The photos today, don’t completely tell the truth, because to us, while they look pretty perfect, to Chess and Micheal, they do not reveal the various mishaps that led up to the day. “Living in rural FNQ in Mount Isa & planning a wedding in metro Brisbane was a complete nightmare” admits Chess.  “I don’t know what I was thinking!”

From carry on luggage going astray, to the couple’s flowers not being able to land, you would never know, thanks to the photographs by Renee of Two Wild Hearts that these two had to fight hard to get down that aisle!

But it was, it seems always going to happen, because these two were almost meant to be. “We worked out that we should have met at least 20 or so times before we actually did. The Universe finally put us head-on when the time was right for both of us… definitely kismet!” The wedding day, small and intimate, and just what was needed. ” We wanted a day Formal and very intimate for the ceremony, then a little bit fun and super relaxed.”

The couple made sure to honour family history through their day – Chess wearing her grandmother’s wedding ring, like her own, and Micheal proposing with his own grandmother’s ring. “The proposal was just a sweet moment, very intimate” reminisces the bride. “He was sweet enough to use my mother’s engagement ring to propose with while mine was being created. It was about five sizes too big! AND in the end, I didn’t like any of the ring designs and we decided that I would just resize my mother’s ring and wear that forever!”

When it came to the groom’s look for the day? “Micheal was in all black… ” notes the bride. “His vision was a bit Johnny Cash, cowboy hat and all. We had a one of a kind brooch made for Micheal (and his best man/son Angus). Micheal’s brooch was a key with wings, a butterfly and a clock all signifying personal touches to our day.”

Francesca wore two outfits for the day, the first a stunning gown designed by Jay Godfrey Custom Design. “I wore a simple gown for the ceremony and our formal family photos. I wanted a simple white gown as I wanted the flowers to be the standout and they were.”

The couple chose the beautiful, historic space of The Treasury Brisbane for their ceremony. Says Chess “It is the only venue in town that had that old world charm we were looking for. The feel, the furnishings, the fireplace, the massive rooms with ornate ceilings and verandas and the internal staircases. There were so many amazing photo opportunities.”

The couple entrusted Fontana Floral with their flowers, Chess sharing “Our vendor was not able to deliver the flowers that we wanted exactly due to flights not arriving etc. I had to make some decisions and really the only thing I wasn’t going to negotiate on were our bouquets. They HAD to be exactly what I wanted and this was possible. It must have been hard for our vendor as it was quite devastating for us. What Davina was able to pull together was absolutely beautiful despite not being what we originally wanted. Davina did all she could to still make our day’s florals amazing.. she was able to pull together my bouquet perfectly! I was not fussed with the backdrop florals as I knew she would do something gorgeous!!”

The couple were married by Ketrina Coffey. Chess noting “We had our ceremony in one of the Treasury’s suites which had incredibly high ceilings and a fireplace. The space was perfect. We only had four people in our party and Micheal’s parents as witnesses plus our celebrant and our two photographers. I wanted it to be very personal and almost sacred. We shared personal vows along with a beautifully worded ceremony that our celebrant helped create.”

“My handsome husband cannot say my first name without tripping up and I cannot say his last name! ” laughs Chess. “So when it came time to say our legal vows we both had to sing-song our way through our names because it’s the only way we could successfully get them out!! It was a bit cute.”

Chess and Micheal worked with Diamondport on their rings, which turned out to be a good decision after an almost mishap! Chess explaining “When we touched down our carry on was mistakenly picked up by someone else! Of course, wedding necessities were in our luggage! Luckily the person who took our bag by mistake was a local and it wasn’t on its way to NYC or somewhere else!!
This then put us behind schedule for our appointment with our jewellers (Diamondport Brisbane) to organise my wedding ring.. my Grandmother’s that needed all the diamonds replaced etc. Luckily our jewellers were lovely and stayed open for us to make sure I had a wedding ring to be married with.”

The couple’s choice of photographer received all the rave reviews. “Renee…… I can’t say enough good things about her! Honestly! Hands down the best! So lovely, so creative, so calm, so patient, so accommodating! Amazing!”

Chess’ second look for the day was a white jumpsuit by Georgy Collection. She tells “After the formal photos were done, I changed into a strapless pearl-encrusted jumpsuit for outdoor fun photos. We had so many plans for the outside shots but the weather had other ideas!! Ah well……. best-laid plans and all!”

When it came time to celebrate, Chess and Micheal booked out the private dining rain at Black Hide Steakhouse for their celebration. There was no first dance, the couple choosing instead to celebrate with a delicious dinner and, of course, cake!

Congratulations to the newlyweds! Doing your day your way made for such a fantastic story to share. Thank you to you both, and Two Wild Hearts for sharing today’s beautiful wedding.