Kate & Matt

Epic love stories capture our imagination, fill us with all the feels and bring out the best in the people that surround them. Even if we don’t admit it, we all love a bit of love.

When I first met Kate & Matt we caught up for a cuppa at their home in the hills near Albany & from the first moment their warmth, friendliness and family oriented nature was front and centre. Kate was bubbly, cheerful & upbeat, while Matt was more chilled, probably the calming influence around the house. Basically the perfect mix of yin & yang and totally on the kind of vibe that I really enjoy working with.

It happened to be my first journey out to The Gardens at Bullimah, nestled in the hills just outside the small community of Elleker between Albany & Denmark. Its expansive grounds, Sunken Garden and beautiful Manor house all come together to create a really magic little hideaway from the rest of the world. The perfect setting for this Hamptons style wedding. Kim from The Wedding Concept was the legend in charge of bringing the whole day to life & creating the vibe that Kate & Matt had described, literally everything from the styling, timeline and the on day co-ordination was bang on and really set the tone for everybody involved.

Once the amazing ceremony in the Sunken Garden had been completed (shout outs to Dan Burke & Kate Thomas - absolute legends!) it was up to the cocktail lawn for there next 2 hours where I provided some laid back acoustic covers, mixed with some modern Australian indie tunes while guests grazed, enjoyed some cocktails & socialised before heading to the marquee by the lake for the reception.

Oh man. The reception. Kate & Matt made their entrance to “The Wire” by Haim, vibes for days! Such a perfect song for the moment, from there I played a mix of old classics and indie tunes to set the mood as the pizza’s from The Woodfired Catering Co came flying around the room. I can attest for their deliciousness too! God I love pizza. Especially at weddings!

Once everyone had their fill, Kate was joined by her dad Mark for their dance to “Mango Tree” by Angus & Julia Stone, then as Matt cut in to begin their First Dance, I transitioned into the classic by Jack Johnson “Better Together”. But it didn’t end there! Midway through I did a quick mix into “The Git Up” by Blanco Brown, and they were joined by a huge flashmob of pre-rehearsed party rockers that absolutely set the dance floor on fire! It was such a cool way to bring the crowd in, and from that moment on the dance floor didn’t stop until the last song had been played. Huge vibes!

A massive shout out has to go to Alisha & Lou, the two MC’s for the night. They were an absolute blast to work with, so much fun (with so many Bowls jokes) and they added such a nice touch to the evening. I also can’t go without mentioning Alex Cohen, all of these amazing photos are from her magical perspective & her approach to capturing the event and overall vibe was absolutely first class. One of the best i’ve had the pleasure of working along side for sure. And of course local florist Karen from Vintage Violet - her florals were on point and that install in the marquee was next level!

It really was a night I won’t forget in a hurry, from the classy ceremony & cocktails to the raging dancefloor, im sure all of Kate & Matt’s guests feel the same. One takeaway I get from being a part of these events is it always amazes me how loved people are - when you see the faces of friends and family all celebrating one of life’s truly special moments, it’s kind of a reality check. Its easy to forget how surrounded by loving people you are, day to day life can get in the way of perspective and make it hard to see. But in moments like these, when in the presence of an epic love story, it all becomes clear and we get to walk away with full hearts, sore feet, smiles on our faces and memories that will always remind us why we love a bit of love.