Real Weddings

Article by

Dani Connor

Posted on

27/02/2024

Posted in

Real Weddings

Together for five years, Margot and Nick knew from the moment they got engaged that they’d host their wedding on the stunning Kangaroo Island, off the coast of Adelaide where they live. Having holidayed on the Island together many times, the couple new it would be the most spectacular backdrop when hosting their 115 favourite people. “It became our ‘in’ joke that we should go and visit our ‘future wedding venue’ every time we were on the island,” they share.

For their destination wedding to work, Margot and Nick had to rely on their vendors to go above an beyond, which by all accounts they did. “We couldn’t be happier with the absolute legends we worked with,” they tell us. Their photographer Simon Bills was one such vendor, and his incredible captures speak for themselves. Scroll down to see…

THE VENUE “Nick’s holidayed on Kangaroo Island for 30 years so it’s always been a special place to him and his family, and now me too. We’d been to Dudley’s many times as patrons, we always loved the atmosphere and the incredible scenery. Several years in a row we went there for lunch on New Year’s Day as we usually holiday there at that time. So when we got engaged we didn’t consider any other venues. We asked ourselves if we could picture getting married anywhere else. The answer was no!”

THE INSPO “We knew that the grassy headlands surrounding the venue, the blue of the ocean and the timber used to create the decking would be huge features of having our ceremony at Dudleys. We wanted to reference them and picked things with tones/ textures/features that would offset those naturally beautiful elements. Our colour palette included terracotta, wheat and sage. We then set our dress code as black tie to add elegance and sophistication to the rustic glamour of our setting (and who doesn’t love an excuse to dress up).”

THE DRESS “I felt really strongly about a dress style and shape that I knew I would feel comfortable in on the day, without feeling anxious about my body in the lead up. I saved a dress to my wedding dress Instagram folder, then by chance realised the dress designer was in Adelaide. Cristina from Couture Love Madness was super lovely, we organised an appointment to discuss ideas at her showroom in Norwood. After we chatted for a bit, I showed her the dress liked and she said she had a sample version of it on the rack that day so I tried it on on the spot! Before the appointment I’d heard of convertible dresses where you could remove part of the skirt to get more mobile later in the night. But I’m a lover of wide leg pants in my wardrobe, so I was wondering if we could convert the full skirt to pants while keeping the same top part. Cristina gladly took the ideas onboard and loved the party pants idea. She ended up making the top bodice as a leotard so I could change from my full skirt to pants when I was ready.”

WE’RE GLAD WE… “Wrote our own vows! It was scary but on the day everyone was emotional so it felt really special.”

MEMORABLE MOMENT “We ummed and ahhed about confetti cannons post-ceremony and in the end decided to get a couple from The Whole Bride. That moment after we’d kissed and walked back down the aisle together as husband and wife and the loud CRACK of the cannons went off, we got covered in confetti and everyone cheered, it was so intensely joyous. I’m so glad we got them and had that moment.”

STANDOUT VENDORS “Everyone involved in our wedding felt like they HAD to go above and beyond for us because that’s what the destination required. Our photographer Simon Bills felt like the wedding day dad looking after everyone. Simon had even edited some photos while everyone ate dinner and had them playing on his laptop before the day was even over! It was outstanding. Terissa Na, our wedding planner, honestly became the third person in our relationship! She travelled over with her husband and young family to work with us not only for the wedding day but right through to our recovery day too. She’s a huge reason our wedding felt so enjoyable and we couldn’t have done it without her expertise and reassurance.”

If you’re vibing these sweet snaps like we are, head to our directory and get in touch with Simon Bills Photography here. There’s also a bunch more rockstar South Australian vendors to be found right here.