‘She wore a pearl necklace’: Adorable dogs upstage couple on their wedding day

Custom Christian Louboutin shoes, extravagant guest gifts and doggy dress-ups were among the special touches for this hinterland wedding.

Jane Armitstead

@JaneArmitstead

4 min read

April 22, 2025 - 6:54AM

QWeekend

The wedding of Kim and Ross Vickers. Picture: ImageHaus

Lifestyle

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The wedding of Kim Eckstein and Ross Vickers was extravagant, stylish and pure luxury from custom designer bridal shoes to generous guest gifts and newlywed merchandise.

The Hope Island couple, who have been together for eight years, married at Beechmont Estate, inland from the Gold Coast, on June 8 last year in front of 68 guests.

The couple say they were the first in Australia to have their wedding shoes custom designed by famous French designer Christian Louboutin in one of many of their opulent choices, including having one of their dogs wear a pearl necklace.

Their love story has always had a touch of extravagance with the couple celebrating a lavish proposal in a castle in Napa Valley, north of San Francisco, two years ago.

The wedding of Kim and Ross Vickers. Picture: ImageHaus

How did you meet? In 2016 at a friend’s wedding party in Durban, South Africa.

Ross: I thought she was beautiful, I liked her big eyes and her smile and I wanted to get to know her better.
Kim: I thought he was good looking, charming and fun and I wanted to see him again.

How did you choose your wedding venue?Kim: We wanted a country luxe wedding and the venue to be exclusive to us and where we, our bridal party and out of town guests, could stay.

How did you choose your bridal dress?

I wanted a figure-hugging dress that was beautifully beaded, and it was magnificent. After having consultations with three designers in Sydney, I chose Pallas Couture. My mum and I flew to Sydney nine times for fittings.

What were your thoughts seeing Kim for the first time? Ross: I was filled with emotion and when I saw the car coming down the hill, I shed a tear. When I turned around and saw Kim she looked absolutely gorgeous and I was pinching myself at how lucky I am.

The wedding of Kim and Ross Vickers. Picture: ImageHaus

What were some of the unique details about your wedding? Our magnificent long aisle made especially for us. We had Ryan Livings Music playing Baker Street on the saxophone as we made our reception entrance, which was a wow moment! We had fireworks. We had our first dance outside under the structure at the end of our aisle where we got married! We had all the extra touches, from cookies in the shape of my wedding dress as well as the groom’s suit, bridesmaids’ dresses and groomsmen’s suits. We had cards made with character sketches of our bridal party.

Kim Eckstein and Ross Vickers. Picture: Imagehaus

What did you provide for your bridal party? We bought everything for our bridesmaids, junior bridesmaids and flower girl, from shoes, dresses, watches, jewellery, handbags and perfume. They were given silk pyjamas with their names on as well as slippers with their initials to wear on the day leading up to the wedding. The groomsmen were given suits, shirts with their initials on the cuff, cufflinks, ties, tie pins, perfume and Mont Blanc pens, and shoes, shorts and shirts with their names and our logo on to wear during the day. We designed a logo, K and R, for the dance floor, some of the cookies, cake boxes, cocktail napkins and scatter cushions we had made.

And for your guests? We had cookies made for all our guests who were staying at Beechmont and they were beautifully presented along with a pink and grey blanket in their cabins for when they arrived on the Friday night before the wedding for their two-night stay. My mum made the most gorgeous set of wine glass ID charms with one charm personalised with the first letter of each guest’s name for them to take home. We also had a lolly table with sweets, chocolates and cake for guests to take home.

The wedding of Kim and Ross Vickers. Picture: ImageHaus

What were the favourite details of your outfits? We were the first couple in Australia to be able to custom design our wedding shoes from Christian Louboutin. We selected our shoe style, materials, colours, and personalised them with our initials. The process took up to eight months. We also had bespoke wedding rings designed for us by Calleija Jewellers.

How did you involve your pets?

We have two English staffies who are our babies. Gouchie, our little boy, wore a grey suit with a pink tie to match the groomsmen’s suits and our little girl Stassy had her dress made in the same material as the bridesmaids’ dresses. Stassy also wore a pearl necklace with a pink heart.

Stassy the dog in a bridesmaid dress with pearls. Picture: Imagehaus

What was a wedding non-negotiable for you? Alysia Bridger our wedding planner, plus an exquisite bespoke dress, a long, unique aisle.

Best advice for other couples?

Hire Alysia Bridger Events as it will be the best decision you ever make. Go with the flow in the planning process and don’t leave things to the last minute. Do not try and control the day, it’s your day, so relax and leave the organising up to the professionals.

Honeymoon? Bora Bora. It was incredible. We swam with reef sharks, manta rays, stingrays and fish. We snorkelled and picked oysters and kept the pearls inside and Calleija jewellers is making bracelets with them as a memory.

The Bride

Kim Eckstein, 46

Profession Self employed

Parents Ethne Killman (mum), Gary Killman (stepdad), Roy Eckstein (dad, deceased)

Bridesmaids Janis Arlidge, Nicole Potts, Ding Eckstein; Junior bridesmaids Mia and Emma Eckstein; Flower girl Amy Eckstein

DressPallas Couture

Bridesmaid and flower girl dresses L & B Bespoke Designs (Leesa)

Hair Leigh McCoy

Make-up Make up by Andri

Flowers Mrs Gibbons

Wedding planner/stylist Alysia Bridger Events

The Groom