Real Wedding – Katherine & Chris, Hesse VIC

It was when Chris was deep into hotel quarantine (remember those days?!) that he realised how much Kat meant to him. His one. So, after a beautiful overseas proposal, they began planning their dream day based around the idea of a destination venue.

Stunning Barunah Plains understood the assignment, offering a weekend of access and gorgeous on-site accommodation. Further elevating the space with simple yet impactful styling, incorporating a nod to the idyllic natural surroundings, Kat and Chris created an uplifting setting against which their celebrations unfolded.

Kat glowed in her chic gown by Kyha Studios, with overskirt to amp up the drama for the ceremony, and a pair of Converse to hit the dance floor.

Smith + Archer captured every blissed-up moment with candid artistry – scroll on to enjoy a perfect combination of style and feel.

The meeting.

We are a classic millennial love match – through Tinder, of course! We met in August 2015 when we were both living in London.

The one.

Kat: I think I knew pretty much straight away, but it wasn’t until my housemates told me Chris was a keeper that I decided to listen!

Chris: I was in hotel quarantine at the time and realized how much I missed Kat, and our dog Murray. That was it, I decided to propose.

The proposal.

We were in York, England, just before Christmas 2021. Chris arranged for us to walk around the city walls before a fancy lunch. He pulled me aside (after much complaining from me because I was sick of walking!) and told me he had an early Christmas present. I was totally oblivious and unceremoniously opened the box to find a simple placeholder ring. I was in total shock for the next 24 hours!

Planning process.

We had a long run-up to our wedding (highly recommend!). We booked our venue, the stunning Barunah Plains, two years in advance and went from there. We knew we wanted somewhere that our guests could stay onsite, and that really narrowed down the options. Barunah was amazing as we got the venue to ourselves from Friday until Sunday, whereas most other places only really offered around seven hours!

We booked our key vendors early on, including our photographer Ali of Smith + Archer (this woman knows customer service and is such a salve for an anxious/clueless couple), our flowers and hire from the incredible Elderberry Events (we love you Talla), our musician Issac Main of Main Entertainment (what a voice, what a DJ) and our celebrant, Keyorra (Married by Keyorra – she worked so hard to make our ceremony all about us and we got so much feedback from guests about how personalised it was).

I had planned to do everything myself, but after our son Alex was born 14 months before our wedding date, we reassessed.  We were recommended the lovely Bonnie from Gathered Events, who coordinated on the day. She went above and beyond for us in the lead-up to the wedding (as all of our vendors did, to be honest) and made sure the details were just right. It is true that your vendors are as invested as you are in making your wedding the perfect day.  We found it was a bit of a chain reaction of finding vendors, who then recommended other vendors we ended up using. Ali from Barunah Plains sent us helpful lists from previous guests, which we used as a starting point. We would definitely recommend having an initial meeting with your vendors for a vibe check and putting in the research about what you want and need.

It all felt pretty stress-free until the final few weeks, which were a flurry of activity. Chris is British, so we weren’t 100% sure who would make it from overseas until quite close to the wedding. This made planning the onsite accommodation tricky, but we got there in the end, and we had all of his family there (with a special shout-out to Uncle Jim, who wasn’t able to travel), which was just amazing. In the end, we were really glad that most of our guests joined us the night before the wedding. It set the scene, allowed everyone to get to know each other and made the wedding feel that much more relaxed (more on the dancefloor later!).

Style inspiration.

We are big fans of the outdoors and love a bit of greenery. We wanted everything to be simple, with a nod to our natural surroundings and with a pop of native colour. I cried when the flowers arrived in the morning; I really felt like the team had listened to our requests and added little personalised details as much as they could. They had little pops of yellow billy buttons, gum nuts and the teeniest bit of blue as a nod to my shoes.

We kept things classic in terms of signage (sourced from a little local place I stumbled upon called Chicreative in Seddon) and decor, really letting our surroundings do the talking. We have fairy lights suspended from the beams in the shearing shed, which created a magical atmosphere.

Inspiration via real weddings was the most helpful in terms of practicality. I remember noting down vendors and finding them on Instagram to get an idea of their work. They also gave the most helpful ‘I never would have thought of that’ information, such as little details to help guests on the day, ideas for a first look and timings. I think we wouldn’t have had a videographer if it hadn’t been for the number of real couples who said they really cherished having that footage, and I have to say, it is 100% true. We saved money by only getting the raw footage from the day, and we will then go back to our videographer (Sophie Rose Weddings) for our one year anniversary to have her edit it for us.

We were also total novices when it came to shopping for our outfits, jewellery and accessories, so we relied heavily on magazines and social media to get an idea of what matched our style.

The ceremony.

Our ceremony was held on the lawn outside the homestead at Barunah Plains, with the shearing shed in the distance. I remember standing in the front living room looking at all the guests taking their seats and Chris standing at the front, music playing. It was totally surreal. We had Chris’ parents walk our son Alex down the aisle as part of the bridal party, and that was so moving. Chris scooped him when he got nearby and I remember just feeling so lucky and proud of our little family. I had my two bridesmaids there with me, and my mum walked me down the aisle. The sun was shining on us and it was so surreal to see all these smiling faces of the people who have walked through life with you. It was such a joyful moment.

Our celebrant, Keyorra (Married by Keyorra), ensured that she had the full picture of our story before she wrote the script. She worked closely with us to ensure it was exactly ‘us’, right down to the stories we wanted to include, a tailored reading from our good friend Ash (You are the Bubbles by Rachel Bright) and ceremony duration (~30 minutes). Keyorra is all about the details. She planned where she would stand for the ceremony (to the side, so we were centre stage), her outfit (they are always amazing, check out her insta) and she coached us through the writing of our vows. She is still a total woo girl post-wedding and was a very calm influence on the day.

The outfits.

I wore a dress and overskirt from Chosen by Kyha. The girls at Kyha were so lovely; they understood the brief! It was really important to me that the experience of getting married was full of joy, and I found the whole process really special, down to my alterations by Kristen of Dressmaking and Such. I really felt like a bride, and that made the dress so much more special. Offer me a glass of bubbles, and I’m a happy girl!

I loved this look as it suited my body shape, was modern yet dramatic for the ceremony, and then I could remove the overskirt in time to hit the dancefloor later on. My something blue was my great-grandmother’s sapphire ring (altered by our jeweller to fit for the day) and my Loeffler Randall shoes, which were so comfortable and fun. I swapped them out for white platform Converse later on as we were on a farm, so the ground was tricky! I had the most fabulous earrings from Christie Nicolaides. And, of course, essential to the perfect outfit was the perfect hair (Jaz Little), makeup (Zoe Karlis bridal) and tan (J.R.Glow).

All of our rings were made by Simon West. I have had so many compliments on my engagement ring over the years. It is a real Art Deco statement piece. Simon worked with us over the two years on my engagement ring and then both of our wedding bands. He is a true artist; he listens to what you want and is invested in your journey.

Chris’ suit was from Oscar Hunt, whose team (Marcus leading) worked really closely with him and ensured he had the best experience throughout the tailoring process. He had a specific style in mind, and they ensured they captured what he was after. Chris loves a hidden detail, found in the embroidery inside his jacket pocket, and his kangaroo socks on the day!

The bridesmaid’s dresses were from Bec + Bridge. The girls wanted to be quite chic and grown up, hence the black (and the addition of a split!).

Favourite moments.

I think we both loved the ceremony more than we expected. We initially viewed it as admin to get through before the fun could begin, but the sense of ceremony and the time to share your story and reflect on your love while your nearest and dearest are there is truly special and once in a lifetime. There was so much that led up to that point, there was also a feeling of relief that there was nothing more for us to do except enjoy the day and be present.

Also, being on the dancefloor with everyone screaming Taylor Swift’s Love Story at the top of their lungs – that was a real highlight, (insert laughing emoji here!)

Meaning of marriage.

Chris and I have been together for a long time, with a house, a dog and now a toddler. I don’t think marriage meant commitment to us, because we had already demonstrated that to one another. I think marriage for us is about sharing that love and joy with our nearest family and friends, especially now we have Alex. Life is busy and complicated, and this was really an opportunity for us to look to the future with joy in our hearts and commit to each other and our families, whatever is to come. Celebrating something so extraordinary as finding your person was really why we did it.

Wedding soundtrack.

Aisle: Chateau by Angus and Julia Stone

Reception entry: Never Tear Us Apart by INXS

First dance: Beautiful Day by Elbow

Funny stories and near disasters.

We had a near miss with a very late arrival of the best man’s waistcoat and a stick-on bra for me (they arrived as we were getting into the car to drive to Barunah!). We did a good job of not forgetting to bring anything with us – except Chris forgot his card to me. Instead I got a cue card, a drawing and poor George, the best man, missed out on his card as it was commandeered for me! I also missed an entire page of my speech.

Planning surprises.

Just the detail! We had a complete BYO everything wedding, down to the toilets. Whilst we had considered things like a cool room and generator, we hadn’t considered what the water was like onsite, access for our lovely catering team (amazing food – including a cheese ‘cake’ and drinks service), where to put the toilets or how to communicate with people on the day of the event (there is very limited reception at Barunah). Thankfully, Bonnie managed all of this for us, and if something went wrong, we certainly did not know about it!

Words of wisdom.

Get the videographer, get the photographer, invite those friends and family you haven’t seen in years (they will jump at coming along) and say yes to offers of help – people love a job. We had our good friend Lauren MC at our wedding, and it was so much fun. She even did a qui,z which really set the atmosphere for the evening part of the wedding.

We arranged onsite nannies for the little ones (including our own). We used Geelong nannies, and they were fantastic! Definitely consider food timings and special meals when planning your run sheet.

We also arranged a shuttle service for guests who only came for the day. We would recommend checking if there are any events on in the area for your wedding date, as most services were booked out before we realised.

Last words.

We are so grateful to all of guests for joining us, to our vendors for their hard work and enthusiasm for our day and to those friends and family who helped us along the way. We hope that sharing our story will help the next couple on this journey to feel more confident and enjoy the process – good luck and congratulations!

Searching for that perfect look for your bridesmaids? Finding the right style, fit, and shade can be an absolute journey, so to simplify your process and bring you the most on-point style inspiration, we’ve collated some of our favourite bridesmaid looks, from real weddings to brands.

KATHERINE & CHRIS’ VENDORS

Ceremony location: Barunah Plains Homestead

Reception venue: Barunah Plains Shearing Shed

Celebrant: Keyorra Shrimpton – Married by Keyorra

Photography: Ali of Smith + Archer

Videography: Sophie Rose Weddings

Coordinator: Bonnie, Gathered Events

Styling & florals: Elderberry Events

Hair: Jaz Little

Make-up: Zoe Karlis

The dress: Chosen by Kyha

Veil: Something borrowed from bridesmaid

Shoes: Loeffler Randall

Rings: Simon West

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Bec + Bridge

Suits: Oscar Hunt (Best man supplied his own)

Catering, bar & cake: Round the Way

Stationery / Signage & favours: Chicreative

Entertainment: Issac Main, Main Entertainment

Décor: & hire: Elderberry Events and Paddock Dreams for toilets

Honeymoon: TBC!