MADELEINE X KURTIS

15 July 2022 Toowoomba QLD, Australia

beautiful toowoomba wedding images by fennel and fern photography
images by fennel & fern photography
wedding date 23 april 2022
wedding venue gabbinbar homestead toowoomba
65 wedding guests

Meeting at a local pub, Kurtis was seeing someone at the time so Madeleine + Kurtis weren’t interested in each other - fast forward to a few months later when they crossed paths again  and decided to go on a date! "We have been together eight and a half years now and were together for about six and a half years before becoming engaged." 

the proposal.

Kurtis proposed while we were sitting on the couch watching a footy game on the TV! Shock horror! But luckily we were spending the weekend at the very luxurious Spicers Hidden Vale which was a lovely backdrop, so I can let the footy part slide! It was a very “him” thing to do also, taking me somewhere amazing and proposing in front of the footy, it was perfect in its own way and we have a joke about it often so it’s become a story which I love. He was extremely nervous, he couldn’t stop fidgeting, he leant over and said “ I love you - will you marry me?” And I said "Yes" obviously!


the venue.

Gabbinbar Homestead was the first venue we looked at, and we fell in love with it straight away. I had found Gabbinbar years prior to getting engaged, I had seen photos on Instagram and dreamt of the day we could get married there, but at the time it was out of our reach! But by the time we were engaged we had started a successful business and were able to have our dream come true. Gabbinbar was a fantastic venue, the staff, food and service were impeccable and I would recommend them to any couple. The thing that stole my heart were the grounds and gardens along with their night garden, where once night falls the fig trees light up in an enchanting fairy light display. Incredible!

wedding theme.

We decided on simplistic romance, lots of pinks and whites, soft and romantic with varying shades of pink and blush candles. Sparkle adds magic to everything, we had fireworks, candles, sparklers and fairy lights so lots of glow added an intimate and magical feeling! It took us a long time to figure out what we wanted, sometimes i would go out into nature and look at what I was drawn to, what flowers I would notice, take inspiration from our life and our venue. I had flowers in my bouquet that honoured my mum who had passed away 8 years ago, so having those small details that had specific meaning to us, that created new memories but also ignited old ones were so important to us on the day.

favourite moment.

Getting married of course! But for me, it was probably the fireworks while we cut our cake, and hearing all the lovely things family and friends had to say about us and our love story. Also the smiles, there was endless amounts of smiles.

favourite details.

I loved our hanging floral installation by our lovely florist Amy. Our wedding invitations designed by my big brother (and man of honour) and our cake was incredible! I loved everything really, but those were the standouts for me! 

shopping experience.

Our experiences were both positive - I enjoyed wedding dress shopping and found my dress at the first appointment. Kurtis enjoyed suit shopping with his groomsman also. Overall, we both had fun and found what we were looking for quite quickly. I think having an idea of what you want but going in with zero expectations is important also. Although I had an idea of what I wanted, in the end my dress was found by my wedding dress consultant and I fell in love!

what does marriage mean to you?

Marriage to me is spending every day with your best friend, and making a conscious decision to honour them, yourself and your relationship everyday. Also having a big party and dancing the night away in celebration with all your loved ones, what an epic feeling!

classic story.

Apart from Kurtis’s uncle falling into the band, and then later falling on gravel getting into a cab to go home and grazing his face everything was pretty tame I believe! Weddings are great fun, just don’t have one to many champagnes or you’ll end up on the floor, or do.. it’s your wedding after all!

advice.

Really figure out what you want, and what isn’t crucial to your day. 

Make a list, write it all down, get into the nitty gritty of what you want, what you don’t want and maybes. Start crossing things off your list that don’t spark joy. The day goes so fast (I know everyone says that) but it truely does. So don’t waste energy on things that aren’t really Important in the end. 

Weddings create a lot of physical waste too, so we made sure we communicated with our florist and came up with a plan to repurpose a lot of our florals from our ceremony to our reception. We didn’t have guest favours, we had our menus printed with guests names on them, so no double ups of place cards and menus etc. If you can be resourceful it goes a long way, repurposing decor and florals to other areas is a huge money saver if your goal is to save money! We found wedding planning stressful, so taking time out together as a couple is the only way we survived it, also learning to let go and self care were so important. 

I had more massages in the last 2 years than I’ve had in my entire life.

standout vendors.

All of our vendors were very on par with each other, they all made an equal amount of effort and I feel as though they all deserve to be celebrated! The consistency I believe is down to our venues' recommendations, if you have never planned a wedding then always look for reviews or recommendations, word of mouth and you can’t go wrong!

wedding songs.

Aisle song- endless story (the light and the heat) 
 Recessional song- you’re my best friend (queen) 
 First dance - missing piece (vance joy)

Photographer @fennelandfernphoto 
Videographer @mitchbirchallstudios 
Celebrant & MC @thirdwheelcelebrantmc 
Suit @mjbale 
Illustration by brides brother Tunes @bakerboysband