A Chic Byron Bay Celebration

After featuring on The LANE for our Tiffany & Co love story, we were excited when the chic wedding of Kym & Dane dropped in our inbox!

Channelling a certain celestial bohemia, Christie Nicole designed Kym’s ethereal gown, all intricately hand-made lace blooms, delicately appliquéd and perfectly offsetting the seductively sheer silhouette.

Celebrating their vows overlooking the lush Byron Bay hinterland, the couple were drawn to minimalist details of lush botanical installations decorating their arbor, effortlessly blending with the organic surrounds.

Celebrating beneath the stars, styling kept to an organic theme of dark leafy greenery, rustic cedar tablescapes spilling with gilded table wear, paired with darkly opulent inclusions. Pearlescent orchids brought opulence to the suitably dark palette.

Photographed by Carly Brown…

Our Story

Names / Dane & Kym

Wedding Date / November 12, 2016

Guest Numbers / 60

How we met…

2008, Bondi, Halloween Party.

The Details

Location

Horizon Byron Bay. The view was a house, which sat on top of a hill overlooking Byron Bay. Every sacred place and landmark can be seen from the house, Belongil Beach, Main bech, Clarks Beach, Julian Rocks, The Pass, Wategos and of course the iconic lighthouse.

Style

I’m not entirely sure I had a theme or aesthetic in mind, all I knew is that we wanted something reasonably simple that would act as a platform for the view and the food!

Photography

Carly Brown, a no-brainer! We didn’t want traditional wedding photos, we wanted to feel ourselves.

Fashion Notes

Bride’s Dress

Christie Nicole Bridal. I’ve known Christie for around 9 years… She designs and creates stunning lingerie by hand. Her attention to detail is second to none, she’s a perfectionist and a one-woman show. I had casually asked her (with full intentions not to be denied), only if she had the time, but would she consider designing and making my wedding dress (once she accepted I was going to throw a reception dress in too, why not?).

The dress – I’m a t-shirt and shorts kind of girl, usually a white or black shirt with denim shorts or black jeans… She managed to turn that into what I call, “dreams aren’t even made of stuff like this”. She has captured who I am and why my heart beats, with every stitch, every detail, every thought. Our dresses are dresses made from love for love.

Bride’s Shoes

Kitten heels are back! My mum had graciously lent me her Rochas, a beautiful lacey kitten heel.

Bridesmaids’ Dresses

Michael Lo Sordo 2pce, skirt and top. I wanted something they could wear again. Flower crowns were hand made by Beautiflora.

Bridesmaids’ Shoes

Custom Gold Ordon shoes, ridiculously, comfortably light, grey velevet heels.

Wedding Rings

I had a Tiffany and Co shared- setting yellow gold band with hald a circle of round diamonds set in platinum. Dane’s ring, a beautifully handmade ring by Lee Brennan.

Accessories

Chelsea de Luca Earrings for reception dress.

Groomsmen’s Attire

Dane: Hugo Boss Dinner suite, shirt and bow tie, Happy Socks, RM Williams boots. Groomsmen: Selected Homme Dinner suit, Van Heusen shirt and Calibre velvet bow tie. Mum and Dad bought the boys a pair of RM Williams Boots which were worn on the day, just a small token of their love.

Hair

Hair was in a set wave, however it was extremely windy so it really didn’t matter!

Makeup

Luciana Rose. Makeup was warm and dewy, perfect for the location and weather.

Stylists

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Style Notes

Stationery

Invitations were compiled by The Little Press. These were incredibly intricate in detail. For place cards, I contacted a ceramicist, Ellie from Makers General Store. She handmade 60 beautiful, tiny versions of her milky white plates. The menus were printed on a stone bleached calico.

Favors

We had put together little first aid kits, you know everything you need when attending a wedding in a seaside town…sunscreen, Panadol, Nurofen, baby wipes, Mentos.

Flowers & Bouquet

The best part about living in Byron Bay is that you constantly surrounded by nature and it’s so beautiful. All I wanted was to incorporate that, to keep it simple and let nature run the show. For my bouquet I had poppy pods, lily pods, lotus pods, gumnuts, phalaenopsis orchids and hydrangeas. Our friend’s wonderful mother has dried my bouquet since it’s still as beautiful as ever.

Wedding Planner

I had arranged everything through Byron Bay Weddings. They have a great team which were really helpful and patient!

Reception Notes

Ceremony & Reception Décor

I had kept the tables simple; I knew there was a lot of food to fill it with. Simple gold lanterns and gold tea lights were placed at each end of the tables with gold beaded charger plates and orchids in the middle.

Cake

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again… I would do bad things, terrible things to taste that cake again… I had 2 options, 1x Salted caramel, banana and pecan, the other was a passionfruit white chocolate!

Wedding Songs

I walked out to Coldplay “Ghost Stories” which faded into Cat Power “Sea of Love, it was put together by my beautiful friend. We had the most exquisite Spanish guitarist- Simon, from Aniella + Simon. He serenaded us all night from canapes to dinner. Simon and Aniella also played our first dance – “Can’t stop falling in love” by Elvis.

Food & Beverage

We had a sit-down reception with shared plates, Champagne and drinks were served all night. We had a champagne tower to end dinner followed by espresso martinis. Making sure we had more than enough food and alcohol for our guests was a priority when planning!

Entertainment

Our friend had compiled a playlist, he had unfortunately broken his ankle and was going in for surgery the day of the wedding. A true champion for delivering the good. We were so grateful. During the night we had a wonderful friend djing through the playlist.

Special Details

Honeymoon

Lord Howe Island. We cannot recommend that island more. It is truly paradise, so close to NSW but seemingly so far away.

Celebrant

Susie Figgis, she has truly found her calling. She knew us better than we knew ourselves. The ceremony was so beautifully written. I cried when I read the first draft… there was only need for that 1 draft, no more.

Readings

We had intentions of writing shorter vows, after reading through the ceremony Susie had written for our day, there was definitely no reason for anything longer, they were short and sweet.

A memorable moment…

The Day before the wedding we invited guests to come and be apart of “Welcome to Country”. Dane is half Aboriginal and is incredibly passionate about his heritage and the land in which we live. For those who may not be aware, Byron Bay is one of the few places around Australia where an agreement has been reached between NSW State Government and Byron Bay Arakwal Aboriginal community. Arakwal National Park is the result of this. It is Co-managed by NPWS and its traditional owners. We were incredibly lucky to be officially Welcomed by Delta, whose family are the traditional owners of the land. This was an incredible experience and also a dedication to Dane’s dad who is Aboriginal.