Sirromet Winery May Wedding | Kathryn + Nathan

Kathryn’s laugh is infectious and I’ve recently found out we share a love of online shopping. I’m sure Nathan is wondering if all the packages might stop arriving now that the wedding has taken place! Kathryn made almost all of the wedding florals (bouquet, bridesmaid rings, buttonholes, corsages, car detail…) with the precision of a professional. She also has pretty clever friends that made a lot of the other details. We have had so much joy meeting and photographing Kathryn + Nathan (and fur babies) over the last few months… they oooozzze happiness.

Some highlights for us… Definitely hanging out with all the ladies in the morning. Kathryn has a great posse. The first look with her dad. tear. Watching Billie (brown dog) give Alice a run for her money walking down the aisle as he ate all the bubbles. All the guests were in full belly laughs. Finley (black dog) sleeping through the entire ceremony. True story. The chocolate mud cake (OH MY GOODNESS). Bernadette and the Baseline Studios band. Bernadette you rock as a MC and WOW. I could listen to you all night. If I didn’t have a babysitter to relieve I would have stayed!

Best wishes for you both and we can’t wait to see your family grow!!!

ALL PHOTOS FROM THE DAY ARE AVAILABLE TO VIEW. Log-in to Kathryn + Nathan’s photo gallery by CLICKING HERE.

Kat + Nathan’s wedding cake is equal to a museum showpiece. Every detail of their wedding was brought together in harmony with their cake. This was the wedding style pinned to a T!
I got the inside scoup from the cake lady Zoe of all the ins and outs of the marvelous creation! Originally she was told to do whatever she wanted for the design; however, the groom Nathan got really into the creative process collaborating on textures, colours, and floral placement. The grand design quickly went UP from 2 to 3 tier to show off all the creative ideas. …and why not have an extra yummy cake? The bride Kat dried all the flowers, which is super important so there aren’t chemicals/dyes near the food. …and for the foodies at heart what you really wanna know in full delicious detail….the frosted layers were (drum roll please…)
“Bruce Bogtrotter” (choc mud with Nutella buttercream), “Persian Love Cake” (gluten friendly spiced caramel and almond mudcake with rosewater and crushed pistachios) and the top tier was “Lemony Snicket” (lemon cake with gin/lemon syrup, lemon curd and vanilla buttercream).

All good love stories start somewhere; tell us how and when you met …

Nathan and I met through university where we were both studying regional and town planning (UQ – where we had our engagement photos shot!). Nathan was a 4th year and I was a 1st year. We originally met because my oldest friend Shalini’s (maid of honor) older sister Adrika was in the same cohort as Nathan and she recommended me to join the Organisation Of Planning Students (OOPS) of which Nathan was president. I first met Nathan at an OOPS Industry Night where being an first year wanting to help out and get involved Nathan joked “well as first years you and the other first years are the bumholes of the organisation and so you get to do the jobs I don’t want to do!” (Nathan denies he ever said this!). Nathan and I however didn’t start dating until my uni friend Meg (bridesmaid) pointed out how nice his butt was and if i could date him because she was already in a relationship! Our first date was a bit of us daring/testing each other and we both decided to meet in Southbank in our ‘onesies’ (I was pikachu and he was a dinosaur) and neither of us really thought we would show up in our onesies but we did and the rest is history!

Tell us about your lives together …

Our lives are just a big adventure together! We are there for each other in the good, the bad, the pretty and the ugly but we take it all in our stride and tackle it head on together. Nathan grew up in a small country town of Roma and I grew up in Sydney before we met in Brisbane. We share so many of the same family, work and life values and both being town planners we love our town planning talk! We love having our little urban farm in Moggill and being an animal lover I’m grateful Nathan lets me have ALL of the animals! We have a rescue greyhound (Finley) and an overgrown puppy german shepherd (Billie) who were both at our wedding but with chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, fish, parrots and birds at home we pretty much have a petting zoo! Nathan and I love exploring the world together and cannot wait until COVID settles down and borders open again so he can meet and celebrate our marriage with the rest of my (now ours) extended family in the Philippines and go on more adventures (maybe with a kid or two in tow in the future!).

What does marriage mean to you?

Marriage means to us that whatever life throws at us we know that we will never have to walk alone and that we’re making that promise to each other. It is celebrating and sharing the happiness that Nathan and I have found together with our friends and our family. It is us acknowledging that what Nathan and I have isn’t just about the now but also the future and we’re making that promise that we’re in this together.

Make us laugh, make us cry: who proposed to who, and how?

For my birthday that year (2019) Nathan had given me a card filled with clues about my birthday surprise almost 2 weeks later. In the end i figured out he was taking me for breakfast at The Farm at Byron Bay (favorite place to visit of ours) and then taking me horseback riding on the beach (ultimate bucket list of mine). He was so calm i was suspicious at first but after breakfast i was like like nah this is genuinely just a birthday thing. I had always joked with Nathan that if he proposed to me with a puppy with a ring tied around its neck i wouldn’t say no and we were waiting for a german shep puppy at this time so i had convinced myself he would wait until we got puppy! So we got to the riding center and we got on our horses and make our way through the bush to get to the beach and when we finally get to the beach it was absolutely gorgeous. Very dramatic sky and choppy waves as it had been raining nearly all day (it stopped for our ride amazingly enough) and we had the trail guide infront on Ledger, nathan in the middle on Gem and then me at the rear on Pilot. Suddenly Nathan was hunched in his saddle and I called out if his back was okay (he has muscle problems in his back). He called back that it was a cramp and the trail guide came back round and said Nathan better hop off Gem. She first came back to me and asked me if i could hop off Pilot and mind Ledger while she went to help Nathan. She somehow managed to maneuver Ledger between Nathan and me and she went to help Nathan off and slip him the ring. The trail guide then came back round to me and said that Nathan had a really bad cramp in his leg and i better go rub it for him? (i think i snorted at this point because i was just like I WANT TO RIDE MY HORSE DOWN THIS BEACH). Anyways i scooted around Ledger and Pilot and well there was Nathan on one knee? I believe at this stage i burst into tears and told the trail guide that nathan actually didn’t have a cramp? I said yes of course, then we continued on our ride and when we got back to the stables there was even champagne and a massive cheese platter for us!

Cont.
So fast forward to Valentines Day 2021. I do a lot of gardening and crafting and stuff with the dogs, and do dog training as a hobby and when i do i don’t wear my engagement ring. So on Valentines Day, Nathan had a ‘simple’ ring made for me that i could still wear when i was out doing all my active rough stuff but this time he tied it around Billies neck with ribbon and made her bring it to me since i had always told him if he ‘proposed’ with a ring around a puppies neck i would never say no!

How and why did you choose your venues?

So rewind back to 2014 when Nathan and I celebrated our very first official anniversary we actually had a lovely dinner at Sirromet Wines at Restaurant Lurleens! It was such a lovely place that fast forward to choosing a place to get married we definitely had to check it out! We were leaning towards an outdoor ceremony because we wanted Billie and Finley to be part of the ceremony (a non-negotiable for us) and we wanted to have both the ceremony and reception all in one place to make it easier and less stressful for our guests! We fell in love with the Barrel Hall and the Arbour at Sirromet. We dutifully looked at venues across Brisbane and even up at the Sunshine Coast but we couldn’t find anything that we loved more than Sirromet and the fact that the wedding packages included so much that other venues would exclude or consider as additional add ons Sirromet was just the one! Ultimately Sirromet staff were just amazing and the service was unbelievably. Lindsay (our wedding coordinator) was super easy and accommodating during the planning and lead up (which was amazing especially planning a wedding during a pandemic) and Lindsey and Sirromet were always reassuring us “the pandemic is out of our control and out of your control we will always try to make things work to whatever you want to the best of our abilities” and they were amazing! We couldn’t have faulted Sirromet and it’s staff one bit from the booking, planning, lead up, execution of the whole event, staying the night at Sirromet Sanctuary Accommodation to breakfast the next morning it was all just easy and perfect!

What was the inspiration behind your wedding style?

It was really the Barrel Hall that set the tone of our wedding decor! I chose the gorgeous rust colour of the bridesmaids dresses to dried preserved native florals to really complement the warm moody tone of the Barrel Hall and I think it came together really well! Also because I surrounded myself with super talented vendors I just came together like a dream! I’m a very crafty person so I had to do a lot of elements myself and ended up doing the honey jar giveaways, signs, bridal party flowers myself and after sending photos of what i had done to Julie (Julie Vine Flowers) she matched the reception styling and flowers beautifully! Nathan jumped in on the cake design with myself and Zoe (Confetti Cake Co.) and after providing Zoe with some of my home dried flowers she worked an absolute masterpiece! I think overall our wedding style was very much just me and Nathan. I wore wedding sneakers and the groomsmen had funky socks! The dogs were at the wedding and our flower girl and page boy had bubble canons! It was very fun as well as beautiful and Nathan and I couldn’t have been happier at how everything gelled together in the end!

Did you incorporate any traditions or perhaps do something a little different?

We knew how important this day was not just to us but to our families as well so we did do a few things differently in our ceremony. While both our families are religious (catholic/christian) we chose not to get married in a church but we asked Nathan’s father Wayne to prepare a homily as well as a blessing to include in our ceremony! To also acknowledge my Filipino heritage we chose to include a traditional rose ceremony (given to our mums) where it is said that the love Nathan and I share is a seed planted by our families and on our wedding day it has blossomed. As we make a commitment to one another, we also make a commitment to our families. The roses symbolize our gratitude for raising us with love and strong family values. The roses are a promise that no matter how far away you are, you are not forgotten and you are always in our hearts.

Were there any standout suppliers?

I think every single vendor we chose was just outstanding for all different reasons!

Venue/Catering – Sirromet Wines: as said above they were just outstanding and an absolute pleasure to deal with. They went above and beyond to make it an amazing day and make planning and having a wedding during a pandemic so easy!

Photography – Dallas Love Photography: Dallas and her team were outstanding! Not only did they capture the day so beautifully their photos have the magic of bringing us back to that very moment. Dallas managed to capture all the love, joy and warmth from everyone that day and her pictures will be truly treasured by us and all our guests! Dallas also kept us all to schedule (even early) on the day so I didn’t have to worry about where I needed to be! I just trusted Dallas! Dallas and her team also just kept everything fun and light hearted and they are just some of the most beautiful human beings! Also she got ALL of the photos done not even 2 weeks after the day!

MC/music – Bassline Studios: WE LOVE BERNADETTE! Just like Dallas and her team, Bernadette and her team were outstanding. From Bernadette’s MCing and her AMAZING singing voice and the rest of her bands Bernadette helped set the mood of the wedding perfectly! Bernadette’s fun and crazy energy matched mine and Nathan’s perfectly and she just projected that to everyone on the night making it such an amazing and memorable time! Plus she went above and beyond with her intro and speeches and just every single detail!

Cake – Confetti Cake Co.: Zoe just worked a masterpiece! Plus it didn’t just look amazing it tasted amazing too! BEST CAKE EVER! Plus I had cake for breakfast during our mini moon every single day!

Hair/Makeup – Signature Creations: Gem and her mother are just a hair and makeup dream team! They made a crazy morning so fun and easy and lighthearted! Thank you for putting up with mine and my bride tribes crazy antics and stories that morning and for still beautifying me up around my drinking starbucks and eating leftover pad thai!

Celebrant – Two Small Words: Rachel captured our story and the tone of Nathan and I so perfectly in our ceremony and she was such a gem incorporating all our different elements such as the homily, blessing and wedding ceremony! It was even more memorable since we had so much fun during the ceremony we forgot to sign our wedding certificate but as Rachel said we got two proposals so we might as well get two Mr & Mrs announcements!

Videographer – Wilson Lowe: Wilson is actually just a friend who does cool urban visualizations with buildings so why not ask him to do our wedding videography! He was such a gem and our footage turned out like it was shot by a pro! While he says he prefers buildings we are so grateful he captured so much of our special day!

Pet Assistants – First Class Wedding Pet Assistants: Kylie and Olivia just did such an amazing job with both dogs and it was just suuuch a massive weight off my shoulders not having to worry about the dogs and knowing they were in such excellent hands! The paw print gift they also left after making sure the puppies were safely home and tucked away in bed was just too much. We just loved it!

Styling/Reception Flowers – Julie Vine Florals: Julie did such an amazing job with the styling and matching the venue flower to the flowers i made myself! I was a little worried i would throw a spanner in the works wanting to do certain elements myself but Julie reassured me it was a lovely way for me to be involved and all i had to do was send her photos and she just worked her magic! Everything came together so beautifully!

Dancing Lessons – BeLeste Dance: Belinda and Lester from BeLeste Dance choreographed our first dance all within just over 3 weeks! We left it a little late in the game but they pulled out private lesson appointments out of thin air and made two awkward duckies on land look like we were two graceful swans on a magical lake in the end! Plus their lovely dance moves came in handy during our photoshoots and now we know how to do awesome twirls and dips!

Dress/Dress Alterations – White Lily Couture/Ella Moda: When I first went dress shopping I had NO idea what i wanted! From just a few samples I tried on and mentioned the things I liked, the lovely ladies from White Lily Couture pulled out my dream dress! I left thinking it was only the 5th or 6th dress I tried on and the first dress shop I visited but after a few weeks I couldn’t stop thinking about that beautiful dress! I was hooked and took the plunge! Ella Moda did the final alterations and I still remember the odd look on their faces when I tested literally running in my wedding dress in their studio to test out my wedding sneakers! They were such good sports! All together it was my ultimate dream dress!

Do you have any words of wisdom to offer other couples?

1. Be best friends first and always.

2. Enjoy the wedding planning process! I love getting crafty so doing up the signs and the bouquets myself helped me really project myself into the day. Enjoy your wedding day it goes so quickly but it’s only one beautiful magical moment in what will be an amazing lifetime together.

3. Surround yourself with all the people (including furbabies) you love! We had a bridal party of TWELVE because Nathan couldn’t choose less than 5 groomsmen (and he wanted to add more) but it was just such a wonderful time because I couldn’t remember a single second that I wasn’t laughing my head off with my tribe. Plus we had to have the doggies at the wedding and they brought their own magic to the day!

Did you (or will you) enjoy a honeymoon? If so, how and why did you choose your destination?

We’re planning on doing a bigger trip to the Philippines post covid but we enjoyed a wonderful minimoon up in the Sunshine Coast Hinterlands! We rented a gorgeous AirBNB post wedding and spent our days town hopping and bush walking, eating the famous Kenilworth donuts, discovering delicious filipino food in Kilkoy, eating all the local cheese, feeding baby calves at the Maleny Dairy and spending lazy evenings in front of a wood fireplace. We wanted something that was nearby just in case of COVID but somewhere we could relax and enjoy just being ourselves for just a little bit! Our AirBNB did not have great phone reception but more importantly had great internet for our movies and binges in the evenings so it was perfect!

Photography // Dallas Love Photography (Dallas + Glennn + Stephen)

Assistant // Emily

Venue + Catering // Sirromet Winery @weddingsatsirromet

Cake // Confetti Cake Co. @confetticakeco_

H&MUA // Signature Creations @SignatureCreationsBeautyMakeupHair

Celebrant // Two Small Words (Rachel) @rachelgreen_twosmallwords

Videographer // Wilson Lowe @wilsonloweco

Music + MC // Bassline Studios (Bernadette) @basslinestudiosband

Pet Minder // First Class Pet Services @pet_wedding_assistants

Flowers // Julie Vine Flowers @julievineflorals

Dance Lessons // Beleste Dance @belestedance

Bridal Gown // Wanda by Nicole Spose from White Lily Couture

Alterations // Ella Moda

Suit // Male Manor