Casey and Harrison
Magical, wholehearted and atmospheric were the 3 words Casey and Harrison used to describe their Autumn Brunswick wedding, where their love for each other truly shone. As a special tribute to Casey’s mother Linda, who unexpectedly passed away from lung cancer three months before their wedding, Casey and Harrison acknowledged her presence by having her King Charles Cavalier X Cocker Spaniel, Milley, as their ring bearer.
Photographer Anna Taylor | Venue East Elevation
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Mr T - How and when did you meet?
H - We met the old-fashioned way … Grindr.
C - I’d just moved to Northcote, and Harrison showed up as the closest person to me …
H - We chatted for a few days, and met over a drink at Welcome To Thornbury. The rest is history.
Mr T - Tell us a little about the earlier days of your relationship...
H - When we first started dating, we practically saw each other every night for two weeks. Our relationship was built with long nights of deep conversation and lots of laughs.
C - I had moved in with a friend Karen (who later became my maid-of-honour!), subletting her housemate Kim’s room while she was in Europe for three months. Ironically, the house was three streets away from Harrison’s. We saw each other practically every day for those few months, and then my sublet came to an end as Kim arrived back from her holiday.
But Karen, Kim and Kate – my housemates - the three forgotten Kardashian sisters, as our celebrant Precious christened them – conspired ways to keep me living in the house for a good six months, until they ran out of annual leave and overseas holidays that they could plan.
“3 words to describe our wedding day: Magical, Wholehearted, Atmospheric.”
Mr T - What does Marriage mean to you?
H - Marriage, for me, means two people coming together and making the choice to commit the rest of their lives. No matter what, you’re always going to have someone in your corner.
C - They say that you can’t choose your family, but I believe that marriage is one of the ways that we do. For me, marriage is a commitment to support each others’ dreams and aspirations; to build a life together; and to hold each other accountable to being the best, most authentic version of ourselves that we can be.
Mr T - Who proposed and how?
H - I proposed first. It was Casey’s birthday, he had organised drinks at one of our favourite wine bars, and I’d wanted to arrive before our friends did so that I could pop the question over a glass of wine. That plan was derailed by a wardrobe meltdown courtesy of Casey, so I ended stealing him away later that night and proposing in an alleyway next to the bar. Romantic!
C - We’d always promised to propose to each other, regardless of who proposed first. A couple of months later, I surprised Harrison with a picnic in Edinburgh Gardens overlooking the city. From memory, we were very worse for wear after a friend’s 30th the previous night!
Mr T - When did you get married?
C - Three months ago, on one of the last lovely Autumn days in March.
Mr T - What was the main influence behind your wedding day?
C - We always said that we wanted our wedding to be a great, big party celebrating our love, in a room filled with the people that we loved.
H - We wanted people to feel at ease, rather than having an overly serious or formal event. This informed the way that we planned our wedding – we chose an intimate venue, had our ceremony and reception within the same space, and celebrated with canapés and delicious cocktails and wine afterwards.
Mr T - What was the most important thing to you surrounding your wedding?
H - At the end of the day, the most important thing was that our wedding was about us and reflected us as people, and that we were surrounded by the people that we loved.
C - We wanted people to feel as welcomed into our wedding as they would if we were welcoming them into a debaucherous dinner party at our house.
Mr T - Where did you find the bulk of your inspiration?
H - We both work in design – I studied fashion, and Casey studied set design. At the end of the day, we brought our choices back to the things that we loved and resonated with our aesthetics.
C - We also really made sure that we chose vendors whose creativity we admired. It meant that we could bring them our half-formed ideas, and trust the way that they brought them to life.
Mr T - How did you choose your suppliers?
C - We’re lucky to have some very talented creative friends – Karen at Taloula Press, who designed our stationery; Cassie at Mittoo Blooms, who did our florals; and our wonderful DJ Tanzer. To fill the gaps with the rest of our vendors, we cast the net wide and sought recommendations from our friends. Cherry Murphy at Cherry Cakes is the best friend of one of Harrison’s bridesmaids, and a photographer acquaintance put us in touch with Anna Taylor.
Mr T - Any standout suppliers?
H - Anna, our photographer, who swept to the rescue when our original photographer pulled out. She made everybody feel at ease, our guests commented on how seamlessly she slotted into the day, and made our day look incredible.
C - And our celebrant, Precious! We instantly connected with her, and she wholeheartedly embraced the things that were important to our day. She balanced her insight and prescience with a wicked sense of humour.
Mr T - Did you find it difficult to translate more common traditions into a ‘same-sex’ wedding?
C - We rethought our traditions based on what felt right for us – we had two entrances and so did a double aisle walk, had an all-female bridal party with a maid-of-honour each (girl power!), and were given away by a dog.
H - We carefully considered which traditions were important to us, adopted the ones that resonated with us, and found ways to make them feel right for our wedding.
Mr T - What was the most difficult thing about planning your wedding?
H - Finding and selecting our vendors, especially as we had a short timeline between our engagement and wedding! Once we overcame that hurdle, everything fell into place!
Mr T - Where did you spend your honeymoon?
H - We had a “half moon” in Brisbane – Casey’s hometown – drinking cocktails by the pool while staying at the W Hotel and the Calile. We’re planning an overseas trip soon!
Mr T - Any advice for other couples planning their day and finding it difficult to navigate the journey?
H - Be open. Be honest. Communicate the things that you value, find a middle ground when you need to, and just remember that it’s one day.
C - Ask each other about the three most important things to your wedding, and prioritise those. Let go of the pressure of other people’s expectations. When it comes to your vendors, consider the people that you know, and – if in doubt – don’t work with anyone that you wouldn’t be happy to spend time with over a beer.
The Playlist
Entrance Song Hope There’s Someone, Antony and the Johnsons
Exit Song So Emotional, Whitney Houston
First Dance True Colours, Cyndi Lauper
Casey’s mother Linda unexpectedly passed away from lung cancer three months before our wedding. We acknowledged her presence by having her King Charles Cavalier X Cocker Spaniel, Milley, as our ring bearer; incorporating a toast to her into our ceremony; and asking our guests to consider donating to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation in lieu of gifts.
Suppliers
Photographer Anna Taylor
Venue East Elevation
Suits Harrison – ASOS, M.J. Bale, RM Williams. Casey – ASOS, Reiss.
Flowers Cassie Mittoo
Cake Cherry Cakes
Stationery Designed by Karen Wallis at Taloula Press and printed by Taylor’d Press
Celebrant Precious Celebrations
Dog Attire Nice Digs
Jewellery Abby Seymour and Tessa Blazey
DJ Tanzer
Casey and Bridal Party’s hair and makeup Marlene Olsson
Harrison and Bridal Party’s hair Casey Malady and makeup Georgia Single
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