Monique & Kjell

Summer in Sydney is always sparkling. The light twinkles on the water, the colours get a little brighter, a little more beautiful and the weather turns to the most beautiful of temperatures. It’s the season for laid back style, laid back celebration and it was this that led Monique and Kjell to choose a bright & colourful summer wedding to celebrate their relationship.

“We wanted our day to be young, fun, summer vibe with a little luxury romance,” explains Monique, who, along with  Kjell enlisted the help of  Emma Wand Photography to make sure every memory was captured. We’re pretty sure you’re going to love this stunning celebration of colour, of love, and of Monique and Kjell just as much as we did when we spied it!

It seems, it was always going to happen for these two, who met through their very best friends, who aptly, are also head over heels in love! The bride tells “My best friend and Kjell’s best friend started dating a year before we did, so that’s how we met. The four of us then lived together for about three years and they married the year before we did!”

It was on a weekend hike that Kjell popped the big question Monique telling the story for us. “We were doing the Royal National Park hike, it is a whole day hike so we packed a lunch. Kjell wanted to bring prawns as they are my favourite, I didn’t think they were appropriate hiking snacks but Kjell insisted on it being a nice lunch.
About 2 hours into the hike we found a nice spot on a cliff overlooking the ocean to have lunch, there was no one around it was really beautiful and peaceful. After we ate the prawns Kjell pulled out the ring and proposed – I didn’t answer and just squealed instead.”

The bride found her elegant gown at Made With Love, telling, “It was the first dress I saw online that I really loved so booked an appointment with them. It has a nice slender, simple cut but with beautiful lace detailing. My Mum and sister came to the appointment, it was the first one I tried on and loved it immediately.”

A beautiful bright wedding calls for beautiful bright blooms, Monique and Kjell choosing Sweet Pea and Honey Bee to style the blooms for their wedding, the bride telling  “I had no idea about flowers or arrangements, I reached out to Sweet Pea and Honey Bee, told her our theme and asked for her creative advice. When she dropped off the bouquets on the day of the wedding, I could not have been happier, they were absolutely perfect!”

The groom wanted to continue the bright summer vibes with his look, choosing pale blue jackets and stone pants from Politix for himself and his groomsmen.

“It is just ‘us’! We live near the beach and try to get down to the beach most days,” tells Monique of the couple’s decision to choose two waterside venues for their day, beginning with the beautiful Robertson Park, Watsons Bay for their wedding ceremony.

Monique walked down the aisle with her mother to Xavier Rudd’s “Follow The Sun”. “The song is just us” she shares “Summer and a chilled out vibe!”

Monique and Kjell enlisted Jessie Cacchillo to help bring their waterside ceremony to life, sharing “It was an intimate ceremony with all our favourite people. In the park, overlooking the water, under a beautiful fig tree. We had no readings but we did have champagne handed out so everyone could be involved in the toast to our love.”

 

Monique ad Kjell wanted their wedding photographs to be as laid back as their wedding and loved working with their photographer for this very reason, they tell “Emma is amazing! We wanted a photographer who was like us, chilled and fun (not typical wedding, formal). We met Emma first at a little cafe in Cronulla and knew we would get along instantly.
She was great with a little direction but not too much so that we could still enjoy the day.”

 

How does one make the most of beautiful Sydney at their wedding? They travel by boat!  “One of our splurges was to have guests be transported by boat from Watsons Bay to Pyrmont,” explains Monique. “The bridal party went in a separate smaller boat that pulled in to the Jones Bay Wharf where our guests cheered us in! That was one of my favourite parts of the day, holding Kjell’s hand as husband and wife and walking towards all our loved ones as they cheered and clapped.”

The newlyweds celebrated with their guests at a beautiful cocktail waterside reception at Cafe Morso.

The newlyweds took to the dance floor under the night sky, performed live by Romi Sounds. The bride sharing  “We had an amazing musician – Romi (check him out, he does gigs all over NSW, he is amazing).
Our first dance was Ho Hey by the Lumineers as it has a nice slow romantic start and then moves into a great song for getting everyone up dancing. We love the lyrics ‘I belong with you, you belong with me, you’re my sweetheart’.”

As a splurge the newlyweds chose to have Jaden Marc capture a film of their day. “Our ‘splurge’ things were to have a videographer so we could watch the video for years to come!” explains  Monique.

A big congratulations on your beautiful day Monique and Kjell! it was wonderful to be able to share your stories! Thank you to Emma Wand Photography for today’s beautiful images.