What started as a chance encounter while backpacking in Australia turned into a love story that spanned hemispheres. When Paul met Kirstie in Dunsborough, it was clear they had something special, but life and an expiring visa sent them in different directions. Years down the track, they chose the same breathtaking coastline where their story started to host their disco beach wedding, blending relaxed oceanfront vibes with vibrant, party-ready details and a vendor dream team chock-full of friends, like their photographer Photogerson!

While backpacking around Australia, Paul stumbled across a hidden gem in Dunsborough – Kirstie! After dancing around each other for a year, the couple finally admitted their feelings, only for Paul’s visa to expire a month later. Nine months of texting from across the world later, Paul was back in Australia, and the rest was history!

Every September, the residents of Dunsborough are blessed by the migration of whales, something Kirstie and Paul look forward to every year. “We climbed up on top of our favourite rock to view them where you get a view of the whole bay. This was a particularly good day for sightings. I was looking through the binoculars watching one do tail slaps for about a minute straight when Paul coughed to get my attention. I took my eyes out of the binoculars to find him next to me on one knee.”

When Paul was looking for his wedding outfit, he tried bowties and suspenders but nothing felt like him. He decided to go clean and simple with navy pants, a linen shirt and a neutral-toned blazer. The best part of his outfit, though? His socks covered in their dog Otis’ face!

Within their wedding party, Kirstie and Paul had one member each – Kirstie’s sister and Paul’s best friend, Matt. He wore a matching suit to Paul, both of them finishing off their looks with a pair of brown leather shoes.

Kirstie wore a gorgeous Chosen By Kyha gown with a fitted look and off-shoulder strap, pairing it with a stunning pair of cowboy boots! “I initially wanted something boho, but nothing was flattering on me. I tried something outside my taste (entirely plain with an interesting cut and shape), and it ended up being my favourite!”

The highlight of her look, though, was this incredible embroidered veil! It was her mother’s veil, already full of a lace floral pattern, that her aunt spent a year embroidering with colourful thread. “This was already special as it was my mum’s, but having my aunt put so much work into colouring every single flower and stem on the veil with thread just made it mind-blowing.”

Her sister and niece wore matching outfits in soft peachy pink. It wasn’t easy to find matching outfits for the pair with a 14-year age gap, but they decided to go with the same colour in different styles, and it worked out perfectly.

Kirstie’s best friend Sian was working at Yallingup Event Hire and teamed up with their florist, Chantal, to bring her spring styling dreams to life! “I wanted colourful flowers that gave spring vibes. I couldn’t tell you exactly which flowers were in there, but they nailed it!”

Since so many people were visiting abroad for their beach wedding, Kirstie and Paul wanted to keep their DIY efforts minimal to spend as much time with their guests as possible! “We had a lot of people visiting from aboard & wanted to make sure we spent plenty of quality time with them, so we didn’t want to be caught up with wedding stuff the week before the wedding. We had a wine tour day, a whale watching day & a few beach days before the wedding that I’m glad we spent not on wedding prep.”

Their location for the day was Bunker Bay, with their reception taking place inside Bunkers Beach House, now Ilma Beach House. “Getting married locally, on the beach, and our guests not having to travel between locations during the day was a non-negotiable for us. So this really only gave us one location, as Bunkers Beach Cafe is the only wedding venue on the beach within 15 minutes of where we live. It ticked all of our boxes, so we didn’t bother looking anywhere else.”

Kirstie walked down the aisle with her dad to “Heartbeats” by Jose Gonzales, played live by their friend Matt on guitar. “I couldn’t afford much more than the styling I had, so Sian and my other two best friends, Mel and Loz, paid to have flowers line the aisle and behind where we stood. Such a special surprise as I walked down the aisle!”

They only had one constraint for their beach ceremony: it had to be fun! And what better way than having their best friend Sian surprise everyone and officiate?! “Sian somehow agreed to study to get her license to become a celebrant so that she could marry us on the day. We studied in secret for months to get her through the course & surprise all of our guests. She’s our funniest friend & pretty much did a 20-minute stand-up comedy set. It was the best, and many were shocked,” Kirstie explained.

Their ceremony wouldn’t have been complete without their best fur friend, Otis, joining them and protecting the rings!

Best Man Matt had a sneaky trick up his sleeve – and surprised Kirstie by creating temporary tattoos of her face and hiding them on all of their friends! “He then organised a group photo of us, and everyone revealed their tattoos on his cue. The photographer snapped the photo, as I realised, and there’s just so much fun and laughter in the photo.”

Speaking of photographers, Luke Gerson of Photogerson was someone Kirstie knew she had to have at her wedding. “Oh my goodness, Mr Luke Gerson. I cannot recommend this man enough. Luke has been a friend of mine for about ten years, and I always knew he would photograph my wedding one day. If he hadn’t been available on our preferred date, we would have changed the date to have him. His photos are bright and fun, and we couldn’t have had anybody else!”

While Kirstie loved hand-picking all of the songs for the day – her absolute favourite part of planning this disco beach wedding was hiring all of their vendors! “I think the thing I enjoyed most was hiring all of our friends or friends of friends as vendors. We knew everybody that was involved in our wedding.”

Their favourite two vendors would have to be the teams behind the lens! “Luke went above and beyond what is expected of a photographer. He wrote our run sheet for us and was a consistent advisor. And our videographer, The Wedding Tape, was a vibe, too, recommended by Luke and super fun.”

Their ceremony space was expertly styled by Sian from Yallingup Event Hire. “I wanted party vibes, so I put disco balls on our invites. Sian, who was a stylist at Yallingup Event Hire at the time, did an amazing job of styling our wedding with disco balls and flowers hanging from the ceiling.”

Future married couples, listen up! Kirstie and Paul have this wisdom to share with you: “Make it last as long as you can. A single day isn’t enough! We had people around celebrating us the week before and the week after. It meant we didn’t have to pause and take a moment on the day; we just lived every single moment for two weeks straight.”

Overwhelmed by attention and choice, Kirstie and Paul decided to forego a first dance. But their good friend Flo teamed up with their musician and helped him learn “Just The Two Of Us” by Bill Withers and Grover Washington, Jr., ” which kind of worked out to being our first dance. I loved it, and I’m thankful they made us do one.”

Their musician Shmone played sax and had a looping pedal for the other instruments to create an incredible party vibe! He had all the guests up and on the dance floor, even joining them with his saxophone. “Parties follow this guy wherever he goes.”

A huge thank you to the incredibly talented Luke Gerson of Photogerson for capturing every moment of this unforgettable day – we couldn’t be more thrilled to share it! Congratulations, Kirstie and Paul – we hope your next adventure is just as magical as your wedding day!