Ice creams, disco and drag queens: Inside Bianca and Katie’s fun-filled wedding

“We wanted it to feel comfortable and casual, giving us the chance to actually connect and celebrate with the people who’d made an impact on us.”

Here at Fashion Journal, we make no secret of our love of weddings. We’re suckers for a bit of romance and have a soft spot for weddings that do things differently, whether it’s a Las Vegas elopement, a tropical getaway or a Town Hall celebration.

Katie and Bianca almost didn’t meet. Despite connecting on a dating app during Covid, they lost touch before reconnecting nine months later. They met up for a sunset picnic, which turned into a nine-hour-long date. “From there, we did the very classic or typical queer thing and became inseparable,” Bianca says. On their one-year anniversary, Bianca proposed to Katie, surprising Katie with a ring tucked inside a Smiski box.

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They were initially in no rush to tie the knot, instead staying engaged for 18 months before they thought about wedding planning. Then, at the start of the year, they gave themselves three months to pull it together. “Photographer, restaurant and fit were really the big ones for us,” Bianca explains. The timing aligned, and they were able to secure Thomas JPG on photos, Em Nolan for Bianca’s suit and their favourite restaurant, Bar Idda for their reception. “From there, the rest was chill.”

The day itself began with Hindu blessings at the couple’s home, where they exchanged flower garlands before taking the tram to the Melbourne registry office. After an intimate ceremony, the pair travelled back to Brunswick East, where they had dinner, three cakes and a ‘first drag’ (instead of a first dance).

Fashion Journal: Hi Katie and Bianca! Congratulations on your beautiful wedding. Can you walk me through how you both met and how you got engaged?

Bianca: We met on the apps during Covid about five years ago. Our banter was strong and it just felt easy. But then out of nowhere, before we could plan a date, Katie ghosted me. She claims I didn’t make my move fast enough. But nine months later, she came crawling back, asking if I was still there. At the time, I was dating a lot, but I do remember feeling nervous before our first date, which didn’t happen very often.

Our little sunset picnic somehow turned into a nine-hour-long date. That night, I knew I’d met someone who mattered in a way I couldn’t yet comprehend. From there, we did the very classic or typical queer thing and became inseparable.

I proposed to Katie. It was a pretty routine day, starting with coffee and pastries, before a big hike around the Werribee Gorge. I’d booked us a weekend away in Daylesford for the anniversary of our first date. When we got to the Airbnb, I made us some Negronis and a little picnic for outside. Katie was oblivious, chilling in my crocs and ratty old hoodie and we were chatting about the ultimate gift guide for lesbians (based on an article Katie had read).

I casually slid it into the conversation and said “Speaking of the ultimate gifts for lesbians, I got you something little”. I pulled out a Smiski box from my bag and gave it to her. (A Smiski is a Japanese ‘unbox’ figurine. Sort of like a kinder surprise where you don’t know which Smiski figure you’ll get inside).

I had very carefully opened the bottom of the box to remove the Smiski toy wrapper inside the foil packet and replaced it with the ring. What made me laugh most was later that night when she asked, “Do I still get the Smiski?”.

How did you approach wedding planning? Did you take your time organising, or was it spontaneous?

Bianca: We were engaged for about 18 months before we even thought about wedding planning. Towards the end of last year, we started to think about future life planning in general. It was quite a spur-of-the-moment decision, and we’d thought to ourselves, ‘let’s just fucking do it’ in March (that gave us a lead time of about three months).

We started by deciding what key things needed to be booked in, and figured the rest would just come together with ease. I’d followed Thomas for years and had always been keen for him to be our photographer. I knew from his Instagram that he was fully booked for 2026, but I thought I might try my luck and reach out.

We were incredibly lucky and are beyond grateful that he replied instantly with a “I’m all booked up but I want to make this work”. With Thomas locked in, we gave Bar Idda a call to check their availability, and then I booked in my suit appointment with designer Emily Nolan. Photographer, restaurant and fit were really the big ones for us. From there, the rest was chill.

Tell me about the day itself. Where was your ceremony and how many guests did you have?

Bianca: We were quite intentional about keeping the day intimate, only with a special few. We started the day with some Hindu blessings at our home, where we exchanged flower garlands as a sign of our commitment and acceptance to enter this partnership together. From there, we caught the tram (the 96 line, best tram in Melbourne!) into the city for the ceremony at the Melbourne registry office.

The ceremony was just our immediate family and best friends. We weren’t too keen on the traditional format, so we opted out of any music or walking down the aisle. We kept it short and sweet.

What did you two do after the ceremony?

We headed to Bar Idda, one of our favourite local wine bars to have a special dinner celebration with 30 of our nearest and dearest friends and family. Good food and drinks were the big ones for us, and Bar Idda had always been a special date night spot we visited frequently.

The night was about good company and good food, to help us celebrate with our favourite and most special people. We wanted it to feel comfortable and casual, giving us the chance to actually connect and celebrate with the people who’d made an impact on us over the years.

To end the night, we couldn’t go past having a boogie. One of my good friends is a drag queen (Onda Spectrum), so we thought, instead of a ‘first dance’, why not kick off the dance floor with our ‘first drag’? Onda and our DJ (Dr Condiments) kicked off the dance floor with CeCe Peniston’s ‘Finally’ and Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’, and then we ended on ‘The Best’, by Tina Turner – our favourite queer anthems!

Tell us about your wedding outfits. What was the process of sourcing them like? 

Katie: I went with a dress from Lola Varma and I loved it. A friend later told me they guessed I would wear a design exactly like the dress I wore, which I was delighted by. I think it showed that I chose something very in line with my style.

Courtney Illfield, the designer, is so wonderful and warm. She made the process feel relaxed and easy. Because it took me a little while to find the dress, I was worried that it might be too tight a time frame to have a dress made, but Courtney squeezed me in and made it work. An absolute angel!

Bianca: Emily Nolan had made me my first and favourite suit a few years earlier. As a queer non-binary person, she made me feel incredibly safe and comfortable throughout the process. Her infectious, loving and chaotic energy always made fittings an absolute ball and made something I had no clue about fun and easy.

She knew Katie and me from the first suit, so when we went back to get the wedding suit, I just remember her opening the door, screaming, “OMG, you’re getting married!”. As someone who really only had a rough idea or vision (brown double-breasted suit), I was able to share that and then put so much trust in Em to work her magic.

How did you approach beauty and grooming for the day?

Katie: I did my own hair and makeup. This was a bold choice, because my makeup and hair skills aren’t the greatest. But fuelled by an iced latte and a lot of cortisol, I somehow managed to do both in record time. I went for a look that was a fancier version of my everyday makeup, and I tried to match my lip colour with my dark red shoes.

What did you do for food and entertainment? Did you have a cake?

Bianca: We kicked off the day with lunch during the Hindu blessings. This food was all made and organised by my mum. We had a range of patties, pan rolls and curry puffs – all of my favourites from growing up in an Indian/Sri Lankan household.

Bar Idda were incredible to work with and were so accommodating to include all of our favourite dishes from their place over our years of dining there. The vibe was share plates, featuring their flatbreads with stracciatella and pickled vegetables, ricotta gnocchi pastas, slow-cooked lamb, crumbed barramundi, coupled with fresh, delicious side salads and potatoes.

Dessert had to feature our local favourite ice cream spot, Luther’s Scoops. We spent many evenings strolling down to Luther’s when we first started dating, so it was a must to end the night there.

We also had three types of cake. One was a take-home piece of Sri Lankan wedding fruit cake that was my grandmother’s recipe, made by mum. These featured stickers of Katie’s hand-drawn ‘frog and rat’ sketches.  There was a meme that went around a few years ago with a theory that everyone looks like either a frog or a rat, or in some rare cases, a hybrid. This was a topic of conversation early on in our relationship and just stuck. So the Frog represents me and the Rat represents Katie.

The main cake was made by Scarlett from I Made a Cake. She makes incredibly whimsical, creative cakes, but most importantly, they’re fucking delicious. The child in me dreamt of a Funfetti cake with chocolate icing and blackberry jam. Katie has a more mature palette and wanted a walnut carrot cake. Scarlett immediately responded with ‘we gotta do both’. On top of all this, we had chocolate chip walnut cookies for all of our guests.

Looking back, what was the best part of your day?

Bianca: It’s hard to put it down to one part of the day. Katie studied creative writing at uni, so reading a card she’d given me when we woke up and hearing her vows in poetry form broke me.

I also remember feeling incredibly present when exchanging garlands, and really excited when we were out taking couple shots in the streets of Brunswick East. And I’ll always remember that feeling of pure ecstasy surrounded by the people I love most, dancing under a disco ball with strobe lights in a smoke-filled room.

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