Kate & Liam

Oh how the Autumn colours wove their way throughout every part of Kate and Liam’s day. From the beautiful Autumn toned leaves that served as the backdrop to the day, to the rich jewel tones of the gowns worn by Kate’s favourite ladies. This chic Yarralumla Woolshed wedding ticked all the boxes for a celebration that was joy-filled, heartfelt and so very “Kate & Liam”.

Corinna & Dylan Photography were there on the day to capture this beautiful day as it unfolded for the couple who met on the ski fields in Canada. Kate explains “We got together almost nine years ago in the ski fields of Canada. We were both working during the winter season and lived in the same hostel. Liam introduced himself to me as a 24-year-old Alpaca farmer from NZ. Later I would come to understand that Liam is a compulsive ‘storyteller’ and that he was just your average 19-year-old travelling to snowboard.”

Liam adding, of the proposal “The proposal was a total surprise. I had always thought about proposing to Kate on the cliffs of Booroomba Rocks in Namadgi National Park just outside of Canberra. Kate’s sister, Shelley, is a Goldsmith which is pretty handy in this situation. She and I had been secretly meeting to design the ring months before hand and finally when she had finished making it, she called me to say it was ready. I took Kate for a picnic on the cliffs. The walk is a 30 minute climb to the top. Half way up the walk Kate decided she would one day climb Mt Kilimanjaro and that now is the perfect time to sit down and do some research on her phone. I was sweating bullets but remained calmly patient (I probably wouldn’t be so quite so accommodating on a normal day!). Once we got to the top the weather was perfect and view looked amazing. I picked a nice spot in the sun and set up the picnic. We promptly had to pack up and move to the shade because Kate has vampire white skin and was getting sunburnt, obviously. We unpacked for the second time, sat down and I could not wait any longer, I pulled out the ring from the bottom of the bag, opened the box and asked Kate to marry me. It came as such a surprise I think she went into shock. She was all shaky and wasn’t able to speak for about a minute, but there was a lot of nodding and happy tears so I knew I got the answer I was looking for!”

Kate wore a beautiful Grace Loves Lace gown, noting “I hated the idea of dress shopping. I didn’t want to do it, I didn’t want to be fussed over and I didn’t really want everyone’s opinions. I just wanted to choose something that I liked and felt comfy in. To this end, I went to one shop, tried on two dresses and bought one of them. It is a Grace Loves Lace dress and fitted me and my style perfectly. It was so beautiful and ridiculously comfortable! It was easy to put on and had an elastic waist perfect for a buffet!! The skirt was fuller than I remember it when I tried it on, layers and layers of silk. It was really beautiful!”    

Kate and Liam chose the courtyard of  Gorman House Arts Centre for the ceremony, telling “Gorman House has beautiful courtyards and the most spectacular hawthorn tree right in the middle. We were lucky enough that the hawthorn tree was in full bloom and covered in beautiful red berries, it looked so magnificent.”

The bride walked down the aisle with her parents to Hozier’s “Like Real People Do”.

Brian Richardson officiated proceedings, the bride remembering “Liam and I both shed a few tears at first but when we made it to each other it felt happy and fun. We had a short ceremony, which was really lovely and then had champagne and delicious nibbles (that my mum and aunt made) with all of our friends and family before heading to the reception. The best bit of the ceremony was hearing the almighty cheer at the end and getting covered in hugs and kisses from everyone we love. Neither of us could stop smiling!!

My mum organised and made all the canapés that we ate at the ceremony, she is the best cook! She was also the number one go to if we needed something. She was happy to do the running around, picking up and organising (which is a lot of work with a DIY wedding).”

Kate remarks “Marriage to me (groom) is the public declaration of your love for one another and the promise that you will be there for each other no matter what. We always knew we would be together forever and for a long time we talked about not worrying about getting married or having a wedding, but there is really something special about making that choice public and we are both glad that we did!”

Kate tells “One of our favourite moments was the time we had after the ceremony and before the reception. We had about 30 minutes at home with just the bridal party before we went to the reception. We were all on such a high now the ceremony was over and we all had such an amazing night to look forward to. It was just so nice to hang out and talk, eat some food and take some time out from all the (good) craziness. It is such a whirlwind of a day and there are so many people to see and things to do it was just awesome to have a little downtime with the bridal party. It was a good time step back and take in what has really happened and how special this day is.”

 

Of their photographers, Kate remarks “Corinna and Dylan, our photographers were the best. We just love them with our whole hearts. They were so easy to work with and made two people who are not fans of being in front of a camera feel so comfortable with all the photos. They went so far above and beyond from start to finish and they just KNOW. THEIR. STUFF. The photos are spectactular!! Not only are they incredibly talented, but they are so positive and enthusiastic, it’s completely infectious. We didn’t want lots of staged photos and didn’t want to feel like the photos were the focal point of the day. Corinna and Dylan somehow were always in the right spots for a good photo but never intrusive, most of the time you would not notice they were there. We could not give higher praise to these two, they were absolutely amazing and would highly recommend them to anyone!”

Kate and Liam chose the blank canvas of Yarralumla Woolshed “We decided on the Woolshed for a couple of reasons. Numbers alone ruled out lots of spaces. Having it inside so we didn’t have to stress about the weather was a must, this made the shortlist even smaller. We wanted to self-cater to save some cash so it couldn’t be a restaurant. And finally the last requirement (and most important) was that the venue had no noise curfew so we could party down till the early morning – we took great advantage of this! The Woolshed is also a bit nostalgic for me (Kate) in that I grew up and still live about 1km away. So it was perfect!”

The blank canvas venue meant it was all hands on deck, Kate explaining “Oh so much DIY!! It was a mammoth effort from everyone but my sister was the star of the show. She is a creative genius – a gene that my brother and I missed. She had all the vision and knew exactly what we had to do to make it happen. She was the head florist, buying and foraging for all the arrangements in the Woolshed. She was the invitation designer, hand drawing our invitations. She was the ring designer and creator. She was the sign writer – painting and writing the menu, program and other signage around the place. She was the food stylist, table stylist, venue/event manager and all-around boss. It would have been a completely different day without her.

Liam’s whole family were awesome, they came over early and just made themselves available to help whenever and wherever we needed them. Kiwis never shy away from getting their hands dirty. They had the massive job of being tour guides to all the internationals as well.”

“It felt like we had a Reception SWAT team to set up and pack away. All of our family and friends helped, it is a huge task. We didn’t really have to ask though, everyone just came in and got what needed doing, done. It was awesome! We were so grateful for that because there is no way you could do it on your own. The morning after the wedding, Liam and I turned up to the hall and almost everything had been packed away and cleaned!!

My bestie Bonnie was the logistics person, she is a weapon when it comes to problem-solving and just getting stuff sorted. She was the one that filled all the gaps that I missed. She would remind me of the stuff I had forgotten to do, alternatively, she would just pick up the slack for me without me knowing. Having her around made everything pretty stress free because there isn’t a problem she can’t solve.”

The newlyweds were gifted delicious handmade wedding cakes, Kate telling “Two of my girlfriends, Emily Walsh and Kate Cox, made the wedding cakes. They were so delicious and so much more than anything I had imagined. They are both phenomenal cooks. When I asked Emily if she would make our cake, I suggested that she just make a small cake, just as a bit of a symbol, and we could serve a Costco cake to the masses. Without missing a beat, she told me that this was the worst idea ever and that I should leave it with her. The result – the most beautiful cake I have ever clapped my eyes on, flanked by 75 fresh raspberry cupcakes and two gluten-free lemon and thyme cakes. My friends are the best!”

Each table was set with delicious cheese, arranged by the bride and groom, with Liam making all the cheese boards himself from hardwood offcuts (as well as the wooden cake stands!). Kate explains “I loved having cheese platters on the tables. It looked beautiful and was so yum. The platters also allowed the guests to nibble and not get overly hungry before dinner, this was important to us to make sure the guests were as comfortable as possible. Not only did the platters offer nibbles to the guests they really looked stunning on the table and added so much to the final look of the hall.”

The handmade details extended to the flowers, arranged by the bride’s sister. The bride noting “We didn’t have heaps of cash to splash on flowers and we weren’t too fussed on what types we had. I told my sister ‘do what you can’. The result was ridiculous. The whole place was packed to the rafters with native florals and greenery. Shelley bought heaps of beautiful flowers from our local wholesaler and the foraged for big beautiful greenery from her favourite ‘secret spots’. With the help of our amazing friend Lizzy, they cut, weaved, bundled, sculpted, twisted, hung, pruned and arranged about a hundred jars of flowers which covered every table and every crevice of the hall. The entrance was spectacular and every hardwood beam had an enormous bunch of greenery hanging from it. It would have been impossible for most, but with a bit of wine and chocolate, those two were unstoppable.”

The evening celebrations kicked off with the newlywed’s first dance to Van Morrison’s “Sweet Thing”.

Big Boss Groove, a live band was the hit of the dance floor Kate explains. “We had this massive 8 piece band play. It was expensive, but we don’t regret it for a second. They were the best and created the most amazing atmosphere. Nobody could resist the call of the dance floor with them on the stage. It really made everybody join in and have an awesome time. My brother said to me the next day ‘when the dance floor is still packed at 12:30 you know the band is doing something right!’. It also took some pressure off of us having to sort dancing music out – one less job to do.”

Congratulations Kate and Liam! Thank you for taking the time to share your day with us! Thank you also to Corinna & Dylan Photography for sharing today’s celebration!