Bridegroom: Caleb Van Cooten

Wedding: March 8, 2014

The meeting

We actually had a few mutual friends and so by the time we met, Caleb appeared to know me already. I was actually planning on moving to Zambia for two years but Caleb’s romantic suggestions won me over. We dated for less than a year before we knew we were completely opposite, yet a perfect match. The Zambia trip is still on the wish list... 

The proposal 

Chantelle is a bit of a golfing tragic, so it wasn’t too hard to convince her into coming along to tackle the front nine at the Eaglehawk golf course. Six holes in, her putting was inhibited by some irritating rose petals blowing across the green from an unseen rose bush. Eventually she got the ball in the hole and her caddy knelt down to pull a ring out of it. She said yes and her handicap proceeded to deteriorate over the final few holes. 

The wedding day

It was the perfect day, where everything seemed to go as planned. The bride was suitably late to St Paul’s Anglican Church, Kyneton, arriving in a red-roofed FJ Holden. 

The reception was at The Mill in Malmsbury, where each course of the meal was served on a different level of the old malt mill. 

The dress

A Cizzy Bridal Dress from Belle’s and Bows, Eaglehawk. It was a white, mermaid-style, figure-hugging design and featured a sweetheart neckline, fitted lace-up bodice and a long ruffled train. 

As my three-year-old niece described from the front of the church... “Why are you dressed like a caterpillar?” 

The cake

A two-tiered, layered chocolate mud, red velvet, popping candy cake was beautifully made by the mother of the groom.

The photographer

Breanna Gravener Photography.

The honeymoon

Caleb organised the whole trip, and he kept the destination and events a surprise. It was my first trip to WA, where we swam and fished over the coral in the Ningaloo Reef, then explored Perth and Fremantle, and  finally relaxed and enjoyed the perks of the Margaret River region.