Colourful & Sparkly Melbourne Wedding

Katie & Carlos

“It was fun& full of love, with a little bit of chi chi and lots of beautiful colour.” If there was any way to describe today’s colour AND sparkle filled (Oh hello The Colour Issue!) wedding, then we could only do it in bride Katie’s words.

This was a day that was Brazil meets Melbourne, meets colour, meets sparkle and meets so. much. fun. A day, captured beautifully by the talented Tess Follett that was part of a story that began in St Kilda one moody night.

“We met on a dark and stormy night at the Vineyard in St Kilda” remembers Katie. “What could possibly go wrong! I had bronchitis & had been to the St Kilda film festival awards, Carlos had friends down from Sydney. We spied each other, I told him I liked his beard, (worst opening line ever!) and here we are!”

And many years and twin babies followed before Carlos popped the question in Fiji! “We were in Fiji on our first family holiday with our 1.5-year-old twins. I was about to fly to Canada with them for the ski season for my work so we took a week to try to relax before I left. The kids were at the kids club and we were slugging on the beach. Carlos came in from paddle boarding and just sat down on my lounge and asked if I’d marry him. I didn’t believe him, I thought he was teasing me until I saw the box… then I said yes and cried! It was so ridiculous and unexpected. So lovely. We got the kids and walked to the local village where we spent the day altogether and played with the local kids. On the way back we went to a restaurant and ordered a bottle of champagne… this teeny tiny piccolo bottle arrives! It was hilarious! Best day ever!

Katie’s bridesmaids donned silver sequinned gowns from Sass and Bide, each wearing a contrasting pair of shoes and carrying a matching bouquet of bright blooms that picked up a colour from the bride’s amazing rainbow shoes. Katie shares “As bridesmaids, I had Natasha one of my best friends and long-standing work colleagues, Anna one of my lovely Shanghai chicks, also a mum, an amazing friend and Mish, a great friend and even better skier from Mt Buller (another very important part of my life). Each of these amazing women had been a staple in our relationship from the start to now, representing my career, living in China and my passion skiing &volunteering at Mt Buller.”

A white sequin Rachel Gilbert gown was the most gorgeous base for Katie’s wedding day look. “I wore a Rachel Gilbert dress in ivory sequins. It was an off the shoulder soft silk long straight dress with a softly gathered waist. Not at all what I had thought I would wear..

It was simple, elegant and very understatedly glamorous. I wore Gucci shoes in plaited leather in silver, hot pink, bright blue and bright yellow. (I asked all the women in my family to wear one or all of those colours to the wedding, and I teamed this with gorgeous mixed flowers and massive ostrich feathers in the same colours to dress the room). I wore over my dress a hot pink goose feather capelet.”

Right by the Yarra River, overlooking the city, sits Richmond Rowing Club, the venue of choice for Katie and Carlos’ wedding day festivities. “We chose The Richmond Rowing Club after a lot of discussion about having a wedding in Brazil, or at a coastal or rural destination …because Melbourne is our town and it’s a fabulous town, you don’t need to go anywhere else. This is where we thrive. The RRC is also a perfect expression of that, in that it’s just in such a beautiful spot looking across at the city, down towards Port Melbourne and back up the Yarra past the MCG – it’s an extraordinary venue that showcases how lovely Melbourne is.

We had a lot of guests from Brazil and interstate so we wanted to celebrate our town. The other benefit is they had quite a few caterers that worked with them and we could order booze directly ourselves saving a lot of outlay being able to serve wines etc that we loved… and a lot of it”

Katie and Carlos wed in front of a bright and beautiful floral installation by floral designer Babylon Flowers. “Oh my god Sarah from Babylon is a creative genius” exclaims Katie. ” I had the whole nutso shoe colour theme going on and I knew what I wanted. We didn’t have a massive budget but she worked with me to get us there and it was magnificent – truly beautiful, fun and colourful… I gave her a brief and she nailed it!”

Katie walked down the aisle on the arm of her beloved brother. “My brother and I were in the car on our way to the ceremony, both knowing dads wasn’t with us. It was a quiet, unspoken sadness. But on the upside, we were so excited and he was so proud of me (never thought I’d do it!). I, in turn, was just so so proud to have him with me, beside me to walk into our friends, family and my hot Brazilian. It was a top moment in my life.”

The two most special guests at this shindig? Katie and Carlos’ twin toddlers! The stars of the show during the ceremony officiated by Koren Harvey shares Katie. “Koren was amazing. So many people were touched by her insightful and fun handling of the ceremony. It was all about our people and our love for each other & the life we have created together with our kids. It was honest heartfelt and fun. We included a reading from a book we read to our kids that parodies us and a fairly unknown Persian poem that I love. The day was very personal in all aspects in acknowledging our family and friends and how special they are. We had planned a lot of time to give thanks a lot of people or show appreciation since having our twins.”

This was a day filled with beautiful moments and beautiful stories, right down to the bride’s wedding ring, a surprise from her groom reset by Garry Holloway. “My wedding ring unbeknownst to me was a ring my dad and I had bought for my mum when we were in Hong Kong when I was in my early 20s. Mum had given it to me after dad died. Carlos had quietly taken It and got it reset at Holloway Diamonds to offset my engagement ring, as my wedding ring. It’s gorgeous and now even more special. It was a great surprise on the day – very emotional.”

“Tess is ridiculous!” raves Katie of the couple’s chosen photographer. “She understood my vision and energy from the onset. She’s fun, professional, creative and a visionary. We think she’s so talented that we’re going to get her to shoot our family this year and every couple of years.. she doesn’t know that yet!”

“I loved the secret of my vision for the day and that it was going to be a ridiculous day full of simple good times with a few surprises,” tells the bride.

The colourful details continued right throughout the reception, thanks to a little DIY. Starting with branded whistles guiding each guest to their seat. “My friend Jo who is the world’s best-kept secret, designed all the table name place tags. Labels for water bottles and personalized labels for after party survival kit (mints, water, Berocca lollies). Our branding on the whistles they received at entry. She designed with me the guest after-party invite. She helped pick up traditional Indian wedding jasmine and yellow marigold garlands we’d ordered online and had flown in from India, for decorating the outdoor balcony surrounds. We did a lot – she was amazing.”

The first dance? Oh, it involved a surprise Brazilian band flash mob, but of course! Explains the bride “We danced to Elis Regina’s Agqua de Marcos (the March Rains) a very famous Brazilian song from the 1970s that we both love. We’re terrible dancers and we didn’t really practice, it’s just a dance right! But it was relaxed and fun with everyone joining in dancing with us. What Carlos or anyone else for that matter didn’t know was that right off the back of that first dance, a 20 piece Brazillian percussion and drumming Batucada samba band was going to flash mob us… I didn’t know if this was going to be a terrible mistake or totally awesome … it was brilliant! And so the party began! #risky #soofun #brazilliansinmelbournewentnuts”