Katy & Allister’s Relaxed Palm Beach Wedding

Katy & Allister

The relaxed beachside vibes of Katy and Allister’s relaxed Palm Beach wedding was filled with plenty of colour – bright red, vivid purples and saffron yellows all playing their part in a day that was as much about friends and family as it was about the newlyweds. All captured beautifully by Ben Howland.
From friendship to love, Katy tells the story of how the pair came to fall in love. “A mutual friend asked me to audition to play bass in Allister’s band. Playing in the band together, we got to know each other and realised we had a lot in common. We were both from Newcastle originally with our families still living there, and both visual designers. Not to mention we both had a love of nature, adventure and travelling. After a year our friendship blossomed to love. Three months later we were already off on our first adventure travelling around Europe. The first of many adventures that followed!”

Katy wore a beautiful two piece lace ensemble from Karen Willis Holmes, noting “I had no idea what I wanted so I started looking online for inspiration before I went dress shopping. I wanted something bohemian, lace and a little different. Not too long into my search, I found a snapshot of a woman wearing the Karen Willis Holmes Tillie and Natasha. I immediately fell in love. There were numerous comments from all over the world desperately wanting to know where this dress was from.

I dreamt of wearing it even if I had to ship it internationally, but it was a long shot 3 months out from my wedding and that’s if I could even track it down. Luckily a Google image search lead me to the KWH website and I was ecstatic they were Sydney based. I tried it on and bought it the next week!”

Ashdown and Bee  styled the wedding, including the ceremony decor, Katy telling “Melissa did a fantastic job working with us to style our ceremony, with elements that worked perfectly in the space. We wanted to enhance the natural setting and include items that worked with it, nothing too over the top that would clash and also lots of greenery. We relied on the flowers to add some colour. They went above and beyond for us on the day helping out by dropping off items for us and working with our florist to get everything just right.”

Katy and Allister chose McKay Reserve Palm Beach for their ceremony, Katy explaining “We wanted something that felt close to nature. We chose our venue first, so found it by chance after looking at other Palm Beach ceremony options. We drove around the area looking for a ceremony spot that wouldn’t be too far from the reception – we drove up the hill and found the reserve with a wild rabbit eating under the tree – this would be the tree we would be married under. It was such a serene spot with impressive trees that we knew it was the one right away.”

Katy and Allister walked down the aisle together to Bon Iver’s Hollicine, telling “Because it’s a very beautiful and gentle acoustic song that fitted the woodlands setting and the occasion perfectly. We were just going through different songs last minute and almost stumbled on it by accident and it just felt right. My best friend played this on acoustic guitar for us.”

Elaine Searle officiated the ceremony, Katy remarking “We wanted a relaxed but meaningful ceremony so did away with some traditions. We were quite relaxed so travelled and arrived at our ceremony together, so we walked down the aisle together too! It felt more natural for us.”

“We kept it really simple with only one reading at the beginning, a Shakespeare quote from Romeo and Juliet: “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep. The more I give to thee the more I have, for both are infinite.”

After reading the portion from the marriage act we asked our celebrant to make a marriage equality statement because frankly, we found the statement ‘a man and a woman’ offensive and strongly support marriage equality. We wanted a simple wedding without a lot of fuss and formalities so we decided to go without bridesmaids and groomsmen too. Al’s high school friend Stephan held onto the rings and presented them at the ceremony, and my high school friend Johnny was a witness and another good friend Lisa met me before I walked down the aisle to ensure everything was in its place, and also looked after my bouquet for me during the ceremony. My friend Nic played acoustic guitar during the ceremony. This was a way to include our closest friends so they could still be a part of our special day.”

Of their photographer, Katy remarks “We were searching online for weddings in the Barrington Tops area and found stunning photos of a wedding there that really captured the place and the event. We knew straight away we wanted the same photographer for our wedding. After visiting Ben’s website and seeing even more of his photographs our search was over. We also loved the fact he was from Newcastle (our hometown).”

Makeup By Megan  styled Katy’s makeup, the bride remembering “She did such an incredible job on the day, I was so pleased with my makeup and how flawless it was all evening. I had a few trials prior to the wedding and it was so fun trying different looks. She is very talented and professional.”

The newlyweds celebrated with their guests at The Boathouse Palm Beach. Telling “We’d looked at a lot of venues and as soon as we walked into the Boathouse we knew it was the right one for us. Such a quaint, happy place overlooking the beautiful Kuringai Chase National Park and Pittwater. The view over the water also reminded us a little of Tasmania, where we got engaged.”

Clementine Posy created the floral arrangements for the day, including a special treat for guests at the reception. “Her bouquets were so colourful, less structured and had a bohemian feel. When I saw my flowers on my wedding day I was almost brought to tears. They were so beautiful!  I loved the idea of flower crowns so had Clementine Posy provide flowers and materials for a flower crown station that could be set up at the reception.”

Congratulations Katy and Allister! Thank you for sharing the stories of your wedding with us! Thank you to Ben Howland for sharing today’s wedding with us!