Fi & Pat
Fi and Pat’s wedding has this beautiful mix of beachside and country. With their choice of a clifftop for their ceremony and Pat’s parent’s farm for the reception they got the best of both worlds. The wedding day capped off with a view of Mount Warning – the exact spot where Pat proposed! The day was captured in all it’s glory by Luke Going Photography.
But to begin the story of this wedding day, we have to travel back to the 31st of December 2006. The newlyweds remembering, “A night of beginnings. Pat was at a friend’s house early to help set-up the themed NYE party; Fi arrived early with all the costumes. From the moment Pat walked up the stairs to see Fi pulling on her Go-Go girl costume it was love.”
The groom and groomsmen kicked off their looks with pale blue jackets from Bell & Barnett. They added Cambridge pants and bespoke bow ties by Wil Valor.
Fi wore a lace wedding gown by Carol J Costa (0411 806 575) with her bridesmaids in pink dresses by Two Birds Bridesmaid from The Babushka Ballerina .
Hastings Point Headland was chosen for the ceremony, a popular spot that almost had another wedding on the same day! Fi and Pat telling, “The weather was pretty sour in the morning. It started raining leading up to the ceremony. Fortunately for us there was an interlude from the downpour the exact time and length of our ceremony. After rushing to the car when the rain came back during everyone’s congratulations we traveled to the first venue for photos. Miraculously, the skies parted again with enough time for us to leisurely take our photos and walk back to the cars. At which time it started up again. Meanwhile, at the reception, though things were cloudy there was no rain in sight. It seemed Rev. ‘Jimmy’ Hall put in a good word for us with the man upstairs. We booked our ceremony venue about a year in advance however our spot was so lovely that another couple tried to perform a wedding coup by setting up before we arrived. Lucky we had someone there early.”
Fi walked down the aisle to “The Northern Rivers Gabrieli String Quartet playing Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” (and she was).”
The choice of locations added a sense of personality to the day, the newlyweds telling, ” Fi grew up on the beach so having the ceremony close to the beach and the reception where Pat grew up really symbolised our two families coming together.”
Of their photographer, Fi and Pat remark, “Luke was amazing. His style is to capture the intimate moments shared between the couple and their guests. We searched for a long time to find someone with his qualities: intimate, professional and a little bit quirky. His unobtrusive style meant that he could slip between and capture those moments without disturbing them. We met Rosie at ‘A Very Vintage Wedding Fair’ where we fell in love with Luke’s style. After checking out his website we knew he was the photographer we wanted. Conversing with Rosie over emails was strangely like carrying on a face to face conversation – her sincerity really came through. Meeting Luke at our engagement party for an engagement shoot was a great idea and any niggling worries were immediately dispelled.”
The reception began at Pat’s family farm. “The venue was ‘Morley’, at Kynnumboon via Murwillumbah, Pat’s parents home and where he grew up. It is a traditional two-story brick homestead surrounded by luscious cane fields and framed by the Great Dividing Range with Mt Warning the centrepiece of the view (at the top of which was the site of Pat’s sunrise proposal).”
The newlyweds arrived at the reception on a vintage fire truck from Taylor Made Cars.
Guests enjoyed lawn games, drinks and canapes at the farm while waiting for the newlyweds. Having their family and friends support meant the world to Fi and Pat who remark, “Most people get over planning their wedding but it made us realise how many people we have in our lives who are willing to lend us a hand. At every stage we had a veritable army of volunteers ready to jump in and help out (even if that meant more project management to keep people on task). All that effort coming to fruition in such a beautiful way made our day magic!”
There was plenty of DIY and the list is endless – the groom even surprised his bride to be with a beautiful table as a wedding present. Unveiling it the day before the wedding, the table held the favors and desserts for the celebration. Fi and Pat remember, “We had all hands on deck from both families as well as no small help from our friends. The wedding planners were invaluable and had different levels of service so we chose a very hands on approach to get the best of both worlds.” The groom made Huckleberry Hound Pale Ale while the bride cooked up OLGA Jam (Orange, Lemon, Grapefruit & Apple) for guest favours.
Tori & Ali from Magenta Carnival (Ali – 0420 246 866, Tori – 0414 493 700) planned the wedding and turned out to be one of the most raved about decisions Fi and Pat made – especially when things at the reception went haywire and they didn’t find out until they returned from their honeymoon! They note, “Wedding planners match the control you want with what you can handle, meaning you don’t get overwhelmed and experience ‘Wedding Fatigue’. Find a great one, even if they are some distance away, meet with them and discuss their levels of service before you dismiss it as ‘just another cost we can do without’. Obviously Magenta Carnival come recommended. On the day, inevitably something will not go to plan. The couple shouldn’t have to worry about this on their special day. When these little monsters reared their heads on our day the wedding planners were on top of them almost before they happened. We were amazed at how friendly, professional and on the ball they were (as well as calm).”
An emotional first dance capped off the night. The story going, “Out first dance was to Jeff Buckley’s “Hallelujah”. It was a modern take on the traditional waltz culminating in lift that left not a dry eye in the house. It started unannounced but as soon as we began flowing across the dance floor everyone was silently engrossed.”
Luke Bickley Studio captured this incredible film of the wedding day!
https://vimeo.com/85135662
Congratulations Fi and Pat! Thank you for allowing us to share your day! Thank you also to Luke Going Photography. for sharing today’s celebration with us!
What a beautiful and personal wedding – love it.