Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love, what is unique about you and your relationship:
We met sitting on the floor far too early for a university lab. Cass was her pre-coffee self and Toby was far too happy for that time of morning. Although it wasn’t necessarily love at first sight we both recall walking away from our first encounter telling our separate friends “there is something about her/him”.
Our romance was simply waiting for a chance to start, taking all year, until the end of year ball where things began to develop. Fast forward a couple of months a few dates over cheese and wine, bush walks and BBQ’s with mates we made it official. 7 years on and many travel adventures, changes in jobs, houses and everything else that goes with growing up we were finally married! We enjoy a lot of the same things; bush walks, exercising, spending time with friends and family, closet board game nerds and have recently developed a passion for modern jive dancing (wish that we did that before the wedding dance!). We share not only an incredible love for one another but also enjoy pushing and helping one another grow. Our relationship hasn’t always been easy but it has been well worth every effort to make it work. We honestly believe that our relationship is only getting better and better as the relationship ages and seriously can’t wait to share many more experiences together as we grow old. Cass is a Physiotherapist having worked in many different areas but finding her passion working in community with older adults and in education. Tobias is an Exercise Physiologist and now CEO/owner of Atkins Health. He spends most of his working hours challenging and developing new or improved treatment methods or company processes to produce better client and team member outcomes and environments.
(From Tobias) Cassandra is the most beautiful human I know. Her genuine care and love for those that are fortunate enough to break into her inner circle are simply unmatched! I admire her resilience and intelligence, two qualities that have carried her through to so many accomplishments despite plenty of road blocks! I rely and lean on her intuition and support more than she will ever know and certainly not admit. And to top it all off she is she is simply gorgeous. I am a lucky man to have her by my side helping me and us grow into our future.
(From Cassandra) Tobias is definitely one of a kind. He is strong willed, probably even more than me. He is my biggest supporter and has strived to help me see the best in myself. He is annoyingly positive but together we balance each other out – me often the realist and him the dreamer. He is far more romantic than I am and I cannot write as eloquently as he can about my love for him! I am far more of a giver through service than through words.
Tell us about your special day, was there a specific theme or style? Tell us a li8le about the se@ng, the styling and some of your favourite details:
Our wedding went through many, many changes due to unforeseen circumstances – one major one being the obvious COVID 19. Our initial wedding date was May 2020 however we had to postpone. We risked it moving to September but didn’t want to wait longer than that, if we weren’t going to be able to celebrate with our friends and family by then, we would have worked something else out. In the end we were amazingly fortunate. Restrictions liked enough to allow most of our friends and family (except interstate) to attend and we were lucky enough to be able to celebrate our wedding on our anniversary. One less date for Toby to remember.
Everything about the day was incredibly special. With the venue being Tobias’ parents venue Entangled Events and our hand picked vendors completing our personalities, the day flowed seamlessly. It was a bluebird day with spot on September weather, Dayboro and the surrounding mountain landscape gave the perfect rustic scene for our wedding and portrait photos.
We loved all of our vendors. It took us quite a while to find people that we really clicked with, people that were calm (Toby) yet super organised (Cass), but glad that we were picky. When having to postpone, one of the most important things for us was to try and keep as many of our vendors as possible. Not just to support them and the efforts they had already put in, but also because we loved working with them and knew they would all be a special part of our day.
Our mornings started off with our nearest and dearest. Toby went to the barber for a morning ‘pamper’ and beer with his mates followed by scotch with more mates and his family. (Cass: The entire getting ready for his big day was such a massive thing for him- which I loved. The number of photos of him getting ready with his mates compared to mine is evidence for this.) Cass just had her family and bridal party getting ready for hair and make up and champagne breakfast of course. The MUA Lara Quinn and hairdresser Laura Minogue were both so lovely and kept me calm throughout. There is a lot more to squeeze in a morning for the bridal party! We had a busy day of constructing bouquets and getting nails done the day before so we didn’t want to have anything extra to do on the day of the wedding.
Initially our ceremony was at another private homestead however due to restrictions we had a last minute change to have the ceremony and reception at Entangled. It ended up making for an easier transition from ceremony to reception, all of our friends and families could stay in one location and start the eating and drinking earlier!
The venue itself, Entangled Events, is an Old Butter Factory with beautiful stained glass windows. The entire indoors and outdoor section of the venue is full of lush greenery making the atmosphere calm and relaxing. Add in the beautiful rustic iron entry gates it felt like we entered our own little sanctuary. Nola helped us organise the flow of the day and the styling of the venue. Her attention to detail was just what we needed, offering suggestions and thoughts but always wanting highlight things unique and important to us. We kept the styling simple with trestle tables, wine barrel bar tables and utilised all of the beautiful kokedamas and plants throughout the venue as the main focus. The food for the reception was canapes and ‘walk and fork’ for larger meals. It was divine. David did such as fantastic job, everyone loved the tastes and variety with food ranging from peking duck pancakes, arancini balls to lamb shoulder and risotto.
David Webber was our wedding celebrant. Dave is such a funny and genuine guy, he was the perfect fit for us as a wedding celebrant. The first we met him Cass knew he was the one – he arrived with paperwork and sticky labels. Done deal. Dave made us both feel so at ease on the day, and throughout the whole process. Checking in before the wedding and giving us tips for what to do, what to write if we needed to and the best one – to write our vows on cards to keep. He created a unique ceremony just for us, with some laughter throughout, and our friends and family loved him.
The ceremony itself was beautiful. Few hitches with music (below) but made for a laugh and calmed the nerves. Writing our own vows was the best decision. We could throw in some laughs, some inside jokes and make it very much about us and our relationship.
We weren’t sure what we wanted to do for music, DJ for reception was always a given, creating a playlist that transitioned well and lasted hours was way too much effort. James did a fantastic job of reading the room and made for the perfect soundtrack for the night. Cass always wanted an acoustic musician for the ceremony but wasn’t finding anyone that she loved or was available (downside of May wedding – so busy!). Then she stumbled across Chloe at a Gold Coast bar – her voice was remarkable and just what we wanted. In our initial ceremony venue there was a grand piano – probably the main reason that Cass wanted the ceremony there. Although, beautiful mountain views helped. Cass would not have the wedding without some piano involvement so we asked our family friend to play our aisle song. With the change in venue unfortunately no grand piano but Richard still made the song and the day unique and everything that we wanted.
Cass didn’t really want to do a wedding dance – not a fan of performing in front of people. Add in that no one else could dance at the wedding… Toby convinced her it was a must do but with some caveats. Music had to end after 2 minutes and we had to practice beforehand. Time got away from us, as it always does leading up to a wedding, and it was a quick Sunday night learn a few moves so we don’t feel hopeless. It worked out really well and no one knew that it was a rush job. It did however lead to us learning to dance after the fact and loving it.
Dessert was also a conundrum. Although this time it was Toby being particularly choosy. Toby isn’t a massive cake fan but Cass wanted some sort of cake for cake cutting – just for a bit of tradition. Cue Whipped Cake Co and Confetti Cake Co. Amie (Whipped Cake Co) delivered on our request for ‘ whatever you think suits us, simple, rose gold I don’t know?’ and it was absolutely delicious. Even Toby approved. Zoe, a Dayboro local (Confetti Cake Co), created the most scrumptious mix of desserts for our dessert table with brownies, caramel tarts and a delightful lemon meringue tart. Much like the rest of our wedding we managed to pull bits of what we both love to create something just for us (and of course our guests).
Of course, as it is for many couples, capturing our day was vital. Choosing a photographer was the very first thing that we did outside of finding a venue and having some date options. We met with a few different photographers but Ryan from Feather and Finch Photographer was recommended to us from a friend who’s wedding he was photographing just before ours. Like most of our vendors, we immediately knew Ryan was the right person for us. He was so chilled and down to earth but also all about the details. His focus is on capturing our story and our day, our emotions, our interactions and constantly making us pose. For only one person, he somehow managed to capture so many precious memories that we will cherish forever. Kristen, Luna Films, was very similar to Ryan in her approach and her demeanour. We were lucky she was our first pick and we didn’t need to keep looking as we knew she would, and did, capture our day on film to forever remember the emotional high of the day and so many special moments.
There are probably many couples who would look back on their day and whilst loving and treasuring those memories, change things about their day. We both agree that despite all of the changes and uncertainty leading up to the day, or perhaps because of them, there is nothing that we would change. Our friends and families, our vendors and venue.
Tell us about your main outfits:
For Tobias: I’m not your typical “I don’t really care” guy when it comes to these kind of things so getting decked out was a lot of fun! My brother and best man Tyler Atkins was a massive help. Germanico Tailor’s were amazing! Nailed everything from advice to alterations to delivery (which wouldn’t have been easy through COVID). The rest of the outfit just came together with Tyler taking the lead on where to go and what to look at.
For Cassandra: I think Toby was more focused on his outfits than I was. I went to a lot of places but nothing felt like me. I wanted something simple and elegant. Wendy Makin was the last place I tried and I fell in love with the Claudia immediately. I didn’t ever believe anyone when they said they knew their dress was the perfect dress, until I did – turns out it might actually be a thing. To throw in a bit of something different with my simple dress I wore sparkly rose gold shoes, which were amazingly comfortable. I had back up flats but I barely noticed I was in my heels. I wore a rose gold necklace that I also gifted my two little nieces / flower girls which is something that I will always cherish (and they tell me about it every time they wear them which I love). Although not my outfit per say, my most treasured piece is my Dad’s tie clip. My Dad is unwell and was unable to aFend our wedding, on my bouquet I had my great grandmothers silk handkerchief and my Dad’s train tie clip (he was an electrical engineer on trains). Even though he couldn’t be there in person, at least I still had something with me as I walked down the aisle with my beautiful Mum.
What were some of the most memorable/unique moments from the day:
For Tobias: By far the most memorable moment was turning around to see my beautiful wife standing in front of me. My heart dropped and it was that moment it felt incredibly real. The vows were amazing and to simply sit back and see most of my favourite people in the world in one place, laughing drinking and having an amazing time I will never forget. The only 2 other stand out moments in an all round stand out day was spending alone time with Cass getting our individual photos taken on the side of a hill and seeing my family read the cards I wrote them prior to getting ready.
For Cassandra: As my Dad wasn’t able to attend the wedding, I had the pleasure of my Mum walking me down the aisle . The only downside – she was more emotional than me. Not much help trying not to ruin my make up walking down the aisle, or being nervous in front of so many people. Toby’s family friend is a beautiful pianist, and kindly accepted our request to play our aisle song – Heartbeats. As we got halfway down the aisle one of the power boards tripped and the music stopped. Mum and I just looked at each other and without skipping a beat smiled and kept walking towards my soon to be husband. As soon as he turned around I don’t remember seeing anyone else. I hate speaking in front of crowds but as soon as I was with Toby, I felt like it was just the two of us talking to each other. When I look back on our day those first few moments are the clearest and most special. Escaping the venue and heading up to the mountains was fantastic – not just for the view, but to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyone else for a little while. It was nice to be able to soak in the highs of newly wed and have some alone time. In saying that, the most memorable part (outside of the sunset and emotions) was being passed over a barbed wire fence by Toby and Ryan (photographer) then dodging cow pats to catch the sunset and capture some stunning photos. And hoping that there were no bulls in the paddock.
Any advice for other couples planning to spend the rest of their lives together:
Never aim for perfect instead focus on enjoying the experience, celebrating with your friends and families and most importantly each other. Definitely don’t rush your alone time with your partner! When you get back to the party you will barely see each other. Take the time to appreciate being with your new partner during your portraits (both Ryan from Feather and Finch Photography and Kristen from Luna Films were so amazing at capturing the perfect shots but we barely noticed they were there). Our celebrant suggested that we put our vows on cards so that we could keep them or frame them. Toby might have ruined the framing of the cards for us as his was A4 size, but it was such a great idea to have something more than a piece of paper to keep. Would recommend something, card, little book, something unique to yourselves to remember your vows and promises. Brides – it is a really busy day with lots of people. The guys roll out of bed and are basically dressed. We have so much to fit in! I couldn’t really sleep so I ended up just getting up early, had a bath overlooking the stunning mountains at sunrise and listened to some music. Best thing I did. I didn’t wake up feeling rushed to get straight into hair and make up and it was nice to have some down time to myself on my wedding day.
Photography: Feather and Finch Photography | Videography: @luna.films | Ceremony and Reception location: @Entangled Events | Celebrant: @davidwebber_marriagecelebrant | Bride’s attire: @wendymakinbridal | Groom’s suit: @wendymakinbridal | Rings: @finelinesjewellers | Bride’s shoes: @ninewestaus | Groom’s suit: @florsheimaus | Flowers girls necklace’s: @emandeve.jewellery | Earrings: @peterlangjewellery | Groom’s watch: @omega | Makeup: @lara_quinn | Hair: Laura Minogue Hairstylist | Barber: @dirtyhairysbarbersaloon | Bride’s Fragrance: @naturalmente_aromas | Groom’s Fragrance: @versace | Bridesmaid’s attire: @sheikeandco | Entertainment: @richardgoldsworthymusic | Ceremony singer: @chloebehrens | DJ: @dj_james_russell | Cake: @whippedcakeco | Desserts: @confetticakeco_ | Registry: Brain Foundation for neurological degenerative disease research | Whiskey Decanter: @norlanglass
