Kate and Damien

A piece of beautiful sunshine for you this Tuesday afternoon with a gorgeous wedding from Hamilton Island. Not only is the back drop spectacular, but the elegance of Kate and Damien’s style really makes their wedding day so ‘them’ and so beautiful.

Kate recalls how Damien made his first impression. “Damien knocked a full glass of champagne all over me on the dance floor, but redeemed himself by replacing the glass with a bottle – it was love at first sight!”

Kate and Damien utilised Nightingales Wedding Designers to help bring their wedding together and Novae Video Productions filmed the wedding day.

Photographs today are by gm photographics who capture the essence of a wedding day so beautifully – the relaxed, elegant tropical feel of Kate and Damien’s wedding day shines through these photographs.

Of her favourite memory, Kate says “I loved having all our family and friends together for a minimum of 4 days, some even stayed for over a week and some even extended their stay at the last minute because they didn’t want to leave!  Was so lovely driving around the island the days before and after the wedding and seeing so many people we knew enjoying themselves. The day after the wedding we took our guests on a boat cruise to Whitehaven Beach. It was great being able to spend quality time with all of our guests and with all of the formalities of the day before over, Damien and I were really able to let our hair down!”

Kate’s gown was designed and made by Jane Hill. She accessorised with ‘something old’. “I wore my late grandmother’s brooch in my hair on the day, my Mum only found it a week before the wedding and we couldn’t believe what I perfect match it was.”

Kate’s bridesmaids wore gowns from Ava Madison “As a surprise to me a few months before the wedding, Damien arranged for my bridesmaids and I to stay at the Beach House at Qualia Resort the night before the wedding and to get ready at for the big day. Damien and I also stayed there on our wedding night. We kept this a surprise from the bridesmaids too until the day before the wedding – they thought they were only having manicures and pedicures at Qualia, not staying there!” The bouquets were styled by Floral Collections.

“Hair and Make-Up was by Simona Janek and she did an amazing job. What a superstar – she started at 7am and by 2pm had done hair & make-up for myself, all 4 bridesmaids, my Mum, mother-in-law and sister! It looked amazing, lasted the night and photographed really well. Most importantly, Simona was so much fun and helped to keep everything relaxed on the day.”

The ceremony held many special memories for Kate. “Parts of the ceremony such as reading prayers, handing out the flowers to guests which were used in the ceremony, playing music, distributing order of service booklets and ringing the chapel bells were carried out by our family members. We tried to have as many of our family members as possible involved in the ceremony, which was really important to us and helped to make our ceremony even more personal.” Kate walked down the aisle to ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’ by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and was held at All Saints Chapel Hamilton Island.

Damien and his groomsmen wore suits from J. H. Cutler.

Kate and Damien held their reception at and held their reception at Hamilton Island Yacht Club. Cioccolata Bella created a white chocolate cake tower.

The tables were named after a mutual love. Kate recalls, “Given Damien and I have a shared love for horse racing, we decided to name the tables at the reception after horse racing tracks! Of course, given one of our earlier dates had been to Randwick races, we named the bridal table Royal Randwick!”.

Kate and Damien hired “Martini Club” to entertain their guests on the dance floor – their spectacular first dance was to ‘3 Words’ by Cheryl Cole & Will.i.am.

Kate says “There are really so many great stories! From my 90 yr old grandmother up on stage dancing with the band, to the Best Man’s speech, to our MC’s welcoming address – there were lots of laughs!”

Congratulations Kate and Damien! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us today! Thank you also to gm photographics for sharing today’s images!

Photos by gm photographics