Kate & Phil

High school sweethearts Kate and Phil planned their bohemian DIY wedding to be a relaxed affair, from the delicious food trucks to the unstructured native flower bouquets. Wild Romantic Photography  captured the sunny celebration!

Both bride and groom love to be outdoors, so when Phil suggested they hike one of their favourite tracks, Kate was none the wiser. She shares, ”When we got to the top with the beautiful view he had organised with his sister and brother in law to have a picnic all set up. He caught me totally by surprise and I cried A LOT of happy tears. We then went back to my parents’ house for a lunch with both our families to celebrate, which was just perfect.”

Finding her gorgeous lace gown was an easy decision in the end. Kate tells, ”I chose a Spell Designs Byron Bay dress because they are one of my favourite Australian labels. My mum, sister, maid of honour and I flew up to QLD for a ‘dress finding’ girls weekend. We visited other stores too but the second I put my dress on I knew it was the one. It was just so relaxed and comfortable and I felt totally like myself in it! I knew I would be able to dance the night away and enjoy myself in it!” The groom wore an MJ Bale patterned suit with a bow tie and native flower buttonhole.

The couple’s first look was photographed at a garden rotunda, before the ceremony. With two separate venues for the day, Kate and Phil were keen for a relaxed and bohemian style garden wedding. They share, ”We drove up to look at a few different private gardens and Cameron Lodge Cottage & Gardens, Mount Macedon just jumped out at us the moment we arrived. It had a real sense of almost magic – it was just so beautiful and calm and felt very special – which was what we wanted the ceremony to feel like.”

In a rustic, outdoor setting, the bride and groom wanted their ceremony to feel special. Kate tells, ”I come from a Catholic background but Phil isn’t religious, so we met in the middle and had an outdoor ceremony, conducted by a priest. The priest was an old family friend of my dad’s so that was nice to have that family connection. It also meant we were a lot more relaxed and the ceremony wasn’t too structured or formal. More suited to us. We had songs we both loved and readings to include our family and close friends as much as possible.” The bride walked down the aisle with her dad to ‘Boardwalks’ by Little May.

Raven And The Rose put together Australian native bouquets which were beautifully relaxed and unstructured, in olive green, peach, pinks and deep red. Kate says, ”We opted for greenery garlands to decorate our reception space.” Speaking of Wild Romantic Photography she shares, ”We were very lucky to work with them and cannot recommend them highly enough! We had 2 photographers and they were so easy to chat to, didn’t get in the way of anything or try and pull us out of the moment at all – but made sure we got all the shots we would want to look back on later. Very happy! We were very spoilt with all of our vendors – wouldn’t change anything! Particular stand outs on the day were our photographers & videographer, Kathleen Lee, who were just so so lovely and kept a really nice balance of suggesting things we would want photos of without being too in our face or demanding. And our DJ who had the dance floor full, hot and sweaty all night!”

With an eye for details and beauty, the bride and groom were thrilled to find their reception venue, perfect for their rustic day. Kate remembers, ”The lovely couple that own Cameron Lodge also had a second property, Terra Mia at Macedon, which we ended up switching to for our ceremony 6 weeks before the big day. We saw it and just had to have it. It was a gorgeous big homestead with a PERFECT barn style event space connected via a beer garden style courtyard. We knew from the get-go we wanted a relaxed DIY style reception with food trucks and a caravan bar and Terra Mia was the perfect fit!”

Naming family as an important part of their day, Kate and Phil were sure to include them in every way possible. They share, ”We are both from big families and are very close with all of our siblings. So we had my sisters, Phil’s sister and his brothers in the bridal party. Then had my brothers MC and do a special reading at the ceremony. We had our mums do a ‘blessing’ of the rings during the ceremony and all our parents spoke during speeches. We avoided a lot of the traditional wedding events to give everyone more time to just relax and dance and wouldn’t have had it any other way!”

Creatively styling their wedding was a lot of fun for Kate, as she got busy with gorgeous DIY touches for the day. She tells, ”I’m a graphic designer so event styling and decorating is right up my alley. We brought all the separate elements together on the day, food trucks for catering, caravan bar with alcohol we provided, hired chairs and tables, lighting and more. I made all of the signs for the day, sourced and styled all the decorations (candles, flowers, hanging fabric). Phil’s mum also made the cake! I found the whole experience so much fun – and being able to tailor it to be a day that was special to us and suited us as a couple.” The newlyweds had their first dance to ‘Feeling Good’ by Nina Simone.

Thank you to our bride and groom for sharing your gorgeous wedding day, and congratulations! Thank you also to Wild Romantic Photography and Kathleen Lee for sharing your beautiful imagery.

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