Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship:
We are both people who are all about home and family. We spend a lot of our time nurturing these parts of our lives and feel our best when they are tended to. We were a surprise to most people but for us, when we met it was on from day one.
We share so many of the same values, see importance in the same things and after all of that, love doing all the day to day things together too, making it a pretty lovely relationship to be in. We love being around each other so much that we have just launched a business together which really seals a marriage.
Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a little about the setting, the styling and some of your favourite details:
Our day was centred around ‘family’. So much so, we skipped the celebrant and had Cam’s sister do the ceremony for us. We had snuck off two days earlier with our families to get legally married at the registry office without telling anyone so we could focus on our family and friends on the day. Roberta’s brother was the MC, her sisters were her bridesmaids (plus one best friend who is basically family), our sister in law did a reading and our parents were obviously integral and central to the day which meant each one of them was involved in the day in some form. Oh and we got married in Roberta’s family’s backyard in St Kilda. It felt so intimate and relaxed, particularly with room to do a fully bespoke ceremony with no paper signing or legal vows to break it up.
Cam’s parents are from Moama in country New South Wales so they had rented the most beautiful AirBnB in St Kilda for the week. We chose to have our photos down in the house and we don’t regret it. We felt lucky to have a quiet spot to take photos that wasn’t out in the streets of St Kilda.
We also chose to get married at the Stokehouse in St Kilda, a childhood spot for Roberta, and just one of the most beautiful spots to share such an important moment with our friends. We were really strong on making sure the food and wine were as good as they could be which made choosing one of Melbourne’s best restaurants an easy choice. Plus, we really didn’t want to have to decorate or style the space as we wanted to spend our budget on the food and wine before anything else.
Tell us about your main outfits:
We are both a bit obsessed with fashion and love working on our own personal style. We both had fears that we could fall into looking just like any other wedding couple so actively worked to avoid it! Roberta had actually flown NYC to get a wedding dress, bought one (a very classic dress) before quickly changing her mind when she got home once she’d spotted the dress she wore on the day. Making the NYC trip a bit of a hilarious joke but so much fun regardless. We both aren’t very serious people so our attire (and the whole day) reflected that. Roberta went full playful mode (after being told she was definitely going to be wearing a slinky silk dress by almost everyone) and came out in a bubble skirt dress to bring back the 2000’s! Cam’s suit was a single-breasted, traditional black suit that had a pop of individualism in its collar which he had had made for the day.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day?
The ceremony! The un-official vibe made it flow so beautifully and people commented for weeks after on how much love they felt. We had asked Cam’s sister to focus on making everyone feel at home and represented in her ceremony, acknowledging that love isn’t black and white and that we had all types of it in the backyard with us. Oh, and Roberta’s dad singing and playing us ‘For Once in My Life’ by Stevie Wonder on his harmonica during his speech. Everyone was up dancing, hugging and kissing.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together?
Do you! We questioned so much about the day to make sure we weren’t adding anything that didn’t hold meaning for us. We removed the celebrant because, for us, that had not felt right for the day. We chose to have our whole family involved rather than friends because that’s who we are. We skipped cars, we shipped paper invites, we paired it back to only include the moments that truly mattered to us and it was amazing. Oh! And take a breath, it goes faster than you’ll ever know.
Ceremony location: Roberta’s parents’ home backyard in St Kilda, Melbourne | Reception location: Stokehouse Restaurants | Photographer: Sayher Heffernan Weddings | Celebrant: Cameron’s sister (Not a registered celebrant) | Entertainment: DJ Eddy Hotham | Styling: Roberta and Cam | Flora: Cecilia Fox | Catering + Beverages: Stokehouse Restaurants | Cake: Fig + Salt | Bride’s gown: Rasario | Groom’s attire: Suit Shop | Bride’s ring: Henson and Gold | Groom’s ring: Hamish Munro | Bride’s shoes: Miu Miu | Groom’s shoes: Doucals | Roberta’s headpiece: AM Faulkner | Cam’s bespoke shirt collar: Sarti | Makeup: Skye Isabella | Hair: Ashleigh Carpenter | Fragrance: Maison Francis Kurkdjian Hers: Baccarat Rouge 540, His: Masculin Pluriel | Bridesmaid’s dresses: Alex’s bronze wrap dress – Maria Lucia Hohan | Georgia’s lace dress – Self Portrait | Alice’s bronze silk dress – Allen Schwartz | Groomsmen wore their own suits