A showstopping dress crafted by the bride’s mother. A heartfelt ceremony and spectacular styling delivered by her sisters. A family farm transformed. Katarina and Travis’ fun and sophisticated celebration is a creative collaboration with the people they love most. Their modern marquee wedding is a visual feast in sunset hues, with custom details and clever design setting the scene for an epic party!
Love Story
“Travis and I met when we were both working in nightclubs, but it wasn’t until years later when we had moved on from hospitality that we reconnected, ran away to Hawaii for a spur of the moment trip and have been inseparable since. Trav proposed with a custom ring on an annual camping trip at my favourite beach with no one around but us.”
A Personal Ceremony
“My sister Ivana was our celebrant. We knew she would be the perfect fit as she knows us both very well. It was the most perfect ceremony we could have dreamed of, full of inside jokes, personal references and heartfelt messages. We also asked my niece to create a small reading about love which she delivered amazingly between happy and nervous tears. Because of a torrential downpour, we were forced inside onto our dance floor, but the whole ceremony was that much more intimate because of it.”
The Bridal Party
“I might call Travis a Groomzilla, but the man truly knows what he likes! He wanted to create a simple, sophisticated look that would age well and let him stand out. I essentially let the girls pick a dress keeping two things in mind, that it be black and that they had a similar silhouette, and they delivered!”
Designing the Dress
“I approached a few dressmakers early on but found it difficult to communicate what was in my head in a manner we could both understand. Cue my mum, an old school seamstress, lover of all things beautiful and believer of dreams! We spoke about a cut, style, and details. I drew some sketches. My sister dragged me to fabric stores all over Sydney and lo and behold, in the final store at the final hour, we found the perfect pattern. Mum took her time and worked on the dress only in pristine, zero stress moods and I think it shows for itself how much love went into it.”
Wedding Day Style
“Travis and I were both heavily involved with the vibe and wanted our wedding to look and feel sexy, young, fun and luxurious. All the things we enjoy when we spoil ourselves, we wanted our guests to experience.
My sister Danijela and I work together as stylists every day so when I say, ‘I’m thinking disco balls and confetti but with super earthy colours and dried elements’, she gets it! We created a refined asymmetrical backdrop for our ceremony and photos which included fresh floral hedging in pale yellow, bright orange, brown, taupe and nude with hints of mauve.
We decided to focus on the bridal table and ceiling installation above the dance floor for the reception. We started with a grey backdrop to make the colour pop, then layered floral arrangements in sunset tones with ribbon garlands, disco balls and clustered candles in shades of silver, gold, copper and iridescent peach to create a really warm feel inside our marquee.”
The Planning Experience
“Logistically, planning a wedding at a location with no power and no water is a nightmare! Our family farm is stunning with 100 acres of rolling hills, but we had never planned a party of this magnitude on the property and it was proving to be a little difficult. Most vendors didn’t want to go near it, but White Top came to the rescue. They took care of everything a regular walk-in venue would have, except they pack it up into trucks and move it all around New South Wales.”
Best Advice
1. Time will run away from you if you let it! Create a to-do list early on and keep working through it until it’s done.
2. Get a wedding planner and on the day coordinator. We were hit with freak rain and it definitely helped having an extra set of experienced hands on deck to smooth it all out. Unfortunately in our case, it was my sister. Don’t make your family work on your wedding day!
3. You will feel this weird set of emotions at the end of the night: happiness, sadness, tiredness, exhaustion, FOMO, disappointment. It will pass. Your wedding will have been the most amazing day, just give it time to settle.
4. Don’t sweat the small stuff. In fact, don’t sweat anything. Not the rain, the colour of your napkins, not anything. Find professionals you can trust to do their absolute best for your big day. They’ll deliver and you’ll be none the wiser!
The Team
Photography: Michael Boyle Photography | Film: Angus Porter By DKC | Venue: Private property | Marquee & Amenities: White Top Venues | Catering: Laissez-Faire Catering | Celebrant: Ivana Matekalo Civil Celebrant | Styling & Flowers: Decorations By Jelena | Stationery: Wedding Bliss | Cake: Sugar Pot | Entertainment: DJ Grass | Wedding Dress: Mother of Bride | Headpiece: Helena Bortoli & Maria Elena Headpieces | Bridesmaid Dresses: Elle Zeitoune | Suits: Brent Wilson (Groom) & Politix (Groomsmen) | Hair: Jessica Zappia Hair | Makeup: Sydney Beauty Haus (Bride) & Beauty Ink Sydney (Bridesmaids)