Having finished her studies, Elli wanted to travel the world before starting her job as a teacher. She booked flights to Australia and New Zealand and met Terry on the third day in Lorne. They both stayed at the same hostel. For Terry it was love at first sight, and after also travelling to New Zealand, Elli realized he was the one. She came back to Melbourne and extended her stay. They have been together ever since!
Elli wanted a boho dress, but ended up with a more glamorous dress to match the castle wedding venue. The dress had a deep v neckline, beautiful lace and a train. She found the gown while dress shopping with her sister in Australia. It was actually the first dress she tried on in the first store. After trying on more than 15 dresses, she still went back to that first dress!
The relaxed and elegant wedding was held in a castle built around 1200 in Germany. Elli envisioned her day to be inviting, white, easy, personal, down to earth with a touch of boho and lovely flowers. There was a mix of lavender, eucalyptus, field flowers, and touches of chrysanthemums and berries.
—– The Wedding Details ——
Wedding Date: 28.07.2018
How many guests? 65
Wedding Budget (Optional) 15,000 Euros
How did you and your partner meet?
I just finished my studies at 27 and wanted to see a bit of the world before starting my job as a teacher. I booked flights to Australia and New Zealand and actually met him on the third day in Lorne. We both stayed at the same hostel and he saw me and fell in love instantly and told his friends. It took me a bit longer (as always) and after also travelling through New Zealand I realized he was the one and came back to Melbourne and extended my stay and from that day on we have been together until today. It was the 14th of March 2014. We then had a one-year long distance relationship until I moved to Australia in Feb 2015 and even brought my Shetland Sheepdog with me. Now we have a little daughter of 2,5 and we are about to move to Germany together.
How did he propose?
He never did. I actually decided it would be about time to finally tie the knot. He kind of agreed and when my dad booked the castle a few days later he couldn´t get out of it. But he is happy with it now and he even thanked me on Instagram for inviting him to my wedding and I thanked him for coming 😀
(We are a bit different I guess…)
I also went to the pre-discussions of the wedding ceremony with the major of the town on my own (because Terry was busy) and by mistake told the major that terry played tennis when he was younger. The Major mentioned it at the ceremony and everyone had a good laugh. His friends will keep teasing him with it until the end of his life they said 😀
What do you love most about your partner?
Life with him is never boring. I never made it to stay with a man for more than 2.5 years before but with him it is always exciting and he is so interested in everything and always has new ideas and projects. He also loves to go on holidays on his own which I love because a partner that is 24/7 around me, freaks me out. I need my alone time. My mum always said: the perfect man for you lives on the other side of the world and that is actually where I found him 😀
He is perfect because he respects that and understands it, that I like time by myself and doesn`t feel offended or not loved.
He could be a bit tidier though… 😀
What’s your most important piece of advice for creating and maintaining a strong relationship?
Still have a life of your own. Your own friends, your own hobbies, alone time, feel happy for your partner not envious. If he or she says, “I am tired an exhausted and need some time off” Don´t reply with “Why? I should be tired I am doing much more…” Just understand that this is a fact and say Ok, I feel a bit the same let`s get you some time off and then some for me. Give each other space and respect each other’s feelings and don´t get offended instantly, try to work on problems and find solutions instead. Don´t dramatize things just get over them in the best way for both. I am so happy that we are in a relationship where he can go on holidays with his friends and I can do the same with mine.
Tell us about your wedding gown and how you chose it:
I actually wanted a boho dress, but ended up with a more glamorous one as my dad booked a castle for the wedding and I didn´t want to look as if I was working there. I loved the deep v line and the lace on it especially the lace around the train.
I bought the dress in Australia and it was the first dress in the first store. My sister was there with me and was a great help choosing. She actually made me put on 15 more dresses that did really suit me, but it was the first one from the beginning.
What sort of style did you envision for your wedding day?
Just inviting, white, nice flowers, easy, personal, a bit boho, down to earth
What was your favorite moment from the day?
The fact that we had so much time to talk to our friends and that everyone really enjoyed themselves and lots of guests are still telling us that it was the best wedding they ever went to. Another thing that made the day just perfect was the weather. It was super comfortable and there was only a little bit of rain when we were in the dining room anyway.
Any DIY décor elements?
Little candles with the name tags (there is a picture of it) I ordered the candles from England and made the tags myself. I wanted the guests to have a special memory by taking the scented candle home. They were all in recycled glasses and organic.
We also just bought the flowers and decorated the dinner room ourselves with it.
My mom drove me, my sister and my mother in law to the venue in her vintage Volkswagen T 3 that she decorated herself for days. It just got fixed on time for the wedding and it looked absolutely beautiful.
What was your biggest extravagance?
The location and the food and free alcohol all day and until 4am. The English really took advantage of it 😀
Terry and I agreed before that I would definitely go to bed earlier and that I wouldn`t mind if he stayed up as long as he wants with his friends. So, I was in bed in our honeymoon suite by 2am and when I woke up at 9 am on my own in the big bed I heard someone snoring on the couch in the living room of the suite. It was one of Terry’s friends who was too drunk to find his own room. I went to look for Terry and found him in another room. His friend felt quite embarrassed when he found out later where he slept. I also asked him if he didn´t wonder about all the rose petals on the floor and the bottle of Champagne. It definitely makes a good story to tell your grandchildren one day.
Where did you go on honeymoon?
We went to Portugal- Faro, Lisbon, Porto – It was more like a road trip as we had a rental car and started from Faro and made our way up to Porto.
We are still planning on going to the Maldives or Fiji, but we can never stay at a place like that for more than 5 nights without feeling like being trapped in paradise. We need to explore and be on the move. We found that out when we spent 10 night in New Caledonia in a hotel and were already ready to go back after 5 nights because we got bored. Even though it was really beautiful there. That was the moment when I was standing in the bedroom door saying to Terry, “I feel like being trapped in paradise…”.
What was on the menu?
After the ceremony everyone got a drink in the castle courtyard (hugos, Aperol spritz, prosecco, Lillet Berry or beer) and plenty of it. The catering team also offered a big variety of finger food.
For dinner we had a huge buffet with all kinds of salads as an entree and three different mains: 3 kinds of fish and gambas in herb butter, pork fillet with cream sauce, chicken with herb jus, accompanied by sides like rice, potato gratin, spätzle (traditional noodle dish from Bavaria), vegetables and for dessert we had small glasses (so everyone can take a few) of Chocolate mousse, tiramisu, Strawberries with mascarpone and fruit salad.
As a midnight snack, we had a big cheese platter with different kinds of bread
Tell us about your ceremony:
Schloss Kronburg in Memmingen, it was built around 1200. We picked it because Terry is obsessed with history and old buildings and it is very close to where my family lives. We had the ceremony in a room of the castle.
Everyone gathered in the castle courtyard of this beautiful and very old castle in Bavaria at 1pm. The sun was shining and there were some clouds so it wasn´t too hot.
When I arrived, we said a quick hello to everyone and the we went upstairs into the ceremony room. The ceremony started at 2pm and went until 3pm (much longer than we intended but it was such a hilarious, relaxed and funny ceremony so it didn´t feel as long).
Tell us about your reception:
After the ceremony we went back downstairs into the courtyard. First all the guests and then bride and groom came down and stepped outside. We stayed in the courtyard and had drinks and finger food. Then we cut the cake at about 5pm and had coffee and tea and more drinks with it.
At 7pm we changed into the dining room upstairs (the most impressive one of all of them.) We were there until about 10pm and went downstairs to the party room. It looks like an old wine cellar and has a direct exit to the outside. Everyone could dance, sit down inside or outside and move around.
The cheese platter at midnight was also served down there.
The DJ was playing, blues, jazz and other beautiful music and had a set up at every location spot. (Garden, dining room, party room). In the party room we had a more upbeat music. We just chose our favourite songs together with our friends and the DJ played the list and added other matching songs. He did a brilliant song and always kept the dancefloor full.
The next morning, we also held a brunch in the castle courtyard with a huge breakfast buffet. And the German guests wore dirndl and lederhosen.
What type of cake did you have?
Cake and food in general were very important for us. The cake had three stories and all with a different flavour. Top was raspberry-chocolate, the second one was passionfruit – mango, and the bottom was strawberry-vanilla. It was the fluffiest and most delicious cake I ever ate. The design was half naked with real flowers as I really don´t like fondant. We also had 3 other cakes on the table (delicious chocolate mousse cake, Strawberry cake and another cake with berries and fruit). Germans love their cake and we couldn´t risk it to run out.
What flowers did you have?
Flowers were a mix of lavender, eucalyptus and field flowers. We had different bunches for the courtyard tables, the party room and the dining room. In the dining room we just put big eucalyptus branches on the table interrupted by some chrysanthemums and berries.
Any tips that you can give to future brides?
Don`t stress too much. Everyone will love it because they are there for you. Maybe try to plan in a lot of time where you can find time to talk to everyone. We just didn´t invite many members of the family, just the closest ones or any neighbours or people you just feel like you have to invite. Therefore, we didn´t have to do all those annoying polite conversations. We just sat down with our friends and enjoyed the day.
Anything else you’d like to add?
I didn´t put any pressure on it and in the end, it really turned out to be the best day of my life. I had such an amazing day and Terry and I really got to spend a lot of time with our loved ones in a brilliant location. Special thanks to my dad who was and always is extremely generous and paid most of the costs and didn´t even give us a chance to not let him and to my mum and sister who spent most of their time looking after our little one. And also, much love to my mother in law who paid for our honeymoon.
Our photographer Yulia was just amazing! We were looking for a relaxed bohemian yet glamorous style of photography and Yulia’s portfolio was the perfect match. She worked really hard on the day capturing all the special details of our wedding. She also produced the most beautiful portraits of Terry and me in the forest which we now have framed in our bedroom.
—– The Team —–
Wedding feature thanks to: Adorn Invitations
Photographer: Yulia from YTZ Weddings
Wedding Invitations: We sent them via Email through paperless post to everyone as we live in Australia and the wedding was held in Germany. Most guests were from England, Germany and only a few from Australia
Makeup: By the bride – I did my makeup myself that day as I don´t like a thick layer of makeup and German weddings start quite early and end quite late so I didn´t want so sweat too much underneath. I don´t use heavy makeup ever and didn´t want to feel like wearing a mask. I just did some contouring, with mostly mineral powder, and just focused on the eye brows, didn´t use any eye makeup except mascara. I put a very discreet lipstick on my lips just to highlight them a bit.
Bridesmaids Dresses: I didn´t have any bridesmaids as it isn´t a German thing. You normally just have a maid of honor. In this case it was my younger sister. Terry only had one groomsman.
Ceremony Venue: Schloss Kronburg in Memmingen, it was built around 1200
Reception Venue: Schloss Kronburg in Memmingen
