Emma & Nat- an intimate family affair captured on film.

Emma and Nat embraced their local landscape and vendors, and got their family on board to create an intimate wedding, all captured on 35mm film.

Tell us how your love story began!

Their first electric moment was shared months before in a brief but unforgettable moment at Emma’s birthday. The fire had been sparked and later, when their divine paths crossed again, there was nothing that could come between their union. It was instant. Pure, primal love. The kind that completely takes over your body, your mind, your soul. Their love blossomed effortlessly, and the two were inseparable from the get-go.

We would love to know about the proposal!

Emma and Nat effortlessly weaved their lives together from then on, inseparable. So sure of her love and union with Emma, Nat decided it was time to have a ring made. Six months in with lifetimes of connection, she was certain.

Being the ever romantic that she is, she wanted a ring specifically designed for her beloved. Nat had a ring made for Emma, entrusting the help of their dear friend, Toby, the carpenter, to get the measurements. Unfortunately, the inside job was a flop, as the ring was a great fit- for Emma’s thumb.

Both women lovingly refer to their romantic proposal on Zanzibar Island as ‘the time Nat had a stroke.’ Needless to say, Emma said yes, despite the ring not quite fitting, to a life filled with their inseparable love.

What did your planning process look like?

Nat and I were planning a small and intimate ceremony that would be a week-long celebration with some close friends in an Italian villa looking over the Sicilian ocean. Unfortunately, once COVID hit, we were forced to cancel our plans. We were utterly devastated. Initially, we wanted to wait and see if we could rebook the original plans, hoping the whole COVID deal would blow over. Finally, we realised we had the perfect location for a backyard wedding here in Cairns.

Our incredible friends Vava and Stu own two beautiful old Queenslander homes side by side that happens to have a gorgeous vine-covered, arbored gate connecting the backyards. We never wanted anything too big and wanted minimal stress, and this just felt right. We started planning only two months before the wedding.

All of our beautiful friends contributed with all the little details, and nothing seemed to be stressful. Everything just fell into place. We didn’t have our hearts set on anything, which meant we could trust all of the beautiful people around us to shape the day.

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Tell us about your day, and favourite vendors.

All the vendors fell into place. We found our perfect photographers, Chrissie and Lily, at Fun Weddings Only as they were friends of friends. We always pictured having 35mm film photographs of our day, and they offered for one of them to shoot the day entirely on film. Those film photos are so unique to us. We were lucky enough to have another friend who is a very talented videographer, and he offered to live-stream the ceremony so friends and family that could not attend could share in the day. This was very important to us as, unfortunately, Emma’s family was unable to attend because of COVID travel restrictions.

We were so blessed that Nat’s family handled all of the cooking- an unforgettable Filipino feast! Some other friends contributed some amazing vegan salads to cater for all.

The only stress we had was finding a celebrant. We were set on a date, and it happened to be very popular. However, we were lucky enough to find Tammy at Creating Moments, and she made time to come the morning of the wedding to marry us legally. We completed the legal side of the marriage over mimosas and breakfast in the comfort of our own home.

Tammy was beautiful enough to assist our close friend Chelsea in writing a beautiful, personalised, and heartfelt ceremony. Chelsea acted as our celebrant and delivered a fantastic ceremony with our closest friends and family. Then, she closed out the ceremony with, “with the power NOT vested in me. I pronounce you Wives for Life”. It was perfect.

What about your most cherished moments of the day?

Our highlights would have to be me walking down the aisle too early and to the wrong song. Nat was supposed to beat me there, and I suppose I was just too keen! Also, our beautiful film photos we have from the day: we will cherish them forever. We loved that everyone that attended the wedding was involved in the process of planning and setting up. Lastly, the two backyards looked terrific, full of fairy lights, tiki torches, a neon sign with Nat’s favourite John Mayer song lyric ‘love is a verb’ and the token disco ball.