Relaxed Tropical Luxe Wedding

Marnie & AJ

A little tropical delight seems to suit the glorious sunshine filled state of Queensland, so the relaxed tropical luxe feeling of Marnie and AJ’s wedding is just the ticket to inspire your celebration of love – with added pineapples! The couple chose Mitch Carlin to capture their gorgeous day!

Marnie tells the romantic story of how the couple met “We met twelve years ago after both being posted to teach in a small town in the Lockyer Valley- a few hours away from our family and friends in Brisbane and the Gold Coast. It became instantly obvious as to why the universe had manipulated this course of action for us, though it took AJ a couple of years to ‘make his move’. After a fireworks filled first date (this is not a cliche, the date was River Fire), we’ve been inseparable. ”

The bride had her gown made after being inspired by a favourite designer.She recalls ” We were living overseas at the time of planning our wedding outfits and were, therefore, able to get these custom made by our favourite dressmaker in China. My dress was fairly simple and made for comfort. Beading embellishments and a long train were the main considerations. I also had a dress change (a shorter, but still white Dejcuba dress) later on in the night to allow for minimal restrictions on the dance floor. ”

Marnie and AJ chose Mudgeeraba Showgrounds for their wedding, telling “With guests flying in from all over Australia and beyond, our biggest hope for everyone was quality time and minimal hassle. For these reasons, Mudgeeraba Showgrounds was the perfect venue where the ceremony spot, canapés area and reception hall were all within a 20 metre stretch of one another. This allowed for fun, seamless transitions between locations and more time for mingling and being in good company. We love Mudgeeraba and at the same time of planning our wedding there, we bought a house in the area. The greenery at the show grounds tied in perfectly with our theming. We also wanted a blank canvas so that we could style exactly the way we wanted to and all three areas met this prerequisite. ”

The bride chose “Halo” by Beyonce for her walk down the aisle.

Nicole Evans officiated the wedding, the bride remembering “Our ceremony was personal, emotional and just genuine. We individualised the entire ceremony and there was lots of laughing (from us and our guests) for the duration. Our vows were unconventional, but very ‘us’. They included vows such as me promising to let AJ know when he has “food in his teeth or crumbs in his beard”, “filling [his] life with good surprises” and “continu[ing] to give [him] the bigger half of everything”. AJ’s promises included things such as “always giv[ing] me the window seat”

” The ‘show’ was stolen by my 15-month-old nephew who we’d been training to bring the rings to the celebrant on cue. ”

Of their photographer, the bride remarks “Mitch Carlin was just amazing. He just blended into the scenery but was somehow everywhere. We were overwhelmed with the shots and his professionalism. There’s a beautiful blend of art and life to his work which just exudes joy. Mitch is such a cool guy and we hold him in the highest regard for all the attention and energy he put into ensuring our expectations were exceeded. ”

The Events Co styled the reception to match the couple’s vision of “Tropical luxe styling – lots of candles, palm leaves, shell chandeliers, coconuts, pineapples and laid-back feels! ”

“We loved the visual magic that filled each scene. People could not believe how good everything looked”

Of their vendors, the bride notes “They were all actually amazing and we absolutely loved everyone we worked with. Because of their talent, shout outs must go to – Kate and Amy from ‘The Style Co.’ for their incredible styling and co-ordinate – Rob and Barb from ‘Fisheye Studio’ for their magical cinematography work – Michael Eotvos for supplying our guests with some smooth, smooth looping sounds – Mitch Carlin for his magical shots – Rania Jashan from ‘Varsity’s Secret’ for the amazing 6 month pre-wedding prep work she put into beautifying the bride, Maid of Honour and mum ”

“We really wanted to be amongst our guests as much as possible and ensured we had two long tables at the reception with us at one of them – highlighted by our peacock chairs. ”

The night was filled with dancing, the bride remembering “There were actually LOTS of dances – we don’t mind the limelight and shaking it a bit. AJ danced back down the aisle (totally improvised) once we were announced as husband and wife to ‘Treasure’ by Bruno Mars – When announced by our MC to enter the reception hall we’d pre-choreographed and rehearsed a short sequence to ‘Rather Be’ by Clean Bandit – I performed a traditional Samoan Siva (being half Samoan and following cultural tradition) with my Samoan relatives – Our supposed ‘first dance’ (which ended up being about the fourth dance) was to ‘I Wanna Make It Witchu’ by Queens of the Stone Age. This has always been our song and it was so cool to have so many couples joining in on the groove session that it became. It felt like everyone was up on the dance floor. ”