Caitlin & Nick

“We had a great experience because we focused on the things we wanted (good food, all the right people), and simply didn’t worry about anything that wasn’t going to matter to us.”

We have to say, Caitlin and Nick certainly had the right idea when it came to planning their wedding day. The pair, who chose a modern Canberra venue for their day, wanted their day to be about people and amazing food (how fitting for The Feast issue!). They dressed to the nines (that emerald gown, divine!) and welcomed their guests to an intimate celebration filled with tasty treats like oysters, cheese, and succulent decorated cupcakes.

But that’s not all these two did to do their day their way, which was captured beautifully by Who Shot The Photographer. But you’ll have to read on for those stories!

After meeting back in 2015 at a Thundamentals gig, Nick popped the question on the Great Wall Of China, a decision he’s not sure was quite right! He tells the tale for us. “After discussions with family and friends I began looking for a ring which we then took on an adventure holiday through China. My initial “plan” if you will, of proposing atop the Great Wall of China turned out not to be as romantic as it was sweating and exhausting hiking along the wall under a hot sun. When I did propose it turned out to be just as exhausting and infinitely more crowded on a viewpoint along China’s Huangshan Mountain. A year later we went to Hawaii and perhaps that might have been a better place to do it? But how often does one go to Hawaii vs a mountain in the middle of China?”

The modern space of Akiba was just what Caitlin and Nick were looking for. “We held the ceremony and reception at Akiba in Canberra. We had been searching for something in Sydney where we could have a wedding in our style, for a while we were unable to make things work with several venues not willing to help out or being too expensive or over the top for us. One thing was, we wanted everything to be very relaxed and chill, with no moving between venues or anything and great food and drinks. After dining at Akiba with some of our friends, they suggested we could have it there which was a great idea! We contacted the functions area and Sarah (Akiba’s event manager) was an absolute pleasure to speak to, very accommodating and happy to help us have the wedding we wanted.”

There was plenty these two did that wasn’t “traditional” including Caitlin arriving to mingle before the ceremony had even begun, much to the awkwardness of the couple’s guests! Nick explains “Caitlin turned up on the day before the ceremony because she wanted to say hello to everyone and chat and there was no formal ‘walking down the aisle’. But when she turned up no one knew what to do and tried to get in position for the ceremony, even though there was still 30 minutes before it was meant to start! Traditional is still strong!”

Caitlin and Nick walked hand in hand down their aisle together, to “Hard To Concentrate” By the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Let’s talk about that green gown! “I didn’t think white would suit me so all I was looking for was a nice dress fitting of the occasion!” explains our bride. “My excellent friend and wedding stylist Kylie found my dress from Reformation, a company that does ethical and sustainable clothing. It was an amazing, deep emerald green which I loved and seemed dramatic enough for a wedding! Kylie had a few pieces from Reformation so I tried them on to get the size and then ordered online. I had to have a few standard tailoring things done (e.g. taken up and button on the front) but otherwise it was perfect!”

It was, like the rest of the day, a very minimal ceremony for these two, who chose Kirili Veliscek to officiate their day. The newlyweds sharing “Kirili had tailored the ceremony to us by not only asking us to fill out a bit of a get to know you questionnaire but catching up with us for a coffee and chat and contacting some of our friends and family to really get a sense of who we are. We began the ceremony with an Acknowledgement of Country, we didn’t have any readings and as Caitlin didn’t have any bridesmaids, no groomsmen took part either. We had the groomsmen walk down the ‘aisle’ before us carrying the rings, champagne and a pen which were all included in the ceremony before Caitlin and I followed. It was quite a unique feeling as it was all very non-traditional, something tailored to us in every way but still a nice and simple ceremony. Nick did have a bit of Dr Seuss included in his vows.”

Nick remembers “When we were asked at the small rehearsal we had who would go first in saying their vows, neither of us minded. So to stick with the theme of non-traditional we said let’s just toss and coin and for fun least see if any of the guests would have cash on them. When asked during the ceremony, we think people thought it was just a joke, however, one of our good friends Jason, when called upon stepped in. We just thought again it was a bit different, a bit casual and just to include someone else, not just a whole ceremony about us.

Just to make sure our coin toss during the ceremony didn’t come to an awkward halt with no cash available, I ask my groomsmen Eli (who is my 8-year-old nephew) to give a coin to someone ‘in case’ we needed it. He picked his mum, my older sister Tina. However when the time came, Tina was nursing my niece Violet and by the time she could get to the coin, Jason had stepped in. It was just something that made me laugh, I think because my nephew was so happy that he was coming and involved in the wedding and took it all very seriously.”

Nick donned a sand tone suit from Joe Black, adding, along with the groomsmen, emerald green accessories to tie in with the bride’s beautiful emerald gown.

Caitlin and Nick loved working with their photographer. “James was fantastic. It was just him and a camera and he fitted right into the event, caught photos of everyone, and deftly handled the stock standard family photos that our parents both wanted! His enthusiasm is incredible and I couldn’t have imagined anyone else photographing our day. We’re looking forward to having some amazing art pieces from the wedding including an album, once we manage to pick our favourites!”

Epic cheese from The Stinking Bishops and emerald green cupcakes by Sweet Tooth Canberra were part of the feast. Caitlin says  “We had cheese brought from Stinking Bishops in Sydney (by Caitlin’s sister and mum) which is where we’ve spent a lot of good times and had good company! Caitlin’s sister and mum did an amazing job setting it all up. We also had some amazing cupcakes from Sweet Tooth Canberra that all of the guests, especially the kids, loved – they were green succulent decorated!”

Caitlin and Nick didn’t want a first dance, but they did ask guests to nominate songs to dedicate to them, sharing “We didn’t have a first dance! Music, however, is super important and special to us, so we had a few songs chosen for the ceremony (RHCP ‘Hard to Concentrate’, Thundamental’s ‘Smiles don’t lie’), and asked all of our wedding guests to nominated a song that reminded them of times spent with us together or individually, or a song they’d like to dedicate to us – so we had an awesome playlist by the end that we still put on all the time!”

A big congratulations to you both Caitlin and Nick! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us! Thank you also to Who Shot The Photographer for sharing today’s gorgeous celebration!