Donna and Grant

Donna and Grant

A beautifully simple and elegant Sunshine Coast wedding for you today! Lots of white with a splash of brilliant orange! I love the mist rolling in over the hills, something that seems to be appearing in a lot of Queensland weddings lately! Today’s newlyweds had no bridal party- it was just them, their wedding vows and their guests!

Donna, our bride,  tells the story of how they met “We met at the Bastille Day Ball in Brisbane, in 2008. There was definitely an instant attraction between the two of us. We spent most of the night having a great time, dancing and laughing the night away.  We made plans to catch up the next week for dinner, and before we knew it we were spending every day together.”

Photos today are by Karen Buckle Photography.

Donna wore a gown from Wendy Makin and shoes from Collection at Myer.

Donna and Grant married at The House Of Laurels. Donna says “The first time we visited House of Laurels we just knew that it was right for us. Choosing House of Laurels as the venue for our ceremony and reception was one of the easiest decisions that we made in planning the wedding!

The venue itself is beautiful and required little “decorating” – which worked well into our keep-it-simple mantra for the wedding. The staff were great – they were there to help with all the minor details on the day and were very patient with our final adjustments to the guest list and the menu.

One of the best attributes of the venue was the diversity of space –  the manicured garden out the back was one of the biggest drawcards for us as we wanted an outdoor (but sheltered) ceremony. The reception area was spacious and yet intimate enough so that all the guests were no more than a table or two from the main table. And, while at the time of booking it didn’t seem such a big bonus, but the venue has an amazing side courtyard  that provided us with the perfect wet weather alternative to the garden (which we made great use of on the day). While we didn’t get the garden wedding that we had wanted, having the ceremony in the courtyard didn’t detract from the day  – many of the guests assumed that was what we originally had planned for the day!” Jack McCullagh played “I’m Yours” by Jason Mraz in a slow beat on his acoustic guitar as Donna walked down the “aisle”.

Donna says “Our grandparents read out the lyrics to “Ain’t no mountain high enough” during our ceremony. While it doesn’t initially sound like something you would normally read out during a ceremony, once you read through the lyrics, they are actually quite romantic”

Donna says “Without a doubt – the number one “special” factor was having friends and family there to celebrate the day with us. Most of our family don’t live in Queensland so it was really special to have all the parents and siblings and other relatives there to join in the day. Grant and I had a lot of friends that traveled from overseas to be there so it was very important to us”

Floral Art created Donna’s bouquet. Grant wore a suit from Zaks For Men.

After the ceremony, guests dined in the pavillion room at The House Of Laurels. Donna and Grant not only made their invitations, but their favors too. “We made the favors for each of our guests. One of Grant’s (the groom) best friends offered to make the chocolates for them, so we were able to make some really special treats for our guests to take home.”

The father of the bride and the father of the groom turned up in basically the same outfit. Which provided the guests with many laughs and funny moments.

Under purple lights “The band (Paul Terry and band) had set up lights on the dance floor that continuously changed colours throughout the night. This gave us some amazing shots of people dancing throughout the evening ” Donna and Grant danced their bridal waltz to “What a difference a day makes” by Jamie Cullum. “It’s a very special song to us as it describes perfectly how we met and how we got together.”

Congratulations Donna & Grant on your beautiful wedding day! I wish you a long and happy marriage together! Thank you to Karen of Karen Buckle Photography for sharing today’s wedding!

Photos by Karen Buckle Photography