Kate & Richard

Kate and Richard chose the Queensland bush for their engagement photos – planning a city wedding, they wanted photos taken somewhere with tall grasses and fields. Photographer Nick Evans had just the spot, taking the couple to a gorgeous wetland area.

When asked what they love most about each other, Kate and Richard told us, “I think what we love about each other most is that no matter what we can always make each other laugh. We have so many personal jokes together and we can just talk and laugh for hours! I love his smile and he loves my eyes. We have so much in common and right from the start were perfectly compatible.”

Kate and Richard met on a love boat, or rather a cruise! Kate tells, “Richie and I have both always believed that everything happens for a reason, and how we first met is a good example of this! We met 5 years ago on the P&O Cruise Ship the Pacific Sun which was a week long cruise to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. I went on the cruise with a couple of my girlfriends, and Richie went on with a couple of his mates.

Each night on the ship they had a theme night, the third night of which was ‘cowboy’ themed. So here I was in denim shorts, a flano and boots out for a night with the girls. I was dancing with one of my friends on the dance floor and we caught the eye of another couple of young guys dancing. I spotted Richie straight away! Since he is so tall (6 foot 7 inches), and I am also quite tall for a girl our eyes immediately met!

To be honest the rest is history – we danced for a bit together, went and got another drink and sat together in the club for hours just talking. It felt so easy and comfortable talking to him straight away it was amazing. We were there for so long the club ended up closing before we were ready to call it a night. So together we went up to the front of the ship and laid down on the deck just watching the stars together. We even saw a few shooting stars that night! One of which I mistook for a bird haha. By that time it was about 5am and I remember Richie walked me back to my cabin and gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was the perfect end to a perfect first date! ”

The proposal was full of surprises, some of which echoed the way the couple met. Kate remembers, “I think as a true romantic, it took him months to plan my proposal! What happened was – one Friday morning I woke up (expecting to go to work), but instead Richie came in the room and had made me my favourite breakfast! He then went on to tell me that… “Katie, pack your bags we are going on a trip!”.

He’d already organised for me to have time off work without me knowing so he could whisk me away for the weekend! I packed my bags and we hopped in the car but he wouldn’t tell me where we were going. We arrived at Brisbane Airport… destination, Sydney! Once we arrived in Sydney we got into a cab and he blind-folded me so I wouldn’t know where we were going. Finally we had arrived at the final destination – Darling Harbour Cruise Terminal in Sydney, where the P&O Cruise ship the Pacific Sun was docked (the very same ship we first met on!).

We were heading on a 3 day cruise!! We boarded the ship and enjoyed a few cocktails on the deck before having dinner that night. Then after dinner Richie took me up to the front of the cruise ship, got down on one knee and proposed to me! I was so happy and excited I don’t even remember saying yes! Just when I thought all the surprises were over we headed back down to our cabin, and when I walked in there was rose petals all over our bed, candles all over the room and our favourite song was playing in the background. I cried as we danced to the rest of the song. It was so perfect and we were so happy! ”

“We had looked at several engagement shoots before we chose the style that we liked. We love long grass and field type shots, and were so happy when our photographer Nick Evans found the perfect place, because we were having a hard time finding one ourselves in the Brisbane area. We wanted somewhere where was out in the open in the fresh air where we could feel relaxed and have fun!”