Kate and Dana’s romance started after a chance meeting in the bar Dana was working in, while Dana noticed Kate straight away, it took her awhile to muster up the courage and make the first move.
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“Kate had come into the bar a few times, and one night I asked her what her name was,” Dana Said.
“I honestly thought she had given me a fake name, but I persisted and looked her up on Facebook to ask her out.
“We met for a few coffee dates, really hit it off and the rest, as they say, is history.”
While it was Dana who made the first move, it was Kate who planned the proposal waiting for the perfect time only to have Kate scupper her plans at the last minute.
“I had been planning the proposal for a while. I had the ring for about a month beforehand just waiting for the perfect time,” Kate said.
“We went for a drive one day to Boat Harbour, where I was going to propose it is a stunning location and where we had one of our first dates but when we got there, the weather was terrible.
“I tried to get Dana to come for a walk, but she wouldn’t because of the weather, so my plan was quashed,” she joked.
“So we were driving back home to Devonport, and I suddenly had this idea of the perfect place to propose.
“I suggested a walk on Coles Beach which thankfully Dana decided she would do.
“It had just started to rain, but it didn’t bother us we were picking up seashells and walking along the beach,” Kate said.
“We got to this one spot on the beach that is very important for me and I got down on one knee, Dana turned around, and she just went white. I can’t even remember what I said it was all a bit of a blur and Dana just squeaked, she couldn’t even speak, but I knew it was a yes.
“What was special to me was that the actual spot that I proposed to her was where I told my dad that I was gay, he was the first person that I told, so it's a really special place to me.”
The proposal caught Dana entirely by surprise, but she said she couldn’t have been happier.
“It very much got me by surprise which is why I thought what would be a yes turned out to be a squeak,” she said.
“But I was just lost for words; I wasn’t expecting it at all.”
During their year and a half proposal there were rumblings of a same-sex marriage plebiscite, and when announced in November 2017, Kate said it was “perfect timing.”
“We never really thought it would be a yes or the marriage laws would change, we were just so lucky that it did change two months before our wedding, it was perfect timing,” she said.
“It didn’t sink in for a long time; it was hard to believe that it was going to happen and I can change my name. It was a bit more special on the day, and it hit me that this is real, I am actually getting married,” Dana said.
Whether or not the marriage laws were changes, the girls were committed to having a marriage, in whatever form that took.
Wanting a traditional wedding, Kate and Dana picked the beautiful Altona Gardens to host their ceremony Dana said it was one of the easiest decisions.
“We stood in the gardens and held hands, and both of us agreed that this was it,” she said.
We never really thought it would be a yes or the marriage laws would change, we were just so lucky that it did change two months before our wedding, it was perfect timing.
- Kate
On the day Kate, in her handmade blue suit, which caused a myriad of dramas before the wedding, was escorted down the aisle by her father.
Not wanting to spoil the surprise of her beautiful dress, Dana was close by hiding behind a bush waiting for her turn to take her last walk as a miss.
“We both walked down the aisle accompanied by our fathers. It was quite tricky not to see each other, I went first, and Dana was hiding behind a bush waiting to walk next,” Kate said.
“I don’t know what I would have done if my dad wasn’t there, the moment before I walked down the aisle, everything hit me and I was nervous, I grabbed dad, and he gave me a big hug and said you’ve got this, let's go.”
During the ceremony both Dana and Kate’s mums held onto their wedding rings, ready for the exchange, Dana described this gesture as a “symbol of blessing our rings with love.”
As they exchanged vows the skies opened, and the rain started to threaten their beautiful day, but the girls embraced it, and it made for some very special moments.
“As soon as the celebrant had declared us wife and wife it poured, it was beautiful timing and great fun,” Kate said.
“We were drenched, but it added to the fun, it is something we can look back on and laugh at how we walked through a muddy paddock to get these amazing photos while it poured down with rain, it's a perfect memory.”
Guests joined Kate and Dana for a reception at the Waterfront Function Centre, Devonport.
They were even joined on the day by a very special and unexpected guest.
“One of my bridesmaids was in labour during her spray tan, and she had her second child two days before the wedding he was our little guest of honour, “ Dana said.
Reflecting on their day both Dana and Kate said it was their “perfect day.”
“I think a lot of people would say I’d change the fact that it rained but I really wouldn’t. Hand on heart I wouldn’t change a thing. We are so lucky to be able to say that,” Kate said.
- To read more local bridal stories and get tips on planning a Tasmanian wedding click here