WHERE: I grew up in Tallebudgera Valley and lived there for 17 years. I had always wanted to be married out there - it is such a special place for me. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get access to any property which was at all like my vision. We came across a 150 acre property through a fabulous friend (our photographer Polly) in Currumbin Valley which was stunning and hoped like mad they would agree to let us have the wedding there. I think it was only a week or so before the wedding that it was settled which was so stressful. We were so grateful!! We were allowed to explore and find our special place for the ceremony and the reception. We wanted it to be a little adventure. The guests had to walk about 500m to the reception from the ceremony through the water and forest until they discovered our marquee tucked into the bush. Perfect.

THEME: “60’s summer of love” was the theme we decided on which was on the invitation so the guests could dress up if they felt like it. They all went above and beyond anything I had imagined. When I arrived and saw everyone in bright colours, long wigs and smiling faces I was amazed.... Some of them were hilarious!! We wanted a very relaxed and natural wedding, just a happy day with good vibes. The theme was just perfect for us... We both love the music from that era too so we could have all our favourite songs fitting the theme. 

GUESTS: It is so hard to make a guest list. I have a huge family; And Damo has so many friends!! It was so hard to know where to draw the line, but you have to otherwise the cost just keeps going up and up.  My family had to travel a long way to be there so of course we didn’t expect them all to be able to attend. But they did and having them all there was so special. I think we had about 120 guests and loads of little kids running round in rainbow dresses and bare feet who were all just beautiful.

 
DRESS: I LOVE my dress!! I was so surprised at how difficult it was to make up my mind about what I wanted. I always thought I would just know. One of my bridesmaids found a picture of Kate Hudson in this gorgeous gown and straight away I had to have it. I took the picture to my dress maker and then went fabric hunting. Damo had said from the start that he wanted me to wear a simple cotton dress, but the dress is the most important thing for any bride and it has to be perfect!! I brought home swatches for him that he screwed his nose up at and said they were too shiny and stiff. I settled on a silk cotton blend which was cool and flowing and natural. I found the most beautiful antique cotton lace which was well above my budget but I brought a metre any way, not really knowing what I would do with it. It was just enough to cover the bodice of my dress which looked stunning!! We put an ivory raw silk band on my waist and loads of mesh underneath with a hint of silk coming out the bottom.  We weren’t wearing shoes and I knew that the ground would be muddy so I was practical with the length and didn’t want too much fabric trailing behind me. I asked Brittany to sit the fabric a little above the mesh so that the under layers would be ruined if anything. It all washed out anyway... (even after I caught my sister’s boyfriend asleep in my car, with my dress as a blanket whilst laying on my marriage certificate!! Ha-ha). Most importantly, it needed to fit well... Brittany did the most amazing job. I am so thankful to have had her!!

BRIDESMAIDS: I wasn’t going to have bridesmaids...I decided to have them not too long before the wedding. I had my two beautiful sisters Jess and Helen, and my two fabulous friends Noni and Bec. I didn’t want them all to wear the same thing, as they are all such different people. I went through some ideas with all of them, then designed and made each as I thought would best suit who they were while keeping a general theme.  I chose yellow as it is such a happy, peaceful colour and it is my mum’s favourite. I wanted my bridesmaids to feel beautiful and comfortable. They all loved their outfits. They were very clever riding through wet grounds on their white cruiser push bikes, I was so proud!!

GROOMSMEN: Like me, Damo decided not to have groomsmen. He wanted to have his brother Shagga, but he was going to be overseas and couldn’t be there.  He simply could not choose out of all his friends, as they are all so close. He decided to ask one, Bruce who was his best man. Bruce was the first friend of Damo’s I met (we were all living together) so I think it was a good choice (although a hard one!!) He was a great Best Man and gave a lovely speech which we were both really grateful for.

PAGE BOY: Our son Finn was the “other best man”. It was pretty crucial that he had a major role in the wedding. It was really special to involve him and give him special jobs which made him feel most important.

HAIR: As with most brides, I had always dreamed of having long hair on my wedding day. I have never had long hair in my life, so I decided to buy clip-in extensions. I had a trial run a week before the wedding at the hair dresser and I loved it. I had loose curls with the front pulled back into a kind-of-bee-hive with daisies pinned through it.  It was so hot on the day that my hair had nearly fallen out by the time I arrived.  It still looked amazing and I felt like a goddess with my long hair!  

MAKEUP: Damo thinks I look my best without makeup. I went for a really fresh minimalist look. It was very simple, light foundation brown mascara and paw -paw ointment on my lips! My 17 year old neighbour loves doing make-up and she does a lovely job. I think it is nice to involve special people in your day, they really appreciate it and feel very important.  

RINGS:  We exchanged our engagement rings. Until recently we decided it wasn’t necessary to get married but both always wore engagement rings as a symbol of our bond.  A little while ago we changed our minds and decided to get married, which left me two months to plan and organise the whole thing. We didn’t have a lot of money to spend on the wedding, so we are still saving up for my ring... No one even knew, and to be honest it really wasn’t even a big thing on the day.

INVITATIONS:  I hand cut, glued and folded these beautiful invitations out of old wallpaper. I was so happy with them although they took AGES! I was so relieved to send the last one out.

FLOWERS:  I love flowers. I wanted the flowers to be simple but beautiful so I chose daisies (my favourite) which we had in our hair and on the tables. I made my bouquet from a variety of flowers I chose from the florist which I wanted to look as though I had just picked from the garden. I don’t really like things to look highly manicured and perfect. It’s just not us. I chose King Protea for my bridesmaids because I love them and the huge suede-pink flowers went perfectly with the yellow dresses.

CEREMONY: Our ceremony was amazing. My bridesmaids rode in on cruiser push bikes and I came down the creek in a canoe which was unexpected and worked perfectly. It was really important for me to incorporate the creek after I lost a beautiful friend after an accident at a swimming hole when I was 12 (we were going to get married) so my entrance was for him. We got married under a big tree by the water, inside a circle of bright coloured flowers.  Our celebrant Doreen absolutely made our day. She is the most beautiful lady. We wanted our ceremony to be quite different. We began with a sand ceremony, where all three of us poured sand from different beaches into a vessel to represent the joining of a family (my son is from a past relationship). It was really beautiful... Then Doreen blessed us with each of the elements.  Water: Doreen let droplets of water sprinkle over us with a big feather. Fire: We were smudged with smoke from a big incense stick. Earth: We planted a tree and AIR: We made wishes as we blew away dandelion seeds with our guests. We wrote our own vows and exchanged our rings. Then we had so many flowers thrown at us that my sister and cousins had raided from gardens and parks all around the coast.

RECEPTION: From the beginning, I knew exactly how I wanted the reception to be. Most people thought I was mad, and there were times when even I thought I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. We came across so many issues, which can be so disheartening. It all works out somehow though- like magic, and I knew it would so I tried to not become bridezilla and get too stressed out.

I wanted to have my guests sitting on the ground on cushions at cute low tables. But coming up with 120 cushions and covers was a feat in itself- and now I don’t know what to do with them. They were supposed to be our gift to guests and I had imagined everyone taking them home. Some people did, but I just forgot to mention it. My beautiful grandma sewed all the covers for me.

My dad made the tables, at the last minute which was another big stress. Then we needed more regular seating for the older guests who couldn’t be on the ground. The location was quite remote, so just getting everything there was a huge mission. On the day before when we were setting up, there were puddles forming on the ground coming up through the fake grass which I thought would keep our bums dry. I thought wrong. I left on the night before the wedding not really knowing what would happen. I was so tired and just couldn’t keep setting stuff up. There was lighting, table decorations, music, more cushions still to do and if I didn’t do it myself I didn’t know how it was going to be done.

I had to go back out there on the morning of the wedding to put up the name tags and tell my helpers how I wanted my flowers and just bits and pieces that felt like loads. When I finally arrived at the marquee for the reception it was so perfect. It had all come together exactly as I had imagined.

I am the kind of person who needs to do everything myself to make sure it is right. I simply ran out of time and energy and had to put faith in some special people to guarantee things got done. The few people who helped really truly helped. Damo had gone out and brought bales of hay to cover the wet ground which added to the theme. I loved it. It was chaos. But it was worth it. We slept out there on the ground on cushions which was so fun. It was just like a mini festival.

CAKE: I couldn’t decide on a cake. Damo wanted a sponge cake. It was the only thing he was really stuck on and I didn’t think the cake was a huge deal so I didn’t mind. We ended up saving a heap of money and went with a good old woollies sponge which my Nan decorated beautifully. Desserts were included in the catering, so I didn’t want to pay a fortune for a cake that wouldn’t get eaten. There was nothing left of it so it can’t have been too bad.

ENTERTAINMENT: We just had good tunes and danced the night away. I would have loved to have had a band, but sometimes you have to settle for second best and I have absolutely no regrets.

FOOD & DRINKS: We had a spit roast with salads which was simple but worked and we didn’t have to worry about cutlery and plates as it was all provided.  It definitely wasn’t a fancy feast but everyone enjoyed the food and there was plenty of it which is important. The alcohol was the most expensive part of the day, which seems silly to me as I don’t drink. We had a ridiculous amount of beer, champagne and wine which ran out at about 5pm before the party had even begun. Some of the boys drove into town to buy another ridiculous amount. 

LITTLE EXTRAS: There were so many little things that went into it that people wouldn’t really notice as individual things but as a whole just blew everyone away. The name tags were hung from brown string with mini pegs which took ages. The chandeliers that I made out of fairy lights and branches were amazing. All the hand-made bits and pieces were really special and although took a lot of time and energy were worth it. I made a DVD of all the photos which is accompanied by the music from the day to give as a thank you gift for guests. I got the idea from a friend and I am so proud of it. The day before the wedding it was raining and we were all running round in gum boots while setting up and having a practice rehearsal. The girls were riding through slush in the rain and were looking worried. We were wet and not really knowing what would happen the next day if it rained, which was highly likely. The sun came out. It was stinking hot and just beautiful. I knew what I had planned wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea and I had been concerned with what some of the older guests would make of it. My Nan said to me “Kiya, I have been to a lot of weddings in my time and this is the best one I have ever seen”.

ADVICE FOR BRIDES-TO-BE: Do not forget why you are getting married, write it down and constantly remind yourself. You can get caught up in wanting expensive things and having things how you think they should be instead of how you want them.

Asking for help is important. I didn’t really do it enough and it often can feel over whelming.

Don’t give yourself too long. I only had two months to plan the whole thing, which now I am grateful for. It was an intense two months, but if I had have had longer I would have changed my mind a zillion times and been just as stressed, but for longer.

Take time out for yourself, involve your partner, ask his opinion and give him jobs- it is his day just as much as it is yours. (They secretly love it)

The way you feel on the day is contagious and if you are just beaming, all your guests will be too. When you truly love each other, you can get married in a cow paddock with a woollies sponge cake and still have the most amazing day of your life.

KIYA'S CONTACTS:

PHOTOGRARHY: Polly Armstrong (0424816028)

BRIDE'S DRESS: I designed my dress with help from my amazing dress maker/designer Brittany Anais Scales. (add on facebook!)  

BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES: Kiya Saffigna (0413979804)

GROOMS FORMAL WEAR: Kiya Saffigna (0413979804) Groom’s Shirt from Mullumbimby Markets  (02 66843370)

HAIR: Charlotte @ Trevor West, Burleigh Heads QLD (0755768422 )

MAKEUP: Julia Fugar. (A little friend of mine) 

INVITATIONS: Kiya Saffigna (0413979804)

FLOWERS: I chose my flowers from The Flower Garden in Southport, and arranged them myself.  (07) 55269660.  

RECEPTION: Currumbin Valley, Marquee and Cool Room from Tweed Party Hire. Generator and Port-a-loo from Kennards

CEREMONY: The Beautiful Amazing Doreen Scales

WEDDING PLANNER: Kiya Saffigna (0413979804)

ENTERTAINMENT: Nothing fancy. Good music.  

DECORATIONS: My Nan sewed all the cushion covers that we sat on, my Dad made the low tables. I decorated with loads of daisies in glass vases from the cheap shop and tea light candles.  I made chandeliers out of fairy lights and dead branches. There was Hay!! Plenty of hay!!