Katie & Jay’s Engagement Celebration

How long have you been engaged?
We have been engaged since New Year’s Eve 2022/23.

What vision did you have in mind for your engagement celebrations?
We value intimate gatherings with our friends, our close-knit group who are like family to us both in Australia. Our wedding is not until 2025, so we wanted a mini-celebration with our crew who will be a big part of our wedding ahead of time, as our actual wedding will be much more centred around our families visiting us from overseas.

What was important to you?
We wanted our engagement to centre around our joint connections with the people we love here, which is food and music. The food all weekend was truly memorable, and Mills + Franks made it so effortless to entertain with the best catering we have ever had from Dandelion and Mallow. Our friends all love to cook, but it was great to take the pressure off and really enjoy the food as guests for the weekend. It was equally really important that we got to show our friends some places we love on the NSW South Coast, since we are looking to relocate to the area, we really wanted to give them a sneak peek insight into our venue to get them excited for 2025.

Did you have a theme?
Being from England and hosting this event in Autumn, I wanted to lean into the Autumn Winter elements. There was no theme, but I loved the cosy feeling of warming up by the fire, having a relaxing bath and dressing in winter style – and faux fur! The NSW South Coast is made for cosy winter nights, and the David Mills special mulled wine by the fire was a real highlight of the Saturday night – everyone loved it!

How many people attended?
We had eleven guests total (including us)

What was the highlight of the celebration?
The whole weekend was a hit, but our highlight was showing everyone our future wedding venue. Kristy and Dave really curated the weekend around the surprise of showing our guests Terrara House for sunset Pizza and Mulled-Wine. Everyone was blown away by seeing the venue in that setting and having an insight into what we are planning for our wedding. It truly was so memorable.

Why did you engage Mills + Franks?
Kristy is the only person I trust to help me envision and execute my plans. She truly is so gifted at helping me understand what is important to not only the bride and the groom to be, but their guests. Kristy made the process so seamless and puts her heart and soul into everything she does, there is truly no one like her. Dave is equally so talented at setting the tone for the event, they are the perfect combination of talents.