Sweet Yarramalong Valley Wedding

Kate & Nath

I love the country afternoon celebration that Kate and Nath held for their sweet Yarramalong Valley wedding. It’s exactly what they wanted- a relaxed day with family and friends that celebrated everyone they love. They chose Jackielyn Powell to capture their day.

Kate tells us the story of they they came to be. “We first met through my sister Clair when we were much, much younger! (I had a crush on him when I was sixteen!). When we were older, we met again through mutual friends, I’d had a string of disastrous relationships and he’d been traveling for a long time so when we met again the time was right for us.”

Kate wore the Rue De Seine “Violet” gown from The Babushka Ballerina, telling, “Last year I went to New Zealand with one of my best girlfriends for her to look at dresses – she’d seen a few from this designer but at the time they didn’t stock in Australia. I’d only just recently become engaged so when we were there my friends encouraged me to try a few. I tried the Eve gown and loved it (The Violet gown was on the shortlist of my friend so I didn’t try it at the time).

Months later I was in Sydney with my Mum and I knew the Babushka Ballerina in Paddington had started stocking Rue De Seine so I called and asked if I could come by and try the Eve for my Mum to see. Thankfully, they were able to juggle some appointments to squeeze us in. I went in thinking that the Eve gown would be what I bought but when I tried it on and showed my Mum, neither of us loved it. My friend didn’t end up going with the Violet and I had loved it in NZ so I tried it and it was perfect. I loved the simple cut and silhouette of it and also the beautiful lace!”

Kate and Nath chose Yarramalong Valley Farmstay for their wedding ceremony, explaining, “Some friends had styled a TV show at the farmstay and they’d recommended I check it out. Nathan and I had wanted somewhere open with nothing around – just land. It wasn’t quite that but we found a spot at the bottom of the property that was still close enough for guests to walk to from the house but far enough that you couldn’t really see anything else around.”

“I walked with my sisters, close girlfriends and nieces leading the way. Our little boy Marlow walked with me and the song we had was Sea of Love by Cat Power.”

Of their ceremony, performed by Sarah Tolmie, Kate remembers, “We wanted it to be very personal (of course) and quite casual. We stood side by side with our arms around each other and our little boy Marlow sat at our feet. Our families and friends stood in front of us (everyone stood except for our grandparents)…we wanted everyone to feel like they were part of the ceremony…which they were!

We had decided we wouldn’t be doing formal speeches at the reception so we wanted to ceremony to cover off a lot of things that usually would be talked about in the speeches – how we met, our lives together, how we got to where we are, funny stories and anecdotes about our relationship etc.

We had the most incredible celebrant – Sarah Tolmie who delivered a beautiful ceremony that was everything (and more!) we hoped it would be! There was one reading which I had found a long time ago which always stuck with me which she ended the “formalities” with: I choose you In a hundred lifetimes In a hundred worlds In any version of reality I’d find you and I’d choose you.”

Of their photographer, Kate notes, “Jacki is a friend and I have followed her on instagram for a long time. I really loved her style and have always thought she had a great ability to capture a moment or feeling in a really implicit way. Although I hadn’t seen any wedding shoots from her, I asked if she would be interested in shooting our day. We had wanted to have someone that would capture all the special moments and the mood of the day but without all the posed shots. (We had a handful of posed shots with our families but that was it!). She did such an incredible job!”

Reception celebrations continued at Wyong Creek Hall, Kate noting, “The Wyong Creek Hall was directly opposite the farm stay and although we would have liked to have the reception on the property as well we were a bit worried about the weather so that was a great option. It was a great blank canvas!”

Kate tells, “We DIY’d nearly everything! All styling and decorating was done by us (we sourced a lot of the “Middle Eastern” decorations from Lakemba) and also raided family and friends houses for anything that would fit the theme like cushions, rugs, vases and candle holders.” The couple also hired furniture from Vintage Patina.

In honour of the groom’s Lebanese heritage, Food Stuff Catering served up a Lebanese style banquet.

“We didn’t have a first dance but we did hit the dance floor pretty early on and danced the night away to a very eclectic mix (we have opposite tastes in music!) – everything from Paul Simon to the Dirty Dancing Soundtrack, The Doors, Joy Division and Afro Beats!! (and everything in between!).”