Images thanks to Fox & Kin
Making meaning is the beginning of new traditions
Working in the industry as a make-up artist gave Kat a unique insight into the choices and motivations when it came to creating her own wedding day. It was important to have a wedding on their terms, not the same as reproducing ideas from a random Instagram mood board, rather a unique representation of who she and her husband, Pablo, were as a couple.
“When starting to plan our wedding, what struck me was that it seems so many people follow the traditions without thinking of them. I knew from the very beginning I wanted to do things differently,” said Kat.
Beginning with Kat proposing to Pablo.
For Kat and Pablo it was important to have a low impact and sustainable approach and this guided all the decisions around most things. Kat and Pablo found the Mindfully Wed E-Guide to help them navigate around the mainstream edges and help them put the emphasis on the things that were important to them and it gave them confidence to take a laid back and simple approach, stripping things back to be natural, re-purposed and local, even down to the food – a vegetarian feast cooked with as much organic produce by a local chef.
But above all, the brief was to create an experience that was intimate, colourful, joy-filled and fun.
“We tried to keep things simple so that there was little that could go wrong. I guess as long as you have food, drinks, music, shelter and a great crew of people then it’s a pretty hard thing to cock up,” said Kat.
Before leaving for the ceremony, Kat & Pablo met for their first look at the treehouse Pablo’s father built on the family property nearby and then together, jumped into their beloved Mercedes Sprinter van, driven down a windy dirt road to the sweetest county hall in Kelang, nestled in the beautiful temperate rainforests of the Bellingen Shire.
Kat and Pablo switched the dress code, asking the guests to wear white and delighted and surprised everyone by emerging from the van together in a pop of bright colours. Kat looked radiant in a second hand designer dress from e-bay and Pablo was far more comfortable in his non-traditional patterned jacket and jeans.
The humble Kalang Hall was transformed into a sparkling delight of light and love, with borrowed furniture and road-side finds. The stage backdrop was the white curtain from their lounge-room and they re-used pots from Kat’s sister’s wedding, from five years before, for the flowers.
Kat and Pablo’s departure from traditions stopped short of some things that still held value and meaning, like having her dad walk her down the aisle, “I knew how proud he would be and I knew that it was important to him”; and taking Pablo’s surname, “Part of this is because when we have a family I would like us all to be connected in that way for practical and sentimental reasons….but mainly because Kat Kastner sounds 100 times cooler than Kathleen Sheahan!” ☺
The most special moments of any wedding day are the memories shared between the couple and their family and community.
“The speeches were terrific and brought plenty of tears of emotion and laughter. We also loved that Pablo’s godmother was our celebrant. Linda was absolutely brilliant and helped Pablo calm his nerves, having someone so familiar lead him through the ceremony,” said Kat.
And at the end of their perfect day, Kat and Pablo fell asleep in the middle of a paddock…..in their sprinter van.
Images thanks to Fox & Kin. Story written by Sarah Tolmie Life & Love. You can grab your copy of the Mindfully Wed E-Guide HERE.
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