We kept with the English countryside wedding vibe, but located in Tulum, we used local florals and local vendors.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Kate is a business owner, the creative director of Kate Ford Pty Ltd., an Australian Ready To Wear brand and a twin mum to Ryder and Dakota. Ryan is a professional sportsman currently in the NRL and playing for the Canterbury Bulldogs, originally from England, where he played in the Super League, and is in Australia as he was scouted for the NRL initially at the Canberra Raiders when Kate and Ryan met.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We met in Wollongong, where Kate drove down from Cronulla and Ryan drove up from Canberra; instantly, we felt a connection when we met in the lift, where Ryan was looking Kate up and down with a smirk on his face. The night went smoothly, and the rest was history.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
We both agree it was instant when we met, we were connected and felt as though we could not leave each other. Unfortunately, Kate was still living in Sydney, working at Zimmermann, and Ryan was in Canberra at the Canberra Raiders; we were doing long distance and then COVID lockdowns hit. It was either we don’t see each other at all, or we move in together, and we took the leap of faith and moved in together very quickly and never looked back.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood and style of your wedding. (theme, key styling elements, florals, colour palettes etc.).
As Ryan is English and Kate is Australian, we did want to ensure we brought a mix of both countries as we were having a mix of family and friends from both sides of the world attending. Kate ended up coming up with the idea of an English Countryside Wedding, but located on the beach. We chose to have our reception in the Jungle part of the venue to ensure there was a contrast between the party and the ceremony. We then all relocated to the beach where we had one long table along the sand for dinner, followed by the dancefloor and DJ on the sand located near our bar and churros cart to embrace the Tulum beach club vibes, which we wanted to ensure our guests experienced the full Tulum outside of the resort.
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).
Again, we kept with the English countryside wedding vibe, but located in Tulum, we used local florals and local vendors. We wanted two different vibes for our ceremony and dinner/party, which we achieved greatly in our venue, as it was so large. We wanted an authentic Mexican venue, which we achieved, and we also ensured we used all local meals and cuisines, local tequila and beers to ensure our guests experienced the true culture of Mexico as we really wanted it to be authentic. We told all our guests that they were not to wear any prints, only block colours, as the custom bridesmaid gowns were all printed and Kate wanted the girls to ensure they stood out. All the bridesmaids’ florals also matched their gowns, and we also had a pop of pink flowers around the venue to break up all the white and greenery. Those were our only colours as we wanted to ensure we kept with the English Countryside styling.
What did you enjoy most about the planning process and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?
It truly was not that difficult to plan a wedding overseas, especially in Mexico. Kate has been to Mexico 4 times and Ryan has never visited, so Kate was leading the entire thing as she knew the locations and exactly the vision she had in mind. But it was fun to plan, and knowing we were going on a holiday at the same time as getting married. We did start planning a year out, which I believe did help, but the planning process did not ramp up until 3 months before, and it was difficult during that time, as we did travel a month before our wedding. Only advice would be to travel after the wedding to avoid lugging all the wedding items around with you beforehand, especially with kids!
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
Kate designed her wedding gown from scratch, sourced all materials and fabrics and had her team from KATE FORD make it here in Sydney. It was a whirlwind as she re-designed the gown 3 months before leaving Sydney, but we got there in the end, and it was exactly what Kate wanted and could not find in any bridal stores. Ryan wore a custom-made Theodore suit, which was beige with a dark green shirt. All of Ryan’s items were embroidered with our date and initials, and so was Kate’s wedding gown. Kate’s second dress was kindly gifted by Grace Loves Lace and was the perfect dress to get changed into after cocktail hour, as it was very hot.
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?).
Our videographer, whom we booked from Australia we requested that they film the entire week, which consisted of our hens/bucks, hanging around the pool and resort with our guests, as we shared the same hotel for an entire week and had events on the entire time, as well as our welcome dinner. They did need to fly over and stay with us in the resort but we would not have changed that for the world as personally we did not remember absolutely anything of the night as it went so quickly, we relied on the videos and photography to ensure we could remember and it definately paid off as it made us teary re-watching and reviewing the week we had.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
We probably should not have arranged as many tequila shots as we did, as our guests were very happy and excited, and shots were free flowing. The end of the night was quite funny, and the next day, recovering at our hotel pool all together, telling stories of the night was something we will never forget. Ryan and Kate also chose to have smoke bombs at the end of our wedding with our last song playing which was Pursuit of Happiness by Kid Cudi the Steve Aoki remix and we did both pull the end of the smoke bomb the complete wrong way and unfortuantly both burnt our hands but we got there in the end and it was one to remember!
BRIDE Kate, @kayateford GROOM Ryan, @ryansutton VENUE Akiin Beach, Tulum, Mexico, @akiinbeachtulum PHOTOGRAPHER Arte Visual MF, @artevisualmf VIDEOGRAPHER I Do Cinema, @idocinema ENTERTAINMENT MagaluM, @magalum.music STATIONERY La Robe Club, @larobe.club RINGS MIDAS Jewellery, @midasjewellerymiranda BRIDE’S DRESSES Designed and made by Kate Ford, @fordbykateford; Grace Loves Lace, @grace_loves_lace BRIDE’S SHOES J’Adior Slingback Pump Mesh Embroidered White Heels – Christian Dior, @dior BRIDE’S ACCESSORIES Bride’s mum’s pearl necklace; gold diamond tennis bracelet from the groom; pearl gold earrings GROOM’S SHOES Brown leather lace up GROOM’S ACCESSORIES Vintage watch from Ryans family in England BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES Kate Ford, @fordbykateford
