Cassie & Paul’s Tropical And Vibrant Wedding in Port Douglas

Cassie and Paul’s tropical and vibrant wedding in Port Douglas, was a true celebration of love, laughter, and paradise. Set against the lush backdrop of palm trees and the serene beauty of Port Douglas, their special day was filled with colourful blooms, heartfelt moments, and a relaxed, fun atmosphere that perfectly matched their personalities. From a sweet and unexpected proposal on Cassie’s 30th birthday to an unforgettable ceremony at the stunning Nautilus Restaurant, their wedding was a blend of warmth, joy, and a whole lot of love.

A huge thanks to Cassie and Paul for sharing all the dreamy details of your beautiful destination wedding on Polka Dot You! 

We met 8 years ago. I was working as a retail manager at Ozmosis and Paul gave me his number whilst shopping! I was sceptical at first but after hanging out the first time we were inseparable! Paul proposed on my 30^th birthday at the restaurant where we had our first date (Waterfront at Southbank) he proposed after dinner in the middle of the restaurant and hundreds of people were clapping and cheering as they were walking past. I was mortified haha.

We had our ceremony and reception at Nautilus in Port Douglas and booked out the whole venue. It was perfection. The team were amazing, it is such a beautiful setting and the food is incredible! I couldn’t have imagined a more amazing venue for what we wanted.

I purchased my dress by accident by myself, whilst at work. I had some spare time and drove past Luv Bridal so I dropped in because I wanted to take a look if they had anything I liked before making an appointment with my Mum and bridesmaids. They were having a sample sale, I found one I loved and the attendant told me to try it on so I thought why not, can’t hurt! She then told me it was on sale down to $599 from $3000. I then left because I didn’t know what to do, called my Mum and asked what do I do, and she said just buy it and we will figure it out. I did a u-turn and purchased it on the spot and never looked anywhere else. I knew it was the dress! I wore my grandmothers ring as something old.

In the bridal party, we had my sister, Sian and my best friends, Chloe, Emma and Amy.

The theme for our wedding was tropical, colourful and FUN and relaxed. I gave my stylist (who had organised my flowers) a few Pinterest photographs, and mentioned that I just want tropical colourful, but with a boho feel. I also told her that I am having a lot of pinks and oranges, but still wanted greenery to match the venue. I left it up to her and she absolutely nailed it. I was obsessed!

Paul wanted a sand coloured linen suit. We found one for him at Connor and he loved it. He just wanted to be comfortable in the heat and it looked great!

On Paul’s side, he had his best friend, Andrew and my step Dad, Will. We also had Paul’s daughters who were half bridesmaids half best ladies, Tayla and Charli. They got ready with Cass on the day and walked down the aisle after my bridesmaids, but then stood on Paul’s side.

The song I chose to walk down the aisle to was “Simply the Best” by Bailey Rushlow.

We kept our ceremony pretty simple – a bit about us and we wrote our own vows. Paul wrote a beautiful poem for me that had everyone in tears!

My most favourite detail of the day was I think just seeing 78 of our friends and family in another state, who put time aside and paid to come and celebrate us getting married, which was pretty surreal.

Having a destination wedding unfortunately meant that my grandfather couldn’t attend as he is 95 years old and could not travel, so we made sure he was mentioned a couple of times and set up for him to be able to join in via FaceTime and watch the ceremony in real time.

As for my favourite photograph of the day – I love palm trees so probably the one of me and Paul kissing with all the palm trees and the sunshine in the background. Our photographer, Katie was the best! She was so much fun, easy going, she was everywhere but not in the way and just brought the vibes! I couldn’t have found a person to match our energy better if we tried! And the photos are amazing! We are so happy

I could not say a bad word about any of our vendors involved in the wedding. They all went above and beyond but the three ladies I had to deal with the most that made the planning experience so wonderful were:

Kiani our wedding day co-ordinator from Hire A Bestie, Tyha the events manager at Nautilus and Lani, the stylist from Oh So Boho. My favourite part was seeing it all come together and standing back and being like wow we created this!

A few things that made our wedding so special was firstly, the fact that we got married in our favourite place in the world. Next our vows and Paul’s daughters standing next to him at the alter. Our wedding was more of a party than a wedding – everyone talked about how much fun they had!

The setting was so special it was like something from a movie.

Paul’s eldest daughter made a speech that had every single person (including the wait staff) in tears, it was absolutely beautiful!

I did DIY for our menus and place cards on the day.

Our first dance was “Chasing Cars” by Snow Patrol. It has always been our song from when we first met.

Don’t sweat the small stuff, because it doesn’t matter on the day! Just enjoy the process because it goes so fast, embrace it. Take a moment to take it all in!