Kelicia + Josh by The Raw Photographer - Together Journal

bride and groom, nz wedding, bridesmaids, dresses, fashion

We both discussed settling down and starting a family quite early so it was clear to us that we felt we had found ‘the one’. The connection between us was instant and so effortless, so we both knew it felt right.

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

Josh – I’m Josh. I am 32 and I am an Air conditioning & refrigeration mechanic. We run our own family business here in Cairns, and when I am not on the tools I love being outdoors. We take any chance we can to go camping as a family, it’s my favourite thing to do. I love anything hunting, boating, camping, & fishing, really!

Kelicia – I’m Kelicia. I am 33, I work within our family business with Josh, but I am also a Pilates Instructor. Fitness, dance and movement have always been such a huge part of my life!

We love to spend as much time as we can adventuring outdoors as a family, with our littlest love – Boh.

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

We actually met in high school as teens but it was too soon for either of us to settle down.

Kelicia – I spent many years after high school dancing professionally abroad, while Josh spent those years working in the mines and travelled between Cairns and Perth.

13 years later, we stumbled across one other on a night out when the timing was right, and I guess you could say the rest was history.

Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…

Kelicia – The proposal was… unexpected. We had just spent two weeks travelling to the tip of Australia with our little fam and some great friends, and I honestly felt in my bones that Josh was going to propose somewhere along the way. Needless to say, I was rather disappointed not to be driving home as a Fiancé.

Josh always has a way of keeping me on my toes, and true to form instead of proposing when I would be expecting it, he waited until we returned home, and nervously dropped to one knee on a romantic little weekend away just the two of us that very next weekend!

Admittedly, it was perfect.

Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…

Our priority was to ensure we had a party in celebration of our love and wanted nothing more than for our families to finally get a chance to be together. Our wedding was the first time all our members met face to face, as Josh and I began our relationship just prior to the beginning of Covid.

We both agreed we wanted to get married on the Atherton Tablelands. We spend most of our weekends up there, so finding the Rocky Creek Igloo was so perfect. It also meant our all of guests got the chance to spend the entire weekend away with us, which was everything that we wanted.

My vision for the wedding was clearly in two parts. For the ceremony, I envisioned an intimate ceremony outside & under the trees with light, white florals, and big white umbrellas to perfectly compliment the Atherton bushland.

For the reception, I really wanted guests to feel the mood shift to a minimalistic moody, romantic setting by candlelight, so lots of candles were a must! Inside the igloo is a beautiful, large industrial space as it is a heritage-listed building, so I wanted soft oatmeal linen complimented by deep red roses with candles to really contrast inside all that iron space.

We were all sitting below hundreds of soft fairy lights, it all felt really magical.