Daniel & Christine's Sandy Feet Island Wedding

Our Wedding journey was a dream from the start from my buying the ring to standing at the altar taking the first look at my beautiful bride.

After all the careful planning and preparation it’s funny which parts of the day really stick out once you have a chance to fully digest everything. The first time I saw Chrissy in her dress I choked back a few tears (of joy of course) as she looked even more beautiful than normal. The smile on her face is something that I will never forget, you could just tell she felt and looked like a million dollars.

The ceremony flies by and I couldn’t tell you half of what I repeated on the day but I do remember making our vows to each other. Chrissy and I both decided we would write our own vows because there is something pretty special about making lifelong promises from the heart and receiving them in return. I was also very moved and touched by a personal reading from my older sister Stephanie. The words were so beautiful and had such meaning and they will always hold a special place in my heart.

The setting was perfect, the ceremony was finished, now it was time to relax into the party. I have to admit standing at the end of the aisle having our guests come up to congratulate us was very overwhelming. I was lucky enough to have almost 30 friends and family travel to Australia from the UK as well as Chrissy’s family traveling from all over Australia. It was fun to watch the Anglos and the Aussies mix, swapping stories over a chilled glass of bubbly on the beach.

Before I had a chance to sip my glass we were straight into the group Photo. Chrissy had the great idea of using mini beach balls as our makeshift confetti and I had the idea in my head to use the group shot with the beach balls as our signature shot, Our photographers on the day (Stradbroke Island Photography) captured the shot just how I pictured it in my head.

We were so spoilt for choice regarding our photographs. Chrissy and I were so relaxed about the day we trusted their judgment (which as you can see was fully justified). The beauty of being on “Straddie” is that you can switch between different worlds very quickly, taking 5 steps off the beach put you in a wonderful mysterious forest of beautiful vines and luscious greenery.

It’s pretty hard to describe how I felt around this time but I guess I was just so mesmerised by my Wife that everything just flowed I have to admit my eyes did not stray far from her all day.

Ang and Stu were absolutely incredibly photographers. We weren’t one of those couples that planned our photos, locations and poses. As locals, we let them guide us on the best places to capture our special day, and boy they didn’t disappoint! They made us feel at ease, nothing felt forced and often we even forgot they were there. They captured every single moment of our special day perfectly and we are both in awe of the incredible photos they have given us. They are everything we could have asked for, without having to ask. They created a lifetime of memories for us.

After all the fun and adventures that the photos were it was now time for our big entry. With a spring in our step and Pina colada in our hands we walked in to a rapturous welcome taking in not only the applause but the beautiful set up by Donna at Stradbroke Island Events. The flowers and candles on the table and the backdrop lights behind the bridal table were truly stunning and made the venue feel like a scene from a fairy tale.

We were lucky enough to have an an incredible friend who is a graphic designer, who only too willingly put up her hand to help out with the stationery. We had lots of ideas, but a minimal budget, so this worked out perfectly. We were able to sit down with our friend Paula and outline exactly what we wanted, and she turned it around in no time, matching our invitations perfectly. Our particular favourites where the “Do Not Disturb” signs we made for guests to take home (because we were banking on some of our guests having killer hangovers the next day). Our guests also really appreciated the bathroom baskets we put together, which were complete with a cheeky poem.

The food provided by Gordon and his catering team was spectacular. The spread was everything I had ever imaged when we discussed a “Beach BBQ” buffet menu and all my guests can say that they ate “Bugs” at a wedding.

Now to the speeches, after some lovely words from my now father in law and a beautiful speech from the maid of honour it was down to me, I decided that I wouldn’t pre write a speech and lose myself in the moment, I guess looking back I probably should of at least had some notes but I still managed to thank everyone I needed to.

Now the main event, I broke with tradition and had 2 “Best Men” when you grow up with 2 sisters my 2 best friends are like my brothers. They decided to do a combined speech and ended up putting me on trial for creating a fake Australian Identity. The speech was brilliant and would be fit for youtube!.

After choosing our first song (Andy Williams – I Love You Baby) and attempting to practice, we quickly discovered we were working with four left feet. So, we secretly took lessons with Mark from Let’s Dance Co, and surprised our guests on the night with a specially choreographed routine. In the chaotic lead up to the wedding we missed out on time to practice, so we ran through the routine on the beach after photos had wrapped up, before we arrived at the reception. In this moment we were able to look into each other’s eyes, soak up everything around us and laugh at ourselves as we tripped over the dress and added to the layers of sand it had already accumulated.

Looking back at the day from our sunbed down on the Gold Coast my wife and I were still riding the wave and now our attention turns to the honeymoon next year!

Images by Stradbroke Island Photography