Ryan and Claire held their intimate beach wedding on Cabarita Beach in Australia with 80 of their friends and family by their sides to bear witness. Claire shared their big day story with us and how this special venue become home to their wedding day.
“Ryan had been surfing at Fingal and had mentioned to some mates that we were looking for the perfect wedding location on the Tweed coast. They told Ryan that Kingscliff, Casuarina & Cabarita were all beautiful places on the North Coast. So we took a drive down south & checked out all those spots as well as Hastings Point & Pottsville and hands down Cabarita took the cake with such an awesome headland (Norries Headland), rolling waves, large rocks & a beach that stretched as far as the eye could see. We knew that this was the spot we wanted to get married and share with all our family & friends.
We also decided on Cabarita Beach as the Tweed Council had no limit on guest numbers for a park/beach ceremony and allowed us 3hrs for setup, ceremony and pack up. Gold Coast Council, which was closer to where we lived, only allowed up to 50 guests and one hour total, which did not suit us.”
“Our photographer Mitchell Carlin was referred to us by a friend of Claire’s, who was also planning her wedding. We first met Mitch at a local beach café, all three of us were relaxed & enjoying a chat over a coffee, immediately we knew this guy loved his work, hearing the words he chose to describe what he did for a living, you could tell that it was a serious passion of his & a medium for his artistic side to spill it’s colour onto paper. We had to have him capture our day!
On the day of our wedding Mitch chose his vantage points without getting in the way of the any of the proceedings whilst still getting the angles that made for really amazing photos. He took time before the wedding to scout out the perfect spot for the Couple & Bridal Party photos & we were all in awe of the places he found. Mitch’s cool, calm approach, along with his passion for photography really translated into the beautiful shots we now have to look back on from our perfect day.”
“We wanted a very relaxed atmosphere for the ceremony and reception. We started looking for furniture style ideas and fell in love with the rustic/vintage look. Claire had a vast collection of both our grandmothers’ doilies that we wanted to incorporate into our table settings and our style grew from there. Claire started researching hand made decorations and found a lot of satisfaction and joy crafting our own unique pieces including place cards/thank you cards, seating plan board, table numbers, cake topper, glitter garlands, and the list goes on… We had help from good friends and family on the day, which made the day even more special.”
We asked the bride for advice for future engaged couples. “Relax, have fun and don’t sweat the small stuff! Add as much ‘personal touch’ as you can. Let family and friends help where they can, it will make your day extra special. Stay true to your vows, work hard through all of life’s hardships together & always remember the day you said “I do”.
Congratulations to the newlyweds!
Destination Wedding Photographer: Mitchell J Carlin Wedding Photographer
Wedding Vendors: Wedding Location: Osteria, Furniture Hire: Little Gray Station, Celebrant: Kylie Lewis Civil Marriage Celebrant, Lewis Celebrations, Cake: Cute Sweet Things, Pottsville, Invitations and Wedding Website: Wedding Paper Divas, Hair: Kasey Smallwood, Makeup, Flowers, Music and Sweets/baked goods table done by family and friends, Styling, set up, stationary and decorations done by Claire and Ryan, Wedding Location: Cabarita Beach, Far North Coast NSW
