Matildas star Katrina Gorry and wife Clara Markstedt reveal their unconventional wedding morning

Matildas gun Katrina Gorry and longtime partner Clara Markstedt share the unconventional way they kicked off their Hamilton Island wedding celebrations.

Jane Armitstead

@JaneArmitstead

4 min read

July 1, 2025 - 4:30AM

QWeekend

The wedding of Matildas star Katrina Gorry and her partner Clara Markstedt. Picture: Lauren Anne Photography

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Matildas powerhouse Katrina Gorry and her longtime partner, retired Swedish football player Clara Markstedt, have tied the knot in a beautiful island wedding.

The couple married on June 14 on Hamilton Island at All Saints Chapel Gardens followed by a reception at a private holiday home, Element Hill.

With Gorry, who is nicknamed Mini, signed to West Ham United F.C. in the UK, the pair is based in Brentwood, East London, but decided to wed in Gorry’s home state.

Among their 72 guests were fellow Matildas stars Michelle Heyman and Charli Grant.

The pair’s children, Harper and Koby, were by their side throughout the day, with Harper a flower girl.

After a few days on Hamilton Island, the couple spent a few nights at The Calile in Brisbane for their honeymoon.

The wedding of Matildas star Katrina Gorry and her partner Clara Markstedt. Picture: Lauren Anne Photography

How did you meet?Clara: In the spring 2022 in Sweden playing football for the same team. Mini (Katrina) moved to Sweden with Harper, and we became friends because I organised finding her an apartment and Mini had to text me every night to pay for her parking since she couldn’t use the parking app as a foreigner. My first impression of Mini was that she was strong, independent and inspiring.

The proposal? I got my grandmother’s diamond rings and used the diamonds to make the engagement rings. I proposed on our anniversary weekend in Falkenberg where I spent most summers as a child with my grandparents. We had drinks and played cards on a stone island where I played Mini a video of our first year together and then got down on one knee.

Hen’s night? We had our hen’s night together (or rather a hux night since we had some male friends there too).

The wedding of Matildas star Katrina Gorry and her partner Clara Markstedt. Picture: Lauren Anne Photography

First dance song?

We learnt a translation of our favourite Swedish song Svag with Victor Leksell.

How did you choose your wedding venue?

Linda (Katrina’s Mum) and her partner David have a house on Hamilton Island where we have been together a few times. The first time we were there together I said that I wanted to marry Mini by that chapel in the future, so we always knew we wanted to have the wedding there.

What would you spend more or less on?

I think our priorities were good and we spent more on things we cared about like live music, food, drinks. Before the wedding we weren’t really fussed about flowers and it seemed expensive at first but the flowers were the most wonderful flowers we had ever seen and we were extremely happy how it turned out.

How did you choose your dresses?

We went to Anna Campbell and tried the dresses together, maybe four each, before finding our dresses. The experience was better than expected and we both went with dresses we hadn’t pictured ourselves going for. We also fell in love with the party dresses at the dress fitting so we never looked anywhere else.

The wedding of Matildas star Katrina Gorry and her partner Clara Markstedt. Picture: Lauren Anne Photography

Most stressful part of wedding planning? Nothing was really stressful until a few weeks before when things had to be decided. The week leading up to the wedding was quite stress free.

Any unique or surprising details about your wedding? We wanted to start the day by running up to the lookout and we invited our guests to join us at 6.30am and plenty came and we shared some Champagne before running back to get ready in separate rooms.

Did anything unexpected happen behind the scenes? Harper got shy so Didi (Mini’s mum’s partner) walked down the aisle with her.

What was the standout moment of the day? The ceremony was just so beautiful and intimate. Our celebrant had done an amazing job with the script and there was a lot of tears from the guests.

The wedding of Matildas star Katrina Gorry and her partner Clara Markstedt. Picture: Lauren Anne Photography

What was the most meaningful part of your vows? Without the other one knowing, Mini had written vows about my dad who suddenly passed away almost two years ago and I wrote vows to Harper.

Any standout moments from the speeches? All the speeches were incredible. Mini’s little brotherLachlan did a speech on her siblings’ behalf which was so funny, throwing everyone under the bus.

Top wedding hack? Only invite the ones you really want to be there because the people who are there make the energy and vibes of the wedding. We feel so lucky to have the people we had there and to have chosen the perfect vendors (celebrant, duo, entertainment).

Best advice for other couples?

The small details don’t matter. Also, we can highly recommend having food stations instead of a sit-down dinner.