Kristal & Trevor’s Intimate & Tropical Wedding At Palm Cove

Trevor knew I was particular regarding what ring I would like. In the end, we went to a few jewellery shops in Cairns to try a few on. I realised big diamonds don’t suit me. A dainty diamond ring was chosen and bought in Cairns and I love it. My engagement ring was a round shape diamond with rows of small diamonds on each side with a mix of a white and yellow gold band. My wedding ring is white gold with a single row of diamonds and Trevor’s ring is gunmetal titanium.

Our wedding invitation was done by Optimal Print. Fast, reliable, and elegant invitation delivered to our doorstep. A wax seal with a K / T seal was from Etsy. We used Minted for our wedding website!

The bespoke Amora Chapel Wedding Veil with a blusher and the Bella freshwater pearl drop earrings from Tania Maras were used to complement the classic and elegance inspired look I was aiming for. My headpiece was handmade by Irene Costa. An inspiration from the classic bride herself Grace Kelly.

My bridesmaids and I had our hair and make-up done by the very talented Shae from Tropical Beauty. I really felt like a princess on my wedding day with a stunning classic up-do. The bridesmaids hair was high curled ponytail with a bow.

The night before the wedding, I stayed at the Alamanda Hotel in Palm Cove, however due to nerves I couldn’t sleep. It was about 2 am that I decided to drive home to get some melatonin sleeping tablets, about 10 minutes to our house. I snuck through the garage and out. Trevor didn’t even know I had come home until after the wedding.

The morning of the wedding I was relaxed, excited, and then I got a bit nervous. It was all mixed emotions. I planned for a yoga session in the morning but with the late-night I experienced, it didn’t go as planned. We had an early call time for our hair and makeup and it was a beautiful experience to enjoy the preparations with the girls.

I chose a Madi Lane wedding dress. The whimsical, ethereal feel drew me into choosing this Australian dress designer. The dress had a V neckline, with sheer lace back and a fettuccine strap that comes with a detachable sheer embroidered off-shoulder appliqués attached for a fun and flirty touch. The alteration of the dress was done by Rachel from AustPhil Alterations. She added some floral lace details on the fettuccine strap.

I knew I wanted a long-sleeved dress during the wedding ceremony . The talented Irene Costa made a handmade tulle high neck, long sleeve, bolero. She used the cut-off hem cloth to design the tulle around the neck and added some lace and button pearls at the back to complement the whole dress. During the reception, I removed the long sleeve and put on the detachable shoulder sleeve that came with my wedding gown.

My florist Kerry from I Do Flowers did an amazing job and made my floral dreams come true. I wanted all white flowers with greenery and lily of the valley for a little touch of royalty.

Trevor wore a sand-coloured Tommy Bahama suit and shoes.

An order of the service cut into a handy fan shape was sat on the guests’ chairs – this was an idea I have seen on Etsy and came in handy when you have a wedding in the tropics.

My parents couldn’t come to our wedding because they were in the Philippines, so I walked down the aisle on my own to “Canon in D”, holding a pendant that I had placed my parent’s photographs in as something old and something borrowed. On my wedding bouquet, I had a photo of Trevor’s parents. As I walked the aisle, I held them tight and didn’t feel alone. My tears fell as I saw my dream man standing there, waiting for me with happy tears in his eyes.

Trevor and I wanted to add some Filipino and English traditions to our wedding. We wanted a wedding that we could look back on and still feel that it was timeless and very us. We incorporated a Filipino tradition – Las Aras Matrimoniales and Lasso Ceremony. We went with the English vows, as we wanted the traditional vows that have been read for hundreds of years. We included a reading of “The Promise” by Heather Berry, and we also live-streamed our wedding for family and friends to see and celebrate with us on our special day.

Our celebrant Tim Kelly made our wedding ceremony relaxed and beautiful. It was full of love, happy tears, smiles, and laughter. Tim is a witty, funny, relaxed, and thoughtful chap and we would highly recommend him. Tim was able to seamlessly combine both Filipino and British wedding traditions into our day and he spent some considerable time researching and learning to perfectly pronounce and describe the meanings behind the more complex events to the guests.

Our recessional song was ‘Figaro’ by the Coldstream Guards Band. Trevor’s dad was in the Coldstream Guards in the UK for many years. Unfortunately, he passed away a month before our wedding. As a result, we used a song (regimental march) from his regiment’s band in his memory. We knew he would have liked to have been there at our wedding.

We originally planned for the wedding to be in Port Douglas but COVID-19 hit and we had to rearrange everything. In the end we relocated and chose the Alamanda Great Barrier Reef Chapel in Palm Cove because of its magnificent location, and was close to home. A chapel by the beach. are you kidding? What a romantic way to get married! A breathtaking view of the beach and the romantic palm trees swaying, this is exactly where we imagined our wedding.

Our theme for the wedding was simple, chic, timeless and elegant. As the chapel came with beautiful flower arrangements, we wanted to keep it that way, because it was already pretty. The surrounding palm trees and flowers are a beauty to adore and not to mess with. So I chose to keep the flower arrangements as all white florals with greenery.

Mehdi from Tulieve Photography was our talented photographer. We are very pleased we met him! He respected our wishes to keep intrusion minimal with candid shots so that the photoshoot wouldn’t get in the way of the day’s events. The colour and hues are just timeless.

The South Pacific Bridal and NuNu coordinators made our wedding day stress-free. They’ve been doing weddings in Palm Cove for years so they guided us with the timelines and music and food selections. I met and exchanged emails with Mon from NuNu and she was brilliant, she made sure the vision I had in mind was brought to reality. She also gave suggestions on entertainment and we are very glad we listened to her. Everything fell into place.

We first discovered Matty Boi when he was performing at Ellis Beach in 2018. We knew right there he was the one for our wedding entertainment. We consulted with him, however, he was fully booked. We were very sad as we had to settle with someone else. COVID-19 hit and we had to reschedule our wedding date, so we thought he might be free this time. But again our date didn’t align and he was fully booked. A month just before our wedding, I thought to message him and a few messages later, he gave the very good news that he would be able to perform at our wedding due to another wedding cancellation.

Heart-shaped magnets were our wedding favours with a picture from our engagement photo shoot and a thank you message was set on the guest table. A CD with our love soundtrack was also given to the guests as favours. We thought this was something our guests can look back to and remember our wedding day.

We had a sit-down 3-course meal at NuNu Restaurant. A luxurious beachfront wedding reception venue with celebrity guest chef (from Master Chef 2021, Nick Holloway, is the Nu Nu head chef). Apparently, Nick Holloway designed our delicious menu. He is popular for his exotic, diverse, and delicious tropical food. We had an open bar that kept our guests happy all night long. The staff at Nu Nu did not hold back –  our glasses were barely empty before being refilled! The drinks package was worth every penny paid.

Our table arrangements were simple yet timelessly chic. They were set with baby’s breath, greenery, tea candles, and the table was covered with white linen cloth arranged by Nunu and Kerry. The evening started with an open bar, playing backdrop to the festivities which were supplied by the talented Matty Boi

Our simple but elegant 2 tiered cake was made by I Do Flowers. Trevor and I chose our favourite flavours, so I had the carrot cake and he chose a Vanilla-Lemon Cake. Decorated with roses, baby’s breaths, jasmine, and lily of the valley flowers, with a “Love” cake topper.

Our advice to others planning their weddings is that everything will fall into place on your wedding day. I was relaxed on my wedding day and it makes a difference. It makes the wedding happy, exciting and fun! It is not worth the stress. Of course, you will have nerves here and there, but once you let go and relax, it becomes the best moment of your life.

Family and friends are there for you. If anything doesn’t go to plan they wouldn’t care because they are there for you, they adore you. Trust the process and just remember why you are getting married.

A month later, after our wedding, I opened my old vision board with “My Dream Man” attributes written on it. To my surprise, it was actually exactly written 5 years ago on the 9th of October 2016. How bizarre! We said our “I Do’s” exactly 5 years after I envisioned my dream man. And exactly 5 years later, there he was waiting for me down the aisle.

Destiny. Serendipity. True love. Whatever it is, love always finds a way.

Thank you to Kristal & Trevor for sharing such a beautiful, meant-to-be wedding with us, and to Tulieve Photography for capturing their day!