Patrick and Katie’s love story led them to a beautiful wedding at Tennyson’s Garden, surrounded by family and friends. They shared their journey with us – from their first date to their special day.
PHOTOGRAPHY by Kurtogram
Can you share your love story?
We met on a dating app in 2020 when Pat had just moved to Brisbane from Sydney. Our first date was at a gin bar in West End after realising gin was a common interest of ours. Straight away we knew we were on to a good thing. We moved in together after six months and went from strength to strength. After a COVID-safe meeting with Pat’s Sydney family, Katie knew he was the one. Pat loved Katie throwing him a surprise birthday party with his new Brisbane friends - this sealed the deal for Pat. We both love spending quality time together, being with friends and family, heading out on adventures and debriefing about life. We knew that once we were married, we would keep doing this together forever. Taking the next step was an easy decision for both of us.
How did you decide to take the next step and get engaged? What was that moment like for you both?
Pat decided it was time to get engaged a few years into our life together. He told his Dad on a family trip to the Hunter Valley and plans began from there. Katie had been prepared for a over a year already and had sent Pat some ‘inspiration’ pictures of rings - just in case. Pat chose a very sentimental spot to pop the question to Katie - Elephant Rock at Currumbin Beach. After waiting out the crowds atop the rock, Pat asked Katie and she was overjoyed! We celebrated with a surprise dinner with both sets of parents and some friends. This moment was a clear next step for us but we both felt such a shift emotionally from that moment. Planning our lives together seemed even more exciting! It was the best day of our lives, until our wedding!
When you started planning your wedding, what was the most important aspect you wanted to reflect about your relationship?
When we started planning our wedding, we wanted it to be a reflection of us. Focused on our love, our families and our friends. We wanted to feel comfortable and for all of our guests to enjoy themselves while celebrating with us. It was important for us to have all of our special people feel involved but without too many responsibilities on the day or in the lead up. We wanted good music, flowing drinks and delicious food. Our ceremony was incredibly important to us so we wanted to make sure it felt intimate, fun and loving.
Why did you choose Tennyson's Garden (at The Brisbane Golf Club) as the venue for your wedding?
Pat is a member at The Brisbane Golf Club along with Katie’s parents. The BGC is also very close to where Katie lived growing up with her parents and grandparents. The Brisbane Golf Club was extra special to us as this was the place where Pat asked Katie’s Dad for her hand in marriage.
Tennyson’s Garden was always our perfect venue as the ceremony space in the Jacaranda Garden felt intimate, like a very well-manicured backyard with the ideal layout for a wedding. This was the perfect space for us. The garden was very well-kept, with festoon lighting and space for plenty of chairs for all of our guests and cocktail party furniture. It was well looked after with beautiful sandstone paths and an elevated area for us to stand with our celebrant. This ensured a good view of the proceedings for all of our guests.
The reception space in the Tennyson Room was a wonderful ‘blank canvas’ for us. We were able to style and decorate it to suit our vision. The staff were incredibly helpful and provided so much information during our inquiries and throughout the entire planning process.
The Brisbane Golf Club is close to Brisbane City so this made it extra suitable for us with half of the wedding guests flying up from Sydney. Our guests were able to stay in the city and have a short taxi ride to and from our wedding. Ease for our guests was high on our priority list so Tennyson’s Garden was perfect for us.
How did you incorporate elements of your love story into your wedding at Tennyson's Garden?
Tennyson’s Garden encouraged us to incorporate elements of our love story into our wedding. The Venue Coordinator was incredibly helpful at providing options for us that would suit our vision. He loved hearing creative ideas and would bring his experience, knowledge and understanding of venue logistics to help us turn these in to reality.
We brought in a florist and stylist to bring our vision to life. The Tennyson’s Garden team liaised with them to ensure a smooth set up and pack down for our wedding day. We incorporated special colours, table settings and layout that we knew would suit our friends and family on the day.
Our Celebrant was incredible and liaised with the BGC Event Team to allow our personalised ceremony to run smoothly. We also hired a band that the venue was able to accommodate in both the ceremony and reception space.
Can you describe any special moments during your ceremony or reception? What were the best parts of your day?
After our ceremony, we had a celebratory ‘champagne tower’ to have our first toast as husband and wife. The BGC Team ensured that this ran smoothly and helped our guests to navigate this. Following our toast, our Venue Coordinator took us and our bridal party of five bridesmaids and five groomsmen out to the golf carts prepared with snacks and drinks for our photo session with our wonderful photographers.
We then spent an hour cruising around the golf course as a group, choosing the best areas for beautiful photographs as a group but also as a newlywed couple. The staff were amazing at managing this and making it go so smoothly to ensure we did not have to lift a finger. They collaborated with our photographers and videographers to ensure we had the best locations and the best lighting at different times of the afternoon.
This part of our day was extra special as we had our first moments to chat as husband and wife while driving around with our closest friends on our golf cart. A perfect combination of special and fun!
How did the ambiance of Tennyson's Garden contribute to the feelings and memories you created on your wedding day?
The ceremony space started our wedding day off perfectly. The lush green surroundings with the bright, white chairs was a stunning backdrop for our guests. As the afternoon progressed, the fading light in the sky along with the festoon lights set the tone for a relaxing early evening cocktail party before heading in to our reception.
By having our ceremony and reception at the same venue, our guests were able to relax and let their hair down while we were out getting our photos taken. When we returned, our guests had been ushered up to the reception venue in the heritage-listed Clubhouse. The lighting inside the Tennyson Room for our reception was gorgeous with both house lights and candles. The Tennyson’s Garden team ensured that they attended to every detail, from ironed tablecloths to the spacing of tables and place settings.
The location of the balcony near the dancefloor also gave our guests an opportunity to have a rest from dancing the night away in the fresh air. We were able to have a late finish and were encouraged to have the band play ‘as loud as possible’. This added to our fun and relaxed vibe. The Team at BGC and our external suppliers ensured that our friends and family had limited responsibility on the day and that we could enjoy ourselves and trust in the wonderful professionals to take care of the details.
Is there anything else you'd like to share about your journey together and your experience of Tennyson's Garden at The Brisbane Golf Club?
We had the opportunity to taste the menu and drink options that would be on offer for our wedding day in the months leading up to it. We felt so appreciative of the treatment and patience we received from the BGC Team throughout our entire wedding planning process. Their communication was brilliant and we never felt like we were asking a ‘silly question’.
The weather was predicted to be rainy on our wedding day so the team allowed us to come in the day before and create a detailed wet weather plan. This put our minds at ease and helped Katie to sleep the night before as we knew the plan, just in case. On the day of our wedding, the BGC team contacted us both to keep us updated on weather outlooks and we ended up having our perfect day with gorgeous weather. We so appreciate that the time was taken to make us feel safe and secure that no matter the weather, our day would be amazing.
We cannot recommend Tennyson’s Garden at The Brisbane Golf Club highly enough. We think it is a hidden gem for Brisbane weddings and we encourage you to explore this as an option for your special day. We can’t wait to hold our anniversary parties here in the future. Thank you!
To enquire about having your wedding at Tennyson’s Garden like Katie and Pat, please get in touch here.