Couran Cove Island Resort Wedding

Eliza & Heath

If you adore the sea than what better place to marry than in a seaside resort? Seaside lovers Eliza and Heath chose a Couran Cove Island Resort wedding and had Matthew Evans there to capture it all.

Eliza tells the story of how the couple came to walk down the aisle. “Heath and I met over 4 years ago through a mutual friend and shared a little kiss and a dance one evening while we were both out with friends. Nothing eventuated after that until a year later despite the fact that we would check in with our friend to see what the other was up to. When we got in contact once again and started dating it was pretty clear that we had something special not just to us but to everyone else around us.

Heath proposed to me in our flat 7 months after our first date. It was so beautiful it made me cry. He had recreated one of my favourite moments from love actually and on a big scrap book had written out his proposal for me while one of my favourite songs the “blowers daughter” was playing in the back ground.”

“I wore the Harper dress designed by Anna Campbell. It is a part of her Forever Entwined collection. I went to Babushka Ballerina in Fortitude Valley to try on wedding dresses with my mum and sisters. It was so beautiful. I loved the lace, and the train and the beading on the dress. My favorite feature was the train of the dress.”

The couple chose Couran Cove for their wedding day, marrying in the Couran Cove Mango Chapel. Eliza tells, “Couran Cove was the place Heath and I shared our first night away with my family. It was the most amazing weekend for us both. Oddly enough we got married there exactly 2 years after that incredible weekend we had. This was not planned it just so happened to be. The Island has a certain charm about it, a rustic feel. The wood on the chapel is old and the trees have grown all around it. The word I used to describe the chapel to friends was magical. It feels like your hidden away in the middle of a rain forest.”

Eliza remembers, “I walked down the aisle with my mum by my side to the love score from the movie Love Actually originally written by Craig Armstrong but played live by my father Mark Botsford.”

Samantha Townend officiated the ceremony, the bride remarking, “Our ceremony was quite modern. We kept some of the traditional words but cut out a lot. We also wrote our own vows to say to each other. We wanted to keep the ceremony short and sweet but interesting which is what Samantha did for us. She did not waffle and personalised the ceremony to talk about our relationship and what Heath and I were like both as individuals and as a couple. It was a non religious ceremony although Heath and I are both quite spiritual.”

“When our recessional song started playing “Power of Love (from the movie Back To The Future) we walked a few steps and didn’t realise we had to keep walking back down the aisle so we both stood there smiling at everyone… oh my goodness there was a blonde moment. We were quickly hurried along by the bridal party. Everyone was laughing and so were we! Our excuse was “we’ve never done this before.”

Of their photographer, the bride remarks, “Our photographer Matt Evans was amazing and has the best eye for photography. We did not understand just why we had to walk so deep into the bush at the time but once the photos got developed we knew. He was so friendly and made everyone feel completely at ease.”

The celebrations continued at Couran Cove Surf Club.

The sweet wedding cake was crafted by Gillian Bell, Eliza remembers, “The cake was out of this world incredible! We chose a bottom tier of coconut with lime curd, and a top tier of white chocolate with raspberry curd all finished in coconut icing.”

“I planned every inch of that wedding and researched for months on end to make sure everything was just as I had in visioned in my head. I am a slight control freak and sadly for poor Heath have expensive taste.”

The first dance song was a sentimental choice for the newlyweds who explain, “We chose the song for our first dance from our favourite movie “Back to the Future” we are both a little obsessed. We danced to “Earth Angel”. Our first dance was a little bit messy although a lot of fun. I wish in hind sight we had gotten dance lessons before the big day but never the less it was still beautiful.”