Country wedding special
ONE COUPLE’S ROMANTIC UNION ON A TREASURED ISLAND OFF TASMANIA, PLUS TOP SPOTS TO TIE THE KNOT AROUND AUSTRALIA.
A surprise trip to a Tasmanian island three years ago led Tessa and Jack to return with their wedding party.
According to Tessa Kavanagh, getting married on a private island is special. “there’s something quite different about being the only people on an island — you have a knowledge of your boundaries and yet a feeling of total freedom,” she says, having in March wed her long-time love, Jack Newman-morris, on Satellite Island in Tasmania’s D’entrecasteaux Channel. Creating an experience was a priority for the couple, who recently moved from Melbourne to the Macedon Ranges and a 19th-century farmhouse. “we were never very keen on a ‘normal’ sort of wedding,” Tessa says. “we wanted something that wasn’t just about us and our enjoyment — it was about creating something for our friends, too.” The couple met 12 years ago. Jack proposed in June last year during a holiday for Tessa’s 30th birthday. three years earlier, Jack, also 30, had surprised Tessa with a trip to Satellite Island, a visit that resulted in an ongoing friendship with the island’s owners. Tessa and Jack’s wedding was the first celebrated on the island, and both knew the logistics would be “full-on”. “there’s no mains power, just a generator, and we had to bring in everything from portaloos to catering tents and chairs, ”tessa says. “i think we sent down 300 kilograms of gear from Melbourne. It was quite an undertaking — but it was worth it.” Tessa, a stylist whose work appears regularly in Country Style, is used to creating beautiful scenes in remote places. The wedding was no exception. “we had lots of cut foliage that we dried and sprayed gold.the salt and pepper on the >
table was served in oyster shells we’d collected, and the place settings were grey stones from one of the beaches.” Gold bells were another feature. they adorned the table, the signposts and the boats that brought guests from nearby Bruny Island, and their gentle jingle set the tone for the day. The couple exchanged vows on the Boathouse jetty in front of 65 close friends and family — Tessa in an embroidered lace dress from Zimmermann — followed by lunch under umbrellas in a paddock at the top of the island.the rustic and colourful menu was prepared on site by chefs from Hobart restaurant Smolt. Island manager Richard Roe was instrumental in the smooth running of the day, as was Myfanwy Kernke, from Shene Estate in Pontville near Hobart, who acted as wedding coordinator. At sunset, guests enjoyed champagne and freshly shucked Bruny Island oysters, then there was dancing by a bonfire until 10pm, when a catamaran ferried most guests back to Hobart. “I don’t think I’ll ever have that much fun in one day again,” Tessa says. “the sun shone, the wind gently rustled the linen tablecloths, the gold foliage sparkled… It was magic!”