Planning a wedding from overseas is never going to be an easy feat, but Krystle and Ben pulled it off SO seamlessly with their beachfront celebrations at Kirra Hill Community Centre.
With panoramic ocean views as their backdrop and a minimal but refined approach to their styling, this beautiful Gold Coast wedding is picture perfect from beginning to end. Fresh white cocktail furniture, wooden dining tables and bentwood chairs all helped to complete this relaxed and contemporary Tipi setting.
We spoke to the happy couple on their experience planning a wedding from the other side of the world (we’re talking no less than 563 emails!), their words of wisdom, and the suppliers they chose to bring their dream wedding to life. More stunning imagery from Lucas & Co Photography below along with our top tips on recreating this look!
Describe your wedding day: The best day of our lives! Ben and I have been living overseas, in Hong Kong and Singapore, for a number of years, so we wanted our wedding day to be one big party wherewe could celebrate with all of our friends and family. We had 155 guests flying in from all over the world, so we opted for a cocktail style wedding where we could mingle easily. It was so much fun, but went far too quickly!
Where did you find your inspiration for your wedding day: I took inspiration mostly from Instagram and The Lane.
What were the highlights on the day: The whole day was so much fun but the most special moment was seeing my husband standing at the end of the aisle. I’ll never forget that moment. And I have the ugly-crying photos of me walking down the aisle to ensure I never do.
Where was your Gold Coast wedding venue and why did you choose them: Both our ceremony and reception was held at the Kirra Hill Community Centre. We chose this venue because of the sentimental value it has to us. My parents live just down the road in Coolangatta and Ben and I spend a lot of time there. It is also very close to where Ben proposed; on Coolangatta Beach, Christmas Day 2014.
Where did you purchase your dress and accessories from: I knew exactly what type of dress I wanted from the start; a simple silhouette with beautiful details. After spending months trying to find this in Hong Kong and being unsuccessful, on a visit back home to Brisbane I made an appointment at Karen Willis Holmes and found THE dress, along with a beautiful single tier tulle veil. I paired it with simple pearl earrings from Samantha Wills and wore a bracelet that my parents had given me as a gift many years ago.
Where did the groom purchase his suit and what style was it: The fabric for Ben’s suit was from Alla Moda in the Brisbane Emporium, which was given to him as a gift by his family. He had the fabric tailored into a suit for our wedding. He paired it with Hugo Boss mother of pearl cufflinks and Salvatore Ferragamo knitted tie.
What was your experience like planning your wedding: At first it was overwhelming, especially planning from abroad, but I chose suppliers who had great track records and I knew that I could trust. 95% of our planning was done via email which ended up totalling in 563 email conversations! It also helped that we had a two and a half year engagement, so we had plenty of time to plan and enjoy the experience.
What was the feel and style of your wedding: We wanted the style of the wedding to reflect both Ben and I, and although we have very different personalities, what we share in common is a minimalistic approach to style. As such, our styling and florals were very simple, with a colour palette of moody blues, navy and white. There were also lots of little details like, handmade colouring-in books for our young guests, dip-dyed Thank You cards that were handed out during the reception, and handmade tassels that were hung from the points of the Tipi. Plus, the view from the venue is so beautiful that we didn’t feel like we needed to go overboard on styling.
Who was your photographer and why did you choose them: We chose Lucas and Co. Photography for both our photography and videography, and they were the very first supplier we booked. I had seen their work through friends and absolutely adored their style; unstaged, raw and in the moment.
Where did you source your hire items and why did you choose this specific company: Hampton Event Hire was a no-brainer for us. As I was planning the wedding myself, I wanted to keep the number of suppliers to a minimum for easier management, and I loved that they had a wide range of items and catered to a number of different styles and themes.
We chose our key pieces like tables and chairs at the very start of planning and continued to add in smaller pieces along the way, once I had a clearer vision of the day. The team were so helpful from start to finish, and I knew I could trust them to deliver. We also hired some smaller styling items from Coco & Confetti, dancefloor and wine barrels from Gold Coast Tipis, gas heaters from Pendle Party Hire, and glassware from The Taphouse Group.
How did you manage your budget: Luckily, my husband is an Excel wiz, and he created a very detailed spreadsheet to ensure that we didn’t miss anything in our initial budgeting. At the start, Ben and I also listed what the most important and least important things were for to us and this helped to ensure that we spent where it mattered most and compromised on the things that didn’t.
If you could do it all over again, is there anything you would change: Ben and I are both very organised people, and with me being a designer, I wanted to create everything myself so opted for a DIY wedding with On the Day Coordination to make sure all of our plans went smoothly. But if I had my time again, I would definitely engage a Wedding Planner. Organising a wedding from abroad on my own was much more time-consuming than I had anticipated, and having a Planner would have freed me up to spend time on the creative things I really enjoyed doing.
Do you have any tips for other brides: Ben and I flew into the Gold Coast a few days before the wedding and still had a number things to finalise. But, we were so excited to be home and to be surrounded by friends and family that we completely forgot about all of those last minute things. Whoops! So, my advice is to not leave anything to the last minute so that you can truly enjoy the days leading up to the wedding. The wedding day goes so fast that it’s important to enjoy all of the little moments in the days before and after.
SUPPLIER LIST:
Wedding venue: Kirra Hill Community Centre
Photographer and Videographer: Lucas & Co Photography
Hire: Hampton Event Hire, Coco & Confetti, Pendle Party Hire, Vintage Kombis, The Taphouse Group
Entertainment: Daryl Murphy
On-the-day coordinator: The Events Lounge
Celebrant: Chiquita Mitchell
Caterer: Catering by Clancy
Lighting: Gold Coast Tipis
Florist: Coco & Confetti
Cake: I Heart Cakes by Casey Hedley
Makeup: Ginelle Dale Creative
Hair: Avia Beauty
Marquee hire: Gold Coast Tipis
Dress: Karen Willis Holmes
Accessories: Samantha Wills
Grooms attire: Alla Moda
Bridesmaid accessories: Angelina Alvarez
Bar: The Taphouse Group
SANRGIA COFFEE TABLE
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