Stacey & Cory’s Otway National Forest Elopement

This beautiful elopement, of Stacey & Cory, is brought to you by the amazing elopement photographers, Coast & Pines.

Stacey and Cory eloped in the Otway National Forest, choosing a beautiful Airbnb cottage in Apollo Bay as their base. They got ready separately but had an emotional first look in the front yard. Then, they embarked on a waterfall adventure, meeting their celebrant at Triplett Falls for a heartfelt ceremony. They hiked to Hopetoun Falls for epic portraits and ended the day in the Red Wood forest with some cake. Stacey & Cory got married in a way that truly represented them, had an amazing experience and got some stunning photos.

This is how their love story began… “We met at work 4 years earlier and took around 3 years to break down those walls and get to know each other better. The proposal took place while we were laying in bed one night having a Friday night movie night with snacks and Lollies and we joked about getting married with a Lollie ring that I (Cory) put on her finger and she laughed so I pulled out the engagement ring and said well let’s make it official.”

Choosing to elope is a very personal decision. Here is why Stacy & Cory decided to elope… “Because at the end of the day we were getting married for us and didn’t want to have the stress of organising a big wedding and having all the things that go along with that. We also wanted to get married at a waterfall and thought trying to get 50+ people to a waterfall would be a bit of a stretch!”

“We held an engagement party a week later and told everyone with a picture of cake saying ‘opps just got married’.”

This is how they chose their elopement location…  “We had explored the area months before because we wanted an epic waterfall. We chose the ones we did because it felt peaceful and we fell in love with the serenity of it.”

Their marriage ceremony was everything an elopement should be. A personal ceremony in a beautiful location… “It was a quick walk down to triplet falls where we had a nice short and sweet ceremony with a lot of laughs and pretty chilled with the celebrant and photographers.”

Having an elopement in a National Park can always be a bit of an adventure… “We definitely proved our fitness levels on the day exploring 2 waterfalls and the redwood forest with tourists in ore of what we were doing.”

When we asked them what the best thing about eloping was for them, here is what they said…

“It was so easy and we got to concentrate on just us and what we wanted to do for our day. It took the worry, judgement and opinions out of it for us and made our day stress free.”

Are you thinking of eloping? Here is some advice from a couple that have actually eloped…

“Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks about traditions or wedding expectations, do something outside the box for the two of you that you’ll both have cherished memories of because at the end of the day it’s all about the both of you. Do it how you want to do it, everything else will fall into place.”

Elopement vendors involved in this Otway National Forest elopement:

Photographers – Coast and Pines

Celebrant – Married by Georgia

Dress – Belles and Bows Bridal, Bendigo.

Flowers – The Eternal Vase, Bendigo. 

Ceremony location – Triplet Falls, Victoria.

Portraits – Hopetoun Falls, Victoria, & Redwood Forest, Victoria.