What’s your business name? The Altar Electric
Who is behind The Altar Electric: Dee, Sarah and Anthony.
What do you do? We are a Vegas-style wedding chapel
Where is The Altar Electric Based? Abbotsford (Melbourne), Victoria
What is your business’s ethos? To ensure that everyone is welcome – we are a church for all.
Were there moments in your formative years that might have indicated an interest in your line of work/? Dunno…maybe for all three of us at some point but we also still feel like we’re well in the middle of our formative years still…can we come back to that one in a few more years?
Why did you start up your business? The three of us, as Celebrants, were often sitting with couples in the lead-up to their weddings and the shine had well and truly worn off for many of them. The stress of dealing with so much pressure, people pleasing, logistics, organizing etc. We knew that for many couples there had to be another way for them other than just heading to the registry office, so over a coffee one day we decided – let’s offer a Vegas-style wedding offering that could be the answer that these couples were looking for.
Stand-out moment since starting your business? We did perform a same-sex wedding at midnight when same-sex marriages became legal across Australia, and the pictures of this wedding went around the world. They were shown on places like CNN, NBC and the BBC. And then finally getting our own ‘bricks and mortar’ 5 years into the business, it was like a dream had finally come true.
Worst moment? We haven’t really had any to be honest, the most stressful bit was waiting for council to approve our permits for the new Chapel before we could open.
Have there been any mistakes you’ve made that you feel you have grown/learnt from? So many, but that’s not the issue, you’re meant to make mistakes. We definitely imagined a very different business to the one we have now when we started out, but we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Where are you at with The Altar Electric currently and are there any plans on the horizon? Right now, we are just loving what we have created in Abbotsford and the little family we as a business have become.
What trends are you seeing in the wedding industry? More and more couples seem to be moving away from the big expensive weddings and moving to more alternative options like micro-weddings where the focus is on the love and celebration and less about the pomp and lavish statements.
Other hobbies/interests: Drinking wine and hanging out together.
Favourite vendors: So many, there are of course our favourites – The Knave, Mrs White, Wayfarer Journal, Lovebomb Photos, Bottlebrush Films/The Livestream Team, Madeline Kate Photo, Analog Modern, Bloom Boy, Miss Trixie Drinks Tea, Miss Ladybird Cakes, Torte by Mirjana
Favourite food: Prosecco (it’s actually a whole food group on its own)
Your spirit animal and why? Leopard… its print inspires much of our decor
What would your final meal be? See our favourite food for the answer
Favourite song: Like a Prayer by Madonna – seriously the chapel goes off when it’s played
If you had one piece of advice to share with couples, what would it be? Fuck the system, it’s your day.
