When it came to the gruelling 10 weeks he spent renovating an old villa on The Block NZ, Jeremy Hill was hard as nails and never shed a tear. But at the sight of his dazzling bride Cat Glass walking down the aisle in an intricate lace dress amid Bali’s picturesque rice paddies, the tough Kiwi bloke almost falls apart.
After a seven-year romance – which included winning the coveted People’s Choice Award in the 2015 season of the Three reality series – the New Plymouth couple are finally saying “I do” in front of 80 close family and friends in the rural countryside of the Indonesian island.
Cat’s Rue De Seine dress is the perfect embodiment of the couple’s relaxed attitude, with tropical-looking lace overlaying a crisp white bodysuit. Apart from a crown of flowers on her head, the bohemian bride keeps things simple, ditching shoes to stand barefoot opposite Jeremy under a flax gazebo.
“She looked amazing walking down the aisle – it was the closest I got to tearing up throughout the whole day,” kitchen designer Jeremy, 32, tells Woman’s Day later.
“It was so surreal and my favourite moment from the wedding.”
Cat, 30, smiles, “Those big, poufy dresses just aren’t my style. The first purchase we made for the wedding was actually the dress. I bought it early in 2017 and I just knew it was the one.”
While the frock was an easy decision for Cat, planning a destination wedding was far from it. She says, “Jeremy’s sister Bridget got married in 2016 and we loved it, but we were so sad it was over in just one day. We wanted to extend our wedding and thought, why not have a big family holiday over a few weeks?”
After some online research, the pair decided on Bali as their location of choice, despite the fact they’d never visited Indonesia themselves. It took 18 months of planning, with Cat staying up after midnight some weekends to manage the time difference.
“I had to put a lot of trust in our wedding planner in Bali,” explains the preschool teacher.
“Being a foreigner, little things like getting the flowers done was really difficult because we didn’t really know where to go and if you say it’s for a wedding, they will amp up the price.”
Jeremy adds, “We went over in August last year just to check everything looked like it did online and it was a great excuse for a little holiday too.”
As it turned out, the couple had nothing to worry about and their wedding day came together seamlessly. Their days in the lead-up to the big event were spent with their families, playing golf, shopping and having pool parties, followed by more gatherings and barbecues after the nuptials.
“We wanted people to relax and enjoy the party,” grins Jeremy. “It was a three-day ordeal, really!”
But the highlight of the holiday for Cat was getting to dance with her husband for the very first time to Neil Young’s hit “Harvest Moon”.
“I loved that moment,” beams the blissfully happy blonde. “That song had a lot of meaning for the whole family. We’re all big Neil Young fans and it was really special for Jeremy’s mum and dad because it’s their song as well. It was one of my favourite moments dancing to that.”
Now back in Taranaki and settling into married life, the newlyweds are looking forward to further renovating their first home, which they bought last year, and they are talking about starting a family.
“Babies!” enthuses Cat, before quickly adding, “We’d love to have children, but maybe we should start with a dog first.”
