Bride and groom’s unique wedding favours
There was a surprise in store for guests at a beautiful jacaranda season wedding.
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It was a family affair at the beautiful wedding of Kate Gleeson and Dave Wilson in jacaranda season last year.
The Dayboro couple, who wed on their ninth anniversary of being together, were married by the bride’s celebrant mother. Their children (Isabelle, 18, Sophie, 16, Felicity, 15, and Henry, 12) were the attendants.
The ceremony was before 30 guests at Henzell’s Chapel, Mt Pleasant, and the reception was for 70 at The Dayboro Drop, Dayboro, on October 20 last year with the couple very keen to support local businesses.
The couple’s wedding song was I’ll Name the Dogs by Blake Shelton and the honeymoon was at Radisson Blu, Fiji.
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How and why did you choose your wedding venue? Kate: We have admired the beautiful Henzell’s chapel since we drove out to Dayboro to get family photos taken in 2016. Henzell’s chapel is on a beautiful acreage in Mt Pleasant. It has an abundance of jacaranda trees, stunning rolling hills and cattle grazing in the paddocks. It was everything we imagined for our wedding day, and we were so excited to be able to have our ceremony there.
What was the budget for your wedding?
We didn’t have a specific budget, we just went in with the goal to spend our money on the things that were most important to us and to try to focus on using as many local companies as we could.
What would you spend more or less on?
We had a few priorities from outset, like I wanted the flowers to be amazing, but I wasn’t into spending a lot of money on a dress.
How did you go about choosing your wedding dress? We got engaged in July 2023 and married in October 2023 so there wasn’t much time for traditional dress shopping. I ordered five dresses online and hoped one would be my dress. When they arrived, I fell in love with the last dress I tried on. I had it altered by a local seamstress and, honestly, I loved it so much.
What thoughts did you have while waiting to see Kate walk down the aisle? Dave:
Kate and I got ready together at the Two Little Witches Cottages at Mt Pleasant. We had decided early on that we didn’t want a traditional ceremony and we wanted to get ready and arrive at the ceremony together.
What was the most stressful part of wedding planning? Kate: We were planning a non-traditional ceremony and so I was quite stressed about everyone accepting our wishes to have the day be uniquely our own. We were lucky that most of our family were very supportive.
Any unique detail about your wedding?
My mum was our celebrant, which was really special. We loved having someone so important to us be our celebrant.
What was the standout moment of the day?
I love flowers and I really wanted our wedding to have the most beautiful flowers. I feel so lucky Amanda from Adorn Event Hire really understood my vision and we were absolutely delighted with the flowers. From the arbour at the wedding, my stunning bouquet and the boys’ floral pocket squares it was all just amazing. I worried about what to do with all the flowers at the end of the night. I decided as our wedding favours we would give all our guests a little vase and they all picked their own posies from our arbour at the end of the night. It was a huge hit, and everyone had so much fun! That was one of my favourite parts of the day.
What was a wedding non-negotiable for you?
We wanted to have our wedding reception at our favourite local restaurant, The Dayboro Drop. One of our best friends is the owner and we have been there a few times a week since we moved to Dayboro. We felt it would be perfect to have our wedding reception somewhere we love, and we knew all our guests would enjoy the delicious food! We also wanted to have Ingrid Coles as our photographer. Ingrid has taken family photos for us for many years now and so we felt so comfortable and confident we would get the most amazing photos!
Best wedding gift you received? We were so lucky to be gifted the most amazing gin and vodka for our reception by our friends John and Cass, owners of Laceys Hill Distillery. All our guests loved the cocktails, and we ended the night with a shot of their delicious Apple Pie Moonshine.
What would you do differently? There is not a single thing we would do differently. We could not have wished for a better day.
Top wedding hack? Find a photographer that also does Super 8 video! The dreamy style of the old Super 8 film is so beautiful and is something special we will cherish forever.
Best advice for other couples?
Talk to each other about what you want/don’t want and go with what feels right for you! It is your wedding day, make sure it’s exactly the kind of day you want to have.
The Bride
Kate Gleeson, 37
Profession Endorsed midwife. (Owner of Wildflower Midwifery)
Parents Brett Gleeson and Michelle McGloin
Bridesmaids The couple’s daughters Isabelle, Sophie and Felicity Wilson
Dress Purchased online
Hair Lou Hansen
Make-up Lou Hansen
Flowers Adorn Events
The Groom
Dave Wilson, 37
Profession Aircraft engineer
Parents Michael and Kathy Wilson
Groomsman The couple’s son, Henry Wilson
Suit Montagio Custom Tailoring
Videographer Ingrid Coles Weddings
Celebrant Michelle McGloin
Caterer The Dayboro Drop
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