While Katy is happy she gets to spend her life with her best friend, her husband Osama knows what’s up. “Marriage means always having to share my dessert!” Lol, it sure does! This pair incorporated cultural aspects from each of their heritages into their wedding, combining Arabic and Irish traditions for a banger of a day. Or should we say, two days, given they held an Islamic ceremony a week before their event at Brisbane’s The Calile Hotel . “The goal was for an intimate and fun ceremony and party, and an event that would nod to both our western and Arabic cultures coming together,” they tell us.
Katy and Osama’s stunning Brisbane wedding is a favourite from our print archives, having first appeared in Issue 37, and we’re stoked to share these incredible images from Stories By Ash here today…
THE VENUE “After relocating the wedding from Hawkes Bay, NZ to Brisbane (our hometown), we decided that The Calile would be perfect. We chose it while living in Bristol, UK, and were unable to actually tour the venue. However, we had been there before and thought it was simply beautiful and elegant. We had heard that the menus were incredible, and the grazing menu option really sold us.”
THE INSPIRATION “The non-negotiable was to have an excellent DJ at the reception. Despite having a smaller wedding, we really wanted to include some Arabic drumming in the reception, and we would have regretted not doing this – they brought the energy and really got everyone into a party mood. Our guests really loved this part of the day. The icing on the cake was a gelato cart from Gelato Messina – we had spent a lot of time at Messina during our dating years! We just wanted to party with our close friends and family after being away in the UK, eat delicious food and dance the night away and we got to do just that.”
FAVE DETAILS “Our flowers were a standout. We worked with Kate Dawes who took our vision and brought it to life beyond what we could have imagined. The brief was COLOUR. We loved the pops of light blue amongst the pinks and reds, and one of the most gorgeous flower statements of the day was the single peony worn as a corsage on the maid of honour’s wrist (my best friend Cara).”
STANDOUT VENDORS “Our fabulous photographer Ash Oostdyck of Stories By Ash was the central element to the success of both our wedding day at The Calile, and also our Islamic ceremony the week prior. Covering both events, Ash got to know our families and friends and captured so many beautiful moments. We found Ash to be a very calming presence on both days, yet she still somehow managed to get everyone in the right positions for their portraits and keep the proceedings of the day(s) moving along as they needed to. She is an absolute angel and so incredibly talented at her craft.”
A WORD OF ADVICE “Choose reliable and trustworthy vendors. Nothing beats word of mouth. Everyone we dealt with was so professional that we didn’t have to worry about anything on the day, which allowed us to enjoy the day without stress.”
To see this epic wedding in print, you can shop issue 37 here – because we love you guys so, use TWOFORONE at checkout to receive a FREE gift, valued at $14.95!
CONTRIBUTING VENDORS Photographer Stories by Ash Event Planner Kate Redgen at The Calile Hotel Florist Kate Dawes Flower Design Stationery & Signage Laura Elizabeth Design Ceremony & Reception Venue The Calile Hotel Food Truck Gelato Messina Cake Hansel & Gretel Cakes Hire Items Avideas Lighting & Sound Hire BJs Sound and Lighting Entertainment Four Strings Quartet, DJ Tom Starks, DJ Bassel Celebrant Lorraine Wright (The Wright Celebrant) Rings Tiffanys, Diamond Centre Brisbane Transport Milimo Brisbane Limousine Service (Bentley Continental) THE BRIDE Bridal gown designer Maticevski Hair piece Tania Maras Shoes Manolo Blahnik Accessories Tiffany & Co Hair Infinity Hair Makeup Shannon Hope Makeup Bridesmaid dresses Montique THE GROOM Suit, shirt, suspenders, tie Suitsupply Cufflinks Frey Wille London Shoes Florsheim Watch Shinola Grooming Karim from Barber Zone Groomsmen suits Suitsupply Groomsmen gifts OTAA
