'Love went into everything': The true story behind the 'world's most hipster wedding'
They were derided as “lazy” and “dirty” after their wedding was showcased and mocked around the world, but the true story behind “the world's most hipster wedding” was one of hard work, artisanal skills and personal touches.
When Michael Malone and his now wife Kathryn Kleu decided to get hitched, they wanted to celebrate with friends and family in a relaxed setting without breaking the bank.
The couple said their vows in the forest of Tasmania where guests were plied with Michael's homebrewed beer before heading to a nearby pub to devour Kathryn's handmade wedding cake.
The day's events were captured by consummate photographer Mitch Pohl whose work was picked up by bridal magazine Hello May.
Within days Michael and Kathryn's wedding pics went viral through bridal blogs before Daily Mail Australia ran a piece with the headline, "Is this the most hipster wedding ever?"
Barbs and insults about the couple's appearance and apparent lack of effort soon followed. They were called "dirty hippies" and "unwashed". Many jibed that the Michael and Kathryn were probably on the dole.
The couple told Yahoo7 that representation could not have been farther from the truth.
"It was all clickbait, to be honest," Michael said, suggesting the whole pitch was mean spirited, tacked on to his "long hair and a beard".
"Everyone put that 'World's most hipster wedding' as the title to get attention. And it drew sort of the wrong attention.
"It was not the sort of thing we wanted to read about our wedding."
Michael, a horticulturalist by trade and Kathryn, a pastry chef, put their artisanal skills to work. From the day's libations to the decorations, the couple put a monumental amount of effort into making the wedding something special, something relaxed, that their guests would remember and enjoy.
"There was a lot of work," Michael said, much of it done by hand.
Father of the groom Tony Malone said, "even though Michael and Kat had done 98 per cent of the work," the day required a massive amount of effort from friends and family.
"It might have looked low-key and cheap and whatever, but it was far from it," the former police officer said.
"It was the amount of effort that they put in to make sure their guests on the day had a really good time and it was special event for everyone, not just the bride and groom," Tony said.
Kathryn said they "played to their strengths" to pull the day off. Two solid months of work went into preparing for the day, with spare time dedicated to the production on the back of working fulltime jobs.
With the help of others, Michael said the couple made "all the homebrew, all the desserts and cakes, the arbour, the confetti and the cones, a lot of the props and the kokedama balls".
Behind the scenes on the day, things were far from easy. Tensions ran high and words were terse as family members fought tooth and nail against time and each other to make the bride and groom's vision a reality. It came together in the end, at surprisingly low cost.
The couple wanted to reuse and repurpose as much as they could. Tables were fashioned out of recycled old doors and hay bails stood in for chairs. Reviews of the wedding pocked fun at the "responsibly foraged" flowers, but Michael said, "That's what Tasmania's about" and "ripping out of the bush" is illegal.
The entire wedding only set the couple back $15,000 – far less than many weddings today. Still, Michael said it was each to their own and if people chose to "outsource" their weddings and he and Kathryn would not judge them.
"Unless you're willing to work really hard, outsource it," Kathryn said, dismissing those who said they did it the "lazy hipster way".
"You have to love what you do… because it was completely love that went into everything," she said.
Guests said the bespoke and handmade touches made the difference. Brother-in-law Christian Cochrane said the homebrew was "indispensable" and greased the wheels of the pack-down.
"It accelerated the reconciliation of the family post set up, made packing down a game of speed amongst men keen to fill their bellies with more," he said.
Michael and Kat said hope the day showcased their skills and what they do – skills they hope to turn in a business of baking and brewing.
"Maybe one day we can start a business brewing specifically for weddings," Kathryn pondered of the future.
"That's the dream," Michael added.
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