Tropical Port Douglas Wedding

Jacqui & Darren

I love the sunshine vibe of Jacqui and Darren’s tropical Port Douglas wedding. From the amazing ceremony location the beautiful Summer colours, the Sugar Wharf cat and the dining under the stars. This is what long Summer days are made of and all captured by Sass Studios.

Jacqui chose Rhonda Hemmingway Couture to make her knee length wedding dress, remarking, “After knowing our location, I had my heart set on something less traditional…a beautiful, fun short dress. I saw a feature of beautiful gowns in tropical locations and was captivated by the guipure lace used for a Rhonda Hemmingway Couture dress. At our first meeting Rhonda sketched me a one-of-kind dress and I instantly fell in love. The process of having a couture gown made was incredible and Rhonda and her team were dream to work with. They created a beautiful wedding dress for me and I adored wearing it on the day.”

Jacqui and Darren chose St Mary’s By The Sea, Port Douglas for their ceremony, noting, “It was the cutest little church in Port Douglas. We’d been admiring it for years.”

Jacqui walked down the aisle to the ukulele version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”.

Wayne Rees officiated the ceremony, the bride remembering, “Our ceremony was short, sweet and informal, with lots of love, smiles, laughs and a few tears. We chose Wayne Rees as our celebrant, who is a vivacious man that brought a lighthearted feel to the ceremony. Just before the end of the ceremony, Darren lent in for the kiss a little early, to which Wayne informed him to ‘hold his horses’ and proceeded to complete his final few sentences at high speed. Laughter filled the chapel and Darren got his kiss!”

They loved the local knowledge and talent of their photographer, Jacqui remarking, “Ben did a great job and made us all feel very comfortable in front of the camera.”

The newlyweds celebrated with their guests under the open blue sky at Sugar Wharf. The bride telling, “The reception was held at the Sugar Wharf. A beautiful old wharf building situated just behind St Mary’s with views over the water and mountain ranges. It had so much character and once again suited the tropical relaxed vibe of our wedding. We were blessed with fantastic weather and ate under the stars with our nearest and dearest.”

As wedding favors, Jacqui made each guest a custom cookie with a little tropical flair.

“We wanted the day to be lots of fun for us and our guests. This involved keeping a relaxed party vibe throughout the day. This started by holding a welcome drinks the night before the wedding, where our guests got to meet each other and kick off the festivities. We had also never liked the idea of a ‘bridal party table’, so made sure we were seated amongst our nearest and dearest.”

“We used Port Douglas Catering and Events to manage our reception on the Sugar Wharf. They did a fantastic job of making the wharf look even more beautiful, service was prompt and friendly, and the food was outstanding. Nothing was too much for them to incorporate. For example, after years of ‘alternate drop’ food at weddings and never getting what we wanted, we decided to give our guests the choice for their entree and main meals. I collected this information a few weeks prior to the wedding, gave it to PDCE and everyone enjoyed their meal on the night!”

Of their first dance, Jacqui tells, “We chose the song Can’t Help Falling in Love. Our first dance was made very special as my step-dad sung the song with the band. I’m lucky enough to have a professional musician as my dad!”