Penny & Dan

Rain and beach weddings aren’t something that usually makes for a successful combination. It rained on Penny & Dan’s wedding day. Drizzled, poured and bucketed down. But the ceremony went ahead right beside the beach, the dancing went well into the night on the soaking wet dance floor and as Penny says, “We love the idea that you can’t untie a wet knot!” Rain wasn’t going to dampen the beauty of this wedding!

Penny tells the story of how they came to be. “We met when I was in high school because Dan is my sister’s husband’s best friend. We became really good friends and I asked him to do my Debutant Ball with me. Everyone always wished that we were together and thought that we would be the perfect couple. We continued to be friends for years until one day Dan decided to travel overseas. He went to Canada and I missed him terribly. We spoke over the phone for a few weeks until I decided that I just had to go and be with him. So I booked my flight, organised my visa, and within two weeks I was off! We had the most amazing time in Canada, fell in love with the snow and each other. We fell pregnant when we were in Canada and now have our beautiful Daughter Gracie-lee who is our entire world!”

Photographs today are by Pomegranate Photography who despite the pouring, drenching rain captured beautiful wedding images.

For the wedding day, Penny wore a gown from Lovita Bridal Couture. The bridesmaids wore floral gowns. Penny explains, “My Nan individually handmade all the bridesmaids’ dresses that the bridesmaids designed themselves, they were all really unique in their own special way.”

Caloundra Florist created the floral arrangements, Penny says “They went above and beyond with my flowers. I was speechless when I saw my flowers they were absolutely incredible. I also had floral halos for my Junior Bridesmaid and Flower Girl and they were beautiful.”

There were many forms of fun transport for the wedding day. Penny recalls “We had Kombi vans for our cars, Dan and the groomsman rode in to the ceremony on old school bikes, and we had acoustic singers and guitarists at the ceremony and reception. The photographer was amazing and captured all of the special moments and details of our wedding. You just have to look at our photos to know how happy, easygoing, loving and emotional our wedding was.”

Circle of Love Weddings styled the wedding ceremony which was held beside Shelley Beach in Caloundra. Penny remembers, “Kristen was there every time I needed her for anything – she was absolutely incredible. She made our ceremony look so stunning I couldn’t believe it. It was more beautiful than I ever imagined. She also helped with a few personal touches I wanted to include which were our the letters of our first names hanging from the arch, the rice paper balls, a few name tags for the family sitting in the front row, pink fans for my mother, grandmothers and mother in law and a drink stand with water, beer and wine.”

Penny recalls, “We walked down the aisle to ‘Forever’ by Ben Harper.”

The ceremony, although wet, was the highlight of the day for Penny and Dan. Penny remembers, “It was so special to us to be able to share our wedding day with our beautiful daughter, when she handed the rings to us (it) was truly amazing. It meant so much to share our special day with all of our closest family and friends. (One of Dan’s best friends flew in from Canada to be there).”

Of their photographer, Penny recalls, “The photographer was Nicky from Pomegranate Photography. She and her assistant Sarah were absolutely incredible. They listened and understood exactly what we wanted and we could not be happier with our photos. We feel that they reflect us and every moment was captured in a natural way. Nothing was staged and it felt completely comfortable. We were left to just be ourselves. We couldn’t speak more highly of them.”

The rain may have come bucketing down, but it didn’t dampen the spirits or the memories of the wedding. Penny remarks, “Although it rained all day we didn’t let it bother us and we made the most of it. At the end of the night we all ended up dancing in the rain under the stars and lantern lighting. It was beautiful and such a special memory. We looked at the rain as good luck, we love the idea that you can’t untie a wet knot!”

Penny and Dan held their reception in Maleny at Vue de Lumieres. Penny recalls “The reception was at Vue de Lumieres, Maleny. This was a beautiful location with a stunning view of the mountains. We had a marquee reception. It was set among beautiful manicured gardens with a stunning French provincial style house set at the back of the property where I stayed with my bridesmaids the night before and Dan and I stayed there the night of the wedding.”

Much of the decor was created by Penny, Dan and their family and friends. Penny explains, “We did a lot of DIY because it was a marquee wedding a lot of the finer details of decor was up to us. I really enjoyed that part of it. We did our own centrepieces, napkin holders, name cards, provided all of our own candles, vases, flowers, lighting, seating chart, bunting flags, message tree, wishing well.”

The groom had one last trick up his sleeve, Penny recalls. “Dan also surprised me with a slideshow on a projector with photos of our lives together with all of our favorite music. It was so emotional and I don’t think there was a dry eye.”

The pouring rain led to guests dancing under the  rainy sky. Penny remembers “Our first dance was to Everlong by the Foo Fighters (acoustic version). This song was special to us as it had always been “our song”.”

Congratulations Penny & Dan! Thank you for sharing your wedding day with us! Thank you also to Pomegranate Photography for sharing today’s wedding!