Offbeat partner: Sally, Film Critic
Offbeat partner: Josh, Classical Guitarist
Date and location of wedding: Montsalvat, an artist colony in Eltham, Victoria, Australia, established by Justus Jorgensen in 1934. It is home to over a dozen buildings, houses, and halls set amongst richly established gardens — October 13, 2017
Our offbeat wedding at a glance:
We had two goals for our wedding, a relaxed party atmosphere and an extravagant bridal outfit. Both goals were a huge success!
Josh popped the question on Friday the 13th June 2014, so to keep the tradition going, we got hitched on Friday the 13th October 2017. While there was no official theme to our wedding, we both appreciate the strange, spooky, quirky, and hilarious things life has to offer, and wanted this to shine through in every aspect of our wedding.
Tell us about the ceremony:
Both the ceremony and reception took place at Montsalvat, in Eltham, Victoria, an artist’s community established in 1934, where every direction you look is picturesque. Montsalvat’s exquisite setting has been used countless times for various Australian and international films. We share a love for horror cinema, so when we found out one of our favourite films, Thirst (1979), was filmed entirely at Montsalvat, the deal was sealed.
Our love of film bought us together, so we both had subtle references to cinema in our wedding outfits. Josh had The Shining’s (1980) Overlook Hotel’s iconic carpet pattern on his tie and socks. While my dress was made entirely of blue velvet in a secret homage to the great David Lynch.
The ceremony was heartfelt, funny, and Josh even managed to sneak a Peep Show reference into his vows. Even the ceremony soundtrack of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Leonard Cohen, and Elliott Smith couldn’t bring the mood down.
Tell us about your reception:
We entered the reception to Guns ‘n’ Roses “Welcome to the Jungle” and the party kicked off. There was no allocated seating, no first dance, no formalities, just our favourite people from around the globe.
What was your most important lesson learned?
The biggest challenge was trying to accommodate everyone’s different music tastes. We had everything from Little Richard to '80s pop to punk to indie to Lady Gaga and there was still the odd complainer. We overcame this by simply not taking other people’s issues on. One of our favourite moments from the wedding was seeing Josh’s mum dancing her little heart out to German industrial band Rammstein.
Vendors
Photographer: Graham Hall Photographer • Dress: Asphyxia Couture • Suit: Klein Epstein & Parker • Venue: Montsalvat • Flowers: Babylon Flowers • Hair: Kriss Poison • Makeup: Amy Kenny Makeup Artist & Hairstylist • Jewellery: Metal Couture • Cars: Triple R Luxury Car Hire • Cake: Mister Nice Guy Bakeshop • Groom's Party Hair & Makeup: Make Up by Sam • Celebrant: Jon Von Goes • Invites: DC Designs