Kaylie & Andre's misty wedding in Maleny

K A Y L I E + A N D R E

Kaylie and Andre took their time in planning the perfect wedding, unfortunately the only thing they couldn’t plan was the weather! Together with the team at Maleny Manor they quickly developed a plan B that was just as spectacular as their original wedding plan – even more so with the misty surrounds really woking with their woodland theme. The couple and their closest friends and family had an incredible day and night, despite the soggy weather – which goes to show that love truly does conquer all.

F R O M T H E B R I D E

How we met…

We were both nineteen and at the same party being held by a mutual friend. It was a State of Origin evening where I was dressed head to toe in Maroon and where Andre got my attention when he screamed “GO QLD” a few minutes into the first half, all dressed in blue. I remember blurting out from across the room, “Excuse me mate, I think you’re yelling the wrong team name?” Andre just smiled at me and yelled back to not be fooled by his poor clothing colour choice (mistakenly worn) but that he was 100% Queenslander.

We knew it was love…

Kaylie: When you can’t imagine spending the rest of your life with anyone else.

Andre: Knowing that she’s different, but your perfect kind of different where you can be 100 per cent yourself around her and she is all you want.

Our engagement…

On our fourth-year anniversary, Andre booked an anniversary getaway to the Gold Coast. On the Saturday we had a lovely afternoon of spa pampering, followed up with a great dinner out to Benihana’s restaurant. The next morning we were on our way to a Hot Air Balloon ride (where Andre planned to propose), but unfortunately the wind picked up and the flight was cancelled last minute just as we were about to take-off. In replacement, Andre arranged for a picnic lunch overlooking the Burleigh Heads coastline with some champagne, fish and chips. In a secluded spot, Andre popped the question under the Autumn sunshine. It was Sunday 4 May 2014.

T H E W E D D I N G

Our dream wedding…

Kaylie: Since the age of five, I knew I wanted a woodland styled magical garden wedding. I dreamt of marrying under a century old tree followed with a reception scattered with fairy lights under the stars. We fell in love instantly with our venue Maleny Manor, which ticked all of these childhood boxes and some.

We booked two years in advance but unfortunately not all childhood dreams can come true. Our wedding date of May 1st was a complete wash out, going down into the history books for the wettest day on record for that date. Despite the rain, and some early morning tears and rearranging to Plan B, we really made the day our own and nothing (no rain, hail or shine) could have possibly replaced the happiness I felt when I saw Andre waiting at the alter and knowing that I was about to marry my best friend, partner in crime and soul mate.

Our ceremony…

Our ceremony and reception took place at the Maleny Manor homestead in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. We held the ceremony within a beautiful and intimate outdoor white pavilion, while the secluded private estate boasted an elegant Manor house for our reception with boutique accommodation for the night.

Pre-wedding celebrations…

Andre: I organised for a bar crawl in Brisbane City with the boys.

Kaylie: A High Tea at the Room with Roses café for my bridal shower while my hen’s night was celebrated at Dracula’s Cabaret on the Gold Coast.

Our photographer…

We chose Calli Burnett from Calli B Photography after being inspired by her social media pages. Our second photographer/videographer was Jaydee Galon of Lyndal Carmichael Photography. Jaydee filmed our wedding as a gift from the best man.

Our bridal party…

We had three bridesmaids and three groomsmen, which consisted of our dearest childhood or closest friends.

Kaylie: The bridesmaids wore an elegant eggplant purple coloured Mori Lee by Madeline Gardner floor length gown, paired with purple pearl earrings given as a thank you gift. In choosing a dress style, I picked out three different designs for the bridesmaids to pick their favourite. The girls matched their dresses with silver open toed heels and handbags of their choice.

Andre: The groomsmen wore a two-piece navy blue suit from Les Roice, with a black belt and shoes and eggplant purple handkerchiefs, which were made from the offcuts of the bridesmaid dress alterations. The groomsmen also wore cufflinks labelled “groomsman” as a gift from me.

The groom wore…

Andre: Originally I had purchased a silver/grey suit but a week before the wedding I changed my mind and went with a blue two-piece from Taro Cash. I paired the suit with a caramel belt and shoes, white blouse, a blue tie, a plum purple orchid boutonniere and personalised “Groom” cufflinks.

The gown…

Kaylie: The wedding gown was chosen instantly. On my first day of dress shopping it was the second dress I tried on and after that, nothing else compared. The Mori Lee by Madeline Gardner gown – Style 2605 – was made from champagne and white coloured French delicate lace with a deep V neckline with scalloped edges. The V back was low with scalloped edges and featured covered back button details. The bottom of the dress comprised of many layers to give it the fabulous fish tail ‘poof’ finish. It had a medium sized train and mermaid hoop placed underneath. It was purchased from the United States through House of Brides and shipped to Australia.

Our flowers…

The bouquets and corsages included violet or deep purple roses, Queen of the Night Tulip, burgundy dahlia, apricot David Austin roses, trailing jasmine, purple Singapore orchids, peppercorn berry and Portuguese Laurel greenery. The bridal bouquet stem was wrapped in a trailing ribbon of aubergine plum matt satin while the bridesmaid bouquets were wrapped in white. For the half crown hair design, I went for a woodland theme with a combination of Singapore orchids, David Austin roses, peppercorn berries with rustic foliage and touches of trailing jasmine.

Our reception styling…

Was a rustic meets elegant theme, a lot of the wedding décor included DIY pieces we had handmade or mixed with vintage pieces we had sourced from our parents’ homes. We spent weeks in the wedding lead up hand making the wooden aisle stumps, wedding arch, signs, window seating plan and the reception and table décor including wooden candles, name cards twined with rosemary and rock table numbers. We chose gold and purple as our reception colour scheme, complemented with the hire of sixty Gold Filagree Edge Charger Plates and a chandelier with festoon lights in the outdoor pavilion and purple up lights for the reception paired with white fairy lights draped across the celling and down the room pillars. It was a perfect touch to add the mystical feel from the fog and mist outside. Our charger plates and two sign aisles were hired through Beautiful Wedding Hire, Brisbane, and the lighting through Coast to Country Wedding and Events and Elite Sounds.

Our flowers, decorations and cake vendors…

We selected Mondo Floral Designs as our florist and it was a fantastic experience from start to finish. I gave Terri, our florist, an idea of the budget, colours and the theme we were after and she did all the rest! She did a fabulous job, every guest commented on how beautiful the flowers were. I wasn’t sure what to expect on the day, but I wasn’t disappointed. We loved everything from our hanging wedding arch blooms, bouquets and the reception styling, filled with lush greenery of Portuguese Laurel, touches of trailing cascading peppercorn berries, and twisted willow within tall scalloped vases, was breathtaking.

Other ceremony flowers, which included twelve mason jars, were also placed around the reception afterwards and given away to our guests at the end of the evening. Our wedding cake was custom designed through Sunshine Coast café TOME. It was an 8” 3 Layer Cake – gluten free, with each layer a different flavour of vanilla, Turkish fig and rose. The cake featured purple flowers with foliage, added on by TOME, with a Macadamia Praline and chocolate drip frosting.

The menu…

We had a sit down two course meal – alternate drop – with a dessert buffet arranged by our wonderful venue. Entrées included the seafood pie, spatchcock with camembert and macadamias or oysters and prawns with salad for the dairy and gluten intolerant. Mains included the lamb rump with olives and truss-tomatoes or the drunken fig chicken with port jus. The dessert buffet was an assortment of gluten free gelato sorbet, macaroons, brownies, Crème Brule and profiteroles. This was all followed up with wedding cake.

Our bomboniere…

We both have a big sweet tooth so we thought golden heart wrapped chocolate bombonieres would be the perfect gift.

Memorable moments…

Kaylie: Seeing our fur-baby Bailey, a seven-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, dressed up in his tuxedo to be our ring bearer. Cuteness overload!

Andre: Seeing Kaylie walking down the aisle and remembering all the stunned faces and cheers during our first dance when we surprised our guests with a rehearsed number we had practiced for months through private lessons.

W E D D I N G S O U N D T R A C K

The songs that made up the soundtrack to our day…

We had a fantastic DJ, Rick from Elite Sounds who covered us from the ceremony, right through until the end of the evening. Rick pre-arranged playlists with us for the ceremony, garden party and reception and also provided our purple reception up-lighting.

Our wedding day songs included:

Walking down the aisle: Tim Espinosa: Marry Me (Violin Cover of Train’s Marry Me)
Post Ceremony: Benjamin Francis – Atlashands, Jose Gonzalez – heartbeats and Jonsi – where no one goes
Entrance Song: Silversun Pickups – Lazy Eye
Cake Cut Song: Adam Sandler – Just want to grow old with you
First Dance Song: Paramore – Only exception
Father Daughter: Tim McGraw – my little girl
Bouquet Song: Beyoncé – single ladies
Garter Song: Barry White – Can’t get enough of your love
Last song: Better together – Jack Johnson

Rick also arranged a combined wedding package for us to include a Photo booth. Chris from Noosa Photo booths was totally fantastic – having a photo booth was such a highlight of our wedding and was not only fun, but a hit with our guests!

M A R R I E D L I F E

Our honeymoon…

We honeymooned in the Maldives. We spent seven days at Ihuru Island Resort in an ocean front villa and then spent an additional five days at Club Med Kani Resorts in an overwater bungalow.

Plans for the future…

To continue exploring, adventuring, learning and not losing sight of what makes us happy.

In 40 years we hope to…

To have fulfilled a happy life of travel and parenthood and looking forward to retirement, possibly in the French countryside.

W O R D S O F W I S D O M

Advice for couples…

On how to enjoy the engagement: Tell your closest friends and family first – social media can wait! And, enjoy this time as a couple and remember that there is no rush. We had a two-year engagement and it was just right.

On planning: Don’t sweat the small stuff! Keep in sight of the overall significance of the day – your guests are there for you and the decision on what brand of charger plates or cutlery colour will go unnoticed and doesn’t detract from the meaning of the day – celebrating your love.

On the wedding day: There is always a possibility of rain on the big day. It stormed heavily on ours, causing our Plan A of an outdoor wedding to go down the drain – literally. Luckily, our venue had just as great of a Plan B option available and our day was still just as wonderful as we hoped, with an added touch of mystical fog. It’s what you make it, really!

Also, there is truth in the saying that the day really does fly by, so be sure to enjoy your time together and plan a moment – 15 to 30 minutes – to walk away and be with each other. Use this time to take in the moment just the two of you and celebrate privately. We arranged with our venue to eat our dessert in the outside pavilion, lit up with candles and a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne, for an intimate thirty minutes we still cherish most about our day. Afterwards we returned inside to cut the cake and continue the celebration and dancing with our guests.