Kate & Greg

“Our wedding was very laid back with great food, wine, music and people” tells today’s beautiful bride of her feast-filled at-home wedding. This was a wedding that was just as Kate and Greg wanted. There was no fancy walk down the aisle, no first dance. There were no bridesmaids and groomsmen, no bouquet. What there was? Beautiful stories, beautiful moments, a heartfelt ceremony, a gin bar with custom made gin, a killer pair of gold stilettos and a beautiful reception, right at home.

As for The Feast Issue, we’d say when your wedding reception is catered by the head chef of one of the city’s favourite restaurants? We’re here for it! Kevin Lue was there to capture every beautiful detail.

“We met at work” tells Kate of how these two began. “We worked in opposing offices, and would see each other coming to and from work. His receptionist at the time was really chatty and said “My boss thinks you’re pretty”. Gave her my card and the rest is history!

The proposal? As laid back as it seems the rest of Kate and Greg’s life together is. “We were in NZ on a little holiday. We were staying at this amazing house on Waiheke Island and decided to go on a little drive to a winery. The views were UNREAL. At one point on the way back (a little tipsy), I yelled at Greg to stop so we could just get out of the car and look at the view. We sat on a little bench and sat quietly for a while, and then he asked ‘Kate, would you like to get married..’ I just smiled and said, of course, I would. Then we got back into the car and went and drank all the wine.”

In keeping with the casual vibes of the date, Kate chose a simple gown by designer Karen Willis Holmes. She shares “The theme of our wedding was to be very chilled and relaxed. We are not very big on fuss and didn’t want the traditional wedding that everyone has. There were no cakes, no speeches, no bridal party or groomsmen. We even got ready together. It follows that I didn’t want a traditional wedding dress, I wanted something cool – but still something that was meant for a wedding. Literally the first dress I found and pinned to my Instagram board was the dress that chose. It was by Karen Willis Holmes and was the Nikki dress without the sleeves. I loved how low it was at the back and it had the massive slit/wrap style. I wore gold Saint Laurent shoes too which made me feel like a bit of a rock star! The KWH team were unreal and made the whole process seamless – I would highly recommend them.”

The couple opted out of having bridesmaids and groomsmen. “We technically didn’t have a bridal party – was one of our no-no’s when getting married. We had our best friend’s daughter Bowie who was our ring girl, bridesmaid and maid of honour. I said she could wear whatever she wanted and I would buy it for her (she is 14) and she chose a bright purple jumpsuit from Tiger Lilly.” 

Kate and Greg chose a spot overlooking Coogee Beach for their wedding and walked to their ceremony together, telling “We live in Randwick and Coogee is such a special place for us. We visit it nearly every day for a walk or a rest. We had actually pegged a different spot near the Bali memorial for our ceremony but about a month before the wedding, we went on one of our walks and happened upon a secret walkway that led to a secluded clifftop. It was the perfect place for the ceremony – the sandy walkway opens up to the most beautiful view of the ocean.”

Kate and Greg loved every minute of their sunshine-filled ceremony, officiated by Kate Young. Kate sharing  “We were at the front and there were sandstone rocks that made it a little like an auditorium. Kate, our celebrant we met through a friend and was superb! She made the whole process of writing our vows and what to say really easy as we were a bit nervous with about it. Our vows were fun, a little silly and emotional. We had no readings, just us.”

Kate and Greg loved working with photographer Kevin! “I’ve known Kevin for years as we used to work together so I knew his style. As soon as Greg and I picked a date we called Kevin and got him booked in. I love every single picture as it tells a story of the whole day. If I could I would do the whole day again, exactly the same.”

 

Kate and Greg chose to hold their reception at home, the entire thing coming together under the watchful eye of planners Gallivant Events. Kate remarking “We had an amazing event planning team who turned our home into the best wedding venue. My favourite detail was the sheer amount of greenery – it just made the space feel so different. Oh and the bar – we had our own bar and we were so sad when it went away! Gallivant Events were the best event planners you could ask for. Calm, organised, efficient. They made the day what it was. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted the space to look like and they more than surpassed it.”

The wedding feast was brought to life by Alan O’Keeffe, head chef at Catalina.  “My best friend, her husband is the Head Chef at a fancy pants eastern suburbs restaurant” explains Kate. “He very kindly catered our whole wedding and the food was just phenomenal and really personal to us – it had all our favourite food like pate and cheese and sashimi and salads. Another important reason we chose our home was that we also wanted to pick our favourite wines.”

The couple did DIY a few details for the day – including their very own gin! Telling “We DIYed our own gin as we had a gin bar on our deck. We went to Archie Rose and made our own Gin mixture for the day. It was honestly the best gin we’ve ever had. I’m so sad it all went away! I also designed all the wedding branding and website. We didn’t have printed invitations, we just had a website which worked so much better for collecting RSVPs.”

Kate and Greg didn’t want fresh flowers, instead choosing Holly Hipwell to fill their home with greenery. Kate explains “It was something we didn’t want. What we did have though were heaps and heaps of greenery in our house. Our house is a converted warehouse and has very high ceilings. We had the best florist come and deck out the roof in amazing greenery.”

Kate and Greg opted out of a traditional first dance. “Can you guess. No first dance! Well, not one that was planned. One of the big parts of the day was that we were the DJs and had spent months curating our playlist. We often have home discos (just us two) and really our wedding was a home disco that involved all our friends. We love Oasis, and when “Champagne Supernova” came on (which is our song) it happened organically that it was our first dance / first karaoke. I remember us two being in the middle and everyone singing along and dancing with us.”

A big congratulations to you both Kate and Greg! Thank you for sharing your utterly beautiful day with us. Thank you also to today’s photographer Kevin Lue for the imagery!