This wedding has it all – sparkle, sentiment, DIY and ALL the love. When it came to planning their dream day, Kimmy and Dan say they were picky about where they got married and held their reception. They wanted to make sure the lighting and ambience in the venues could provide great photos, but also that these places reflected their ‘old love’. That meant choosing venues because of their history, stories and the people running them. What they pulled off… Well, it was spectacular. Mixing traditional  eclectic, rustic and industrial styling, Kimmy and Dan created a wedding that perfect for them and their kids, Theo and Amity. There to capture the details and all the gorgeous moments were Feather and Finch Photography and Anchored Cinema.

Our bride and groom first met on an app called Happn. In one of the first conversations they had, Kimmy asked Dan if he knew what his love language was. It just so happened that his top three love languages were the same as Kimmy’s: quality time, acts of service, and words of affirmation.

When it came to getting married, Kimmy and Dan had spoken about having a surprise wedding, so when they were sitting together one night, looking out to the Brisbane skyline and talking about going from four different surnames (their kids have their other parent’s surnames as they’re a blended family), Kimmy thought nothing of it. Then when Dan said, “I have a present for you”, Kimmy couldn’t believe it when he pulled out a ring box.

Kimmy and Dan had unexpectedly received a gift from Dan’s late Grandpa Jimmy the day before they planned to go suit shopping. They found Dan’s suit that day, in the exact colour he wanted, in Myer. “There were only 18 of them made and this one was the last one left in Australia,” the couple explains.

As they went to pay for the suit, they noticed the brand of the suit was Grandpa Jimmy’s surname – Gibson. It was meant to be and was a nice little nod from Grandpa.

Kimmy first spotted her gown on When Freddie Met Lilly‘s Instagram Stories. Her entire dress was rose gold sequins and featured a boat neck and low cowl at the back. “It was the epitome of the ‘old love’ look I was going for,” she says.

It was six weeks out from the wedding and there was no changing Kimmy’s mind. This was the dress. She called her mum, mother-in-law and sister-in-law, then went to see Vanessa at When Freddie Met Lilly to try it on that day. She fell in love. “The service and care that Vanessa and her team provided was the experience that every bride should have with her dress,” says Kimmy.

One of Kimmy’s favourite moments from the day was the couple’s first look. “It was so nice just to see him and spend a little bit of time together on what is a busy day.”

Kimmy wore a corsage of a single wine coloured chrysanthemum as she wanted to have both hands free to walk down the aisle with her dad and her daughter.

The couple’s ceremony was at Brisbane Powerhouse and their reception was at The Black. “We were picky about where we got married and had our reception,” they say. “We wanted to make sure the lighting and ambience in the venues could provide great photos and it paid off. We have what we describe as an ‘old love’, so the places we chose, we chose them because of their history, stories and the people running them. We absolutely love our photos and short film, and our photographer and cinematographer were stoked with the venues we picked.”

A family friend arranged florals that complimented the macrame that Kimmy made and hung from the round arbour.

Kimmy and Dan walked down the aisle with their families. Dan went first with his son Theo, walking to ‘River Flows in You’ by Yiruma, followed by Dan’s family, then Kimmy’s family. Then Kimmy walked down the aisle to a violin and piano version of ‘Canon in D’ by Pachelbel, with her dad and daughter Amity.

“We have a blended family, so having only our children as our wedding party was important,” say the couple. Amity and Theo wore outfits from Ollie’s Place.

“We didn’t have any readings, but wrote our own vows,” they explain. “The kids expressed what their favourite things about their step-parent are and what they hoped for the future of our relationship, which was really special.”

The ceremony also included a ring blessing that was particularly special as their rings were carried in a handkerchief that belonged to Lena, who was part of Kimmy’s family, which was sitting in a small ornamental dish from Dan’s late Grandpa Jimmy, and then wrapped in a piece of Dan’s late grandma’s wedding dress.

Dan gave Kimmy her eternity ring during the ceremony because she had waited an eternity to find a love like Dan’s.

The couple say their ceremony was a beautiful celebration of their love and finally finding each other.

Behind the camera on the day was Ryan of Feather and Finch Photography. “We couldn’t have picked a better person to hang out with on the day. Considering the day was about honouring our connection and not just having a party, we spent a fair bit of time with Ryan (and James, our cinematographer from Anchored Cinema), so having someone who feels like a mate (and has since become one), with us on the day, who happens to be an epic storyteller with the images he captures, was awesome. We even organised a seat for each of them at the dinner table, that’s how much we wanted them to be a part of our day!”

Dan says having their photos taken in the carpark and spending intimate time with Kimmy as the sun went down was one of his favourite moments. They even had an unofficial first dance there!

When it came to DIY, Kimmy and Dan designed and printed their wedding stationery on water colour paper to give it a hand stamped look. The invitation was a stack of cards tied together with twine and finished with a sprig of rosemary from Kimmy’s nanna’s front garden. They, along with their friends and family, collected jars for months to put candles in for decorations. One of Kimmy’s friends also made the white chocolate and raspberry wedding cake.

The couple had their first dance to ‘I Found You’ by Kina Grannis. “It was the perfect song to express just how we feel about each other. It was sung by a musician on the night (George Hodges), who did the most beautiful rendition of it.”

Their advice for soon-to-be marrieds? Budget. “We don’t mean do things on the cheap, we mean work out what you want, how much it’s going to cost and if you can make it work,” they say. “If you can’t, work out an agreeable compromise. Do your research and go with vendors that ‘feel’ right. Trust your vendors to provide the service you’ve chosen them to give. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that you’re marrying the person you love the most in the whole world, with those who love you watching on (whether in person or virtually these days), make it the celebration your love deserves. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Have fun.”

Anchored Cinema created this stunning short film of Kimmy and Dan’s beautiful wedding.

Congratulations to Kimmy, Dan and their family! Thank you for sharing your stories with us – what an incredible day filled with sentiment and the most perfect DIY details. We’d also like to say a big thanks to Feather and Finch Photography and Anchored Cinema for sharing their amazing images and film.