Our wedding was meant to be held near the Caucasus Mountains in 2020 but the world had other plans. With family and friends spread all around the world and borders still closed, we decided to have a secret garden elopement instead, with our darling dog Scooter. No one apart from our vendors knew. We wanted it intimate, surrounded by nature and an abundance of food. We both loved planning it
Bek — I’m the owner/floral designer of Tremella Botanicals. I adore the natural world, arranging and photographing flowers, and my dog.
Serge — I’m a multimedia creative obsessed with music, mountains, and mushrooms.
Bek — We first met while working at a fancy restaurant in Mayfair, London back in 2015. We both felt out of place. Serge seemed very mysterious and quiet, which fascinated me. Our first date was a surprise trip to Beachy Heads on the English coast, where we discovered our shared love of photography, fashion, and nature.
Serge — My first impression? I was impressed with how Bek was dressed, her cute look, amazing hair, and strong legs that can go far! A few months into our relationship, after being on holiday with friends in Italy, Bek came to visit my home city of St Petersburg. I knew she was the one when she happily rugged up in rubber boots and a raincoat and spent hours in the forest in pouring rain foraging for mushrooms with me.
Bek — We were traveling through Georgia for a month before I returned to Melbourne. It was on my birthday eve. We were on our apartment balcony overlooking the Black Sea and Serge set off some paper lanterns. One almost caught on fire from a gust of wind so he quickly scrapped that idea and nervously whipped out a ring from his back pocket. He gave the sweetest speech but was shaking the whole time.
Photography was a priority, and we’ve always adored Lei Lei’s work. A last-minute addition was having Nathan from Analog Modern on board to capture our day in Super8 film, which was one of the best decisions we made. We were super intentional with every vendor we chose, down to the flowers which were mainly grown by local farmers Bloom Into You.
Serge — I inherited my love for gemstones from my late father who was a geologist-turned-jeweler. We got our rings custom made by the incredible Kim Victoria. Bek has a stunning yellow-green parti-sapphire dotted with diamonds.
Bek — I wanted a two-piece and fell in love with the Zimmermann ensemble when I first saw it. It had silk flowers embroidered all over it. I literally bought it two days before our elopement, as we were coming out of lockdown and stores had just started opening up.
Serge — I knew I wanted a vintage designer suit. After a couple of months of searching,I scored a vintage Comme des Garcons suit on eBay from Japan which fit perfectly
PHOTOGRAPHER: Lei Lei Clavey, @leileiclaveyphotography / LOCATION: A Private AirBnB in Mt Dandenong / WEDDING DRESS: Zimmermann, @zimmermann / SERGE’S OUTFIT: Comme des Garcons, @commedesgarcons / SERGE’S SHOES: RM Williams, @rmwilliams / RINGS: Kim Victoria Jewels, @kimvictoria / MAKEUP & HAIR: Alana Holmes, @alanajholmes / VIDEOGRAPHER: Analog Modern, @analog_modern / FLORAL: Tremella Botanicals, @tremellabotanicals / CELEBRANT: Dear Henri, @dear.henri
