Matildas star Katrina Gorry is officially a wife!
Katrina married her longtime love, Clara Markstedt, on Saturday, June 14, in an intimate ceremony on Hamilton Island in Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands.
The couple exchanged personalised vows in front of their closest friends and family in the gardens at the picturesque All Saints Chapel.
“We had the most incredible day, it was more beautiful than I ever thought it could be,” Katrina, 32, tells New Idea exclusively.
“It was such a beautiful moment seeing Clara at the altar, she looked absolutely stunning. It made me really emotional and made me feel so incredibly lucky.”
The newlyweds were joined by around 70 of their family and friends, including Matildas stars Charli Grant and Michelle Heyman.
Katrina’s mum, Linda, walked her down the aisle, while Linda’s partner, David, helped Katrina and Clara’s three-year-old daughter Harper in her flower girl duties as she was a “little overwhelmed”.
“David was going to walk down the aisle with her, hand in hand, but he ended up carrying her,” Clara, 35, says.
“It felt like such a special moment, almost like it was meant to turn out that way. It put a smile on everyone’s faces watching him be the one to throw the rose petals!”
Katrina adds, smiling: “Harper looked absolutely beautiful in her little dress.”
After taking photos on the beach, the couple, who also share one-year-old son Koby, kicked off the evening celebrations. Their first dance was to Swedish singer Victor Leksell’s ‘Svag’.
For Swedish-born Clara, having this song to mark their start to married life was extra special.
“When we met, Katrina said she loved that song and we’d always sing it together in the car,” Clara says. “One time, for a special occasion, Katrina had someone translate it and record it in English. So, since everyone at the wedding is English, besides my family, we will play the English version.
“That’s the song we always have a little sway to … Harper calls it ‘our song’ too!”
The couple opted to stay away from tradition and a “big white wedding”, and decided to go for a more beach-y theme, in-keeping with their Hamilton Island destination.
“When Clara and I were up here in 2022, we joked we’d get married here,” Katrina says.
“But now it’s all come to life… It’s incredibly special. Hamilton is a special place for me and the family. It’s a part of Australia that I like to go to when I want to get away. It’s just absolutely beautiful, and it’s in our backyard.”
In the lead up to the big day, the brides also went dress shopping together to find the perfect gowns!
“I hate dress shopping, you don’t find me in dresses very often,” Katrina says, laughing. “But our dresses are very much ‘us’ … as soon as I walked into the store, I picked mine out straight away, which was something I never thought would happen.
“I wanted Clara there to help me pick; it was nice to be there for each other, to see what we looked like then, and then extra special to see how it all came together on the day.”
Clara adds, with a laugh: “The first dress I touched and was like ‘Oh my gosh!’ … Katrina was like, ‘Don’t touch that! I’ve already eyed it out!”
The couple got engaged in June 2023 while on a romantic weekend trip away to Falkenberg on Sweden’s west coast. They first met in late 2021 after Katrina joined Swedish club Vittsjö GIK, where Clara played as a striker.
The pair struck up a friendship, with Clara helping Katrina find a place to live for her and Harper, who was then six months old.
Now, as they relax after a whirlwind few weeks of wedding preparations, the couple say they’ll have these special moments to remember forever.
They’ll soon fly home to London, where Katrina now captains English Women’s Super League side, West Ham United.
Clara reflects:“It was magical – I could never have imagined how it’d feel, but it exceeded everything that I thought it’d be!”
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