallace Photography and their Melbourne reception by Sabine Legrand Photography.

"Tash and I went to High School together. We were in the same friendship group, although admittedly the group was rather large. We had some of the same classes, went to the same parties, but we only spoke on the odd occasion. One weekend, after High School was over, a mutual friend visited my house with Tash, ironically after I had just returned home from a wedding. We spoke for hours, we just clicked and the rest is history. It was really different with her, because we had an amazing friendship before anything else. We had so much in common, we shared so many laughs and we were genuinely interested in the same things. Our love for music brought us closer together, we would often find secluded lookouts in our area where we would listen to music for hours on end. We have been inseparable ever since and when we crossed the friendship line, there was no reservations or second thoughts, we both knew the universe had planned for us."

The brides chose gowns by For Love & Lemons and Rachel Zoe. Sarah remembers, "I wore a dress by With Love and Lemons and I knew as soon as I saw it that it was the one. Tash wore a timeless lace open back dress by Rachel Zoe. Both dresses were simple and elegant, not overly embellished. We wanted to contrast the landscape."

Sarah and Natasha walked to their ceremony together.

Catherine Fyfe officiated the ceremony, which was held in the Queenstown Gardens, Queenstown. Sarah remembers, "We had planned to marry on the edge of Lake Wakatipu for the sweeping snow capped mountain views, but on the day, it was too windy, so we moved into the cover of the woods, which was equally as perfect. Nestled amongst the pine trees, it was the most relaxed and magical experience. There were no family, no friends, just the two of us, a photographer, videographer, celebrant and her husband. In addition to our vows which we wrote together, we exchanged some poetry that resonated with us."

"Tash and I eloped (with consent of course) which made our wedding incredibly intimate. In additional to tying the knot in New Zealand for legal reasons, we also love mountains and envisaged these in our backdrop. Our theme was unintentionally woodland - the woods, the fur, the flowers, on the day it all worked."

The Flower Room created bouquets and flower crowns for the day, Sarah explaining, "We both love native flowers, in particular proteas, so we ensured we included these in some way on the day. We couldn't decide whether to have bouquets or flower crowns, so naturally, we decided to have both!"

Of their photographer Holly, Sarah tells, "As photography enthusiasts, capturing our wedding day was always going to be of utmost importance to us. We didn't want traditional weddings snaps, we wanted someone to capture candid natural moments between us. As soon as we saw Holly's galleries, we knew she was exactly what we were looking for. The search was over. Holly and Josh (the videographer) are a talented husband and wife duo and made us feel like we were spending the day with friends. They manage to capture romantic moments in vast landscapes."

"It was 4 degrees, but we kept telling ourselves it was a balmy afternoon, whilst throwing our fur coats on our shoulders at every opportunity. Holly and Josh kindly lent us their thermal wear between locations. To make our day even more perfect, Holly and Josh made a coffee pit stop to ensure our love for coffee was included in our wedding day."

Guests were invited via an invitation designed by Sarah (through her design business Design Maven) to a wedding reception at Circa, The Prince. Sarah notes, "When we returned home from New Zealand, we celebrated with an intimate wedding reception in Melbourne at Circa, The Prince, surrounded by family and friends. Our reception was sophisticated and modern, very Melbourne!"

Miss Ladybird Cakes created a wedding cake with gold foil, Sarah explaining, "Wanting to make a fun political statement back home, we were adamant on having a surprise rainbow wedding cake. On the outside, the cake was white and gold foiled, adorned with native flowers. Once cut, the cake revealed decadent layers of rainbow! Our reception was also themed with native flowers to create a link to our New Zealand ceremony."

Of photographer Sabine, Sarah says, For our reception we used Sabine Legrand. When viewing her website, we saw a photo of newlyweds sipping a coffee, through a cafe window. Sabine took us to the venue's rooftop car park which unbeknownst to us, had unobstructed views of the Melbourne City skyline. Her photos are romantically simple, which suited us perfectly. We also enjoyed listening to her alluring French accent all afternoon!"

styled the reception celebrations with greenery and Australian native blooms.

Holly Wallace Photography together with her husband Josh captured this beautiful film of the elopement.

Congratulations Natasha and Sarah! Thank you for sharing your day with us! Thank you also to Holly Wallace Photography and Sabine Legrand Photography for sharing today's photographs!