Kara + Ryan by Bel Combridge

I wanted it to be timeless, chic and elegant whilst also minimalist.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Kara: I’m a mum of 2 and a primary school teacher. I love iced matchas, reformer Pilates, the ocean, as well as spending time with my family.

Ryan: I’m a father, work in construction management, enjoy playing golf, surfing and love spending time and going on adventures with my beautiful family.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

Kara: Ryan was dressed up as Lord Voldemort and was DJing my best friend Ally’s 17th birthday party. I was surprised that all my friends knew Ryan, or were friends with him, but I’d never met him before or knew of him.

After dating for a few months, we realised that we’d actually crossed paths many times before. He’d DJ’d other friends’ parties that I’d attended, and I’d even taken photos of him on my digital camera on various occasions, thinking I was cool taking photos of the DJ; however, I had no idea who he was! He seemed much older than us, so I assumed he was one of the older guys. Little did I know I was actually 3 weeks older than him.

What drew me to him was that not only did I think he was incredibly cute and fit, but he was also so kind and hilarious. He would do totally random things just to get my attention and make me laugh. We ended up chatting all night until the early hours of the morning. The following day after Ally’s party, all the girls went bowling in Ulladulla. It was kind of like a girls’ day thing; however, Ryan drove up there alone just to see me again. He got my number and we spoke every day after that. I was somewhat confused by his efforts because boys in high school were generally pretty clueless.

Ryan: I saw Kara at friends’ parties prior to us actually meeting. I met Kara at a mutual friend’s birthday party when we were 17. First impression was that she seemed very nice, pretty and fun to be around.

Prior to meeting Kara officially, I used to see her pass me on the road while driving along the road that I lived on. As she passed by, I would think to myself that Kara looked like the type of girl that I would one day like to make my girlfriend. When we finally met, and eventually we started dating, it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?

Kara: If I had to think of a specific time, it was probably when we spoke about how we were ‘meant to be’ because we’d crossed paths so many times before actually meeting each other, and he told me that he actually did know of me prior to meeting me because he used to see me drive past his house on my way to dance lessons every afternoon after school in my little Suzuki Swift, and he told himself he was going to make me his girlfriend one day.

Ryan: I realised she was the one when we were teenagers, navigating life together as young adults. Kara has always been very supportive of me and everything I try to achieve in life. Through this, my love grew deeper for her.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).

I’m not someone who ever had Pinterest boards of my future wedding, and even when planning it, I was totally winging it. I wanted it to be timeless, chic and elegant whilst also minimalist, so the colour palette was all white. I left the florals up to our incredibly talented florist and told her I wanted all white florals, with my only request being some white orchids amongst it all and an asymmetrical arbour for the ceremony. We wanted a cocktail-style reception where everyone could mingle as they pleased, and The Boat House creates this type of wedding so well! Our reception under the trees rolled straight into the ceremony for cocktail hour and roaming canapés, and then as the sun set, we continued inside. We had paella cooked in front of our guests at the reception, signature cocktails and canapés, seafood/meat/antipasto grazing table, Photo Booth and live wedding painter painting a scene from our wedding. Ryan and I also had a first look before the ceremony, where we took the bulk of our portraits, so that we could mingle with our guests right away after the ceremony and didn’t have to leave for photos.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

The autumnal backdrop of our reception under red and orange trees lining Lake Burleigh Griffin was stunning. We absolutely love autumn in Canberra and knew we wanted to get married during this season. Our live wedding painter began before the ceremony, which added a unique touch as guests started to arrive, and as we moved inside for the reception, our guests continued to watch the painting of Ryan and me celebrating as husband and wife walking back down the aisle develop as the night went on. We now have this painting hanging up in our house. We also had one of our good friends sing live during our ceremony and play the acoustic guitar. I walked down the aisle with my dad, as well as our 22-month-old daughter, to Ziggy Albert’s ‘Heaven’, which is a song Ryan and I have always sung on road trips and visualised me walking down the aisle to.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

I loved speaking to different vendors and creating great relationships with these beautiful people! For example, as soon as we met our photographer and celebrant via video call, we knew they were the ones for us! When planning a wedding, I’d suggest booking in your key vendors asap! Such as photographer, videographer, celebrant, and hair and makeup, straight away! Pinterest is also a wonderful place to get ideas from, as well as wedding magazines. It can also take quite a few months to order your dress in, so trying on dresses asap was important. However, you can often pay a rush fee to get the dress sooner if you’re short on time.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?

My dress is from Mrs Fray in Canberra, which is the most stunning bridal shop in the ACT! I tried on dresses with my beautiful mum, which created such core memories. Again, as I’d never really daydreamed about my future wedding, I didn’t have a particular style of dress in mind. The dress, Palm by New White, wasn’t one I tried on initially; however, it was on the mannequin, and as I went home that evening, I regretted not trying it on. As such, I booked another appointment purely to try that dress on, and as soon as I did, I knew it was the one! I felt so elegant and chic in it, just instantly so confident! My ‘something old’ was my grandma’s diamond ring which she gifted to me for my 18th birthday and reminded me of her constantly during the day, and my ‘something new’ was two little lockets I had attached to my bouquet with photos of my grandma and pop who aren’t with us anymore, but were with me in spirit on the day.

As for Ryan’s suit, he got it custom-made by Theodore. My favourite element of his suit was the personalised stitching, such as Mr and Mrs Simmons on the lining and our wedding date under his collar.

What was one, or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

We were happy to splurge on the venue and food! Ryan and I are such foodies, and The Boat House has such an incredible reputation for their fine dining, so to allow our guests (who mostly live interstate) to experience this was important to us. Additionally, I did get away with splurging on my designer shoes, and I’m still obsessed with them! I plan to pass them onto my daughter one day.

Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?

Ryan and I were often told that something always goes wrong on your wedding day, so be prepared for that. We are both very chilled people who tend to just laugh at things that seem stressful, so that didn’t really concern us. A perfect example of this would be right after our ceremony. Ryan stepped on my veil and ripped it out of my hair. Thankfully, my hair stylist was so talented that it didn’t mess my hair up at all! But Ryan and I instantly burst out laughing. He quickly tried to resolve it and said he’d put it back i,n but I explained we didn’t need to as I was going to take it out later anyway. Another hilarious moment was having to bring our cake cutting forward because we’d set the cake up inside, and then turned the fireplace on, and our cake started to melt and lean to the side like the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Every time I look at the video of us cutting the cake, I giggle.