Not going to lie, I think country weddings are good for the soul. Brigitte and Ric made the most of the stunning Queensland landscape for their big day, and the rustic country venue of Coronation Hall, which has been a favourite of rustic wedding lovers for many moons, and with Brigitte and Ric’s celebration, it is so easy to see why. The wide open landscapes, the sparkling rustic hall, each made their own as they celebrated their forever love story with the lovely Adriana Watson Photography along for the ride (and when we say ride, we mean ride, scroll on to see what the groom restored that almost stole the show!).

The way Ric proposed was not quite as he planned, but I have this feeling, that it was actually all the more romantic! Brigitte’s version of the story goes a little like this. “We were engaged in February 2020, in Neisko, Japan. Richard was planning on proposing at the summit during a 10 day ski holiday.

On the last day, we summited during a blizzard and had to take shelter in the ski hut at the top to wait for the weather to pass. The weather didn’t clear and after safely skiing back down, he popped the question in front of our friends.”

 

Brigitte found her gown at Made With Love.

First stop of the day? A private country farm for the private ceremony.

    

Of her walk down the aisle, Brigitte remembers “My dad walked me down the aisle to a live slow acoustic version of “Simply the Best” by Tina Turner, sung by our brother-in-law, Asa Broomhall.”

Brigitte and Ric wanted a specific vibe for their ceremony, and they got it with celebrant Sommer Saunder Celebrancy. “We wanted our ceremony to be fun and light-hearted. Our celebrant, Sommer Saunder captured that feeling perfectly with our love story and had our guests laughing, cheering and tearing up.”

Brigitte and Ric chose Adriana Watson to capture their wedding- a decision they loved. “Adriana Watson is an amazing photographer. She was recommended to us during our search for a Sunshine Coast photographer. We found Adriana during the Covid-19 lockdown so had our initial meeting via zoom. She was incredibly friendly and we felt very comfortable with her from the start. On the day, she captured every single moment somehow without even being noticed. During the bridal party and couple shots, she was fun and easy to work with. We love every single photo she captured for us!!”

The floral colour palette, styled by Rosita Flowers was kept simple. The bride noting  “The bouquets were made up of white babies breath, white and cream roses, gum leaves, eucalyptus leaves and a touch of dried pampas grass. All decorative flowers were simply white babies breath with gum and eucalyptus leaves.”

“Don’t get too overwhelmed at the start of the wedding planning process,” advises Brigitte. “Focus on one component of the wedding at a time, once you have the date and venue sorted, everything else will fall into place.”

  

The rustic country hall of  Coronation Hall, Somerset Dam was just what these two wanted for their wedding. “After many venue viewings, we knew we found the perfect venue for us when we visited the Coronation Hall. This beautiful heritage-listed hall was perfect for our relaxed and rustic wedding. We needed a DIY venue big enough to fit our 110 guests comfortably with a decent size dance floor! We stumbled across the beautiful private property later that evening on Instagram.”

The couple included special family photos. “We wanted to include a display of wedding photos of both our parents, collectively they share 80 years of marriage along with wedding photos of our grandparents” explains Brigitte. “My Opa and Oma (Dutch grandparents) attended our wedding and celebrated their 65 wedding anniversary this year!”

Brigitte and Ric put their own touches on the wedding, making much of the decor themselves. “Our whole wedding was DIY. We hired all our vendors and suppliers separately, from the hall right down to salt and pepper shakers. We both got creative and made most of the decorations and props ourselves, including table decorations, hand sanitiser favours (Covid), wishing well, seating plan and a restored tandem bike. We had a lot of help from family and friends to pull off the day of our dreams!”

The tandem bike that (almost) stole all the spotlight, was a special surprise for the guests explains Brigitte.  “We wanted to incorporate a bicycle into our day as Richard’s passion for bikes is very important in our relationship and something we both enjoy. He restored a vintage tandem bike to match our colour theme and we surprised our guests by riding this bike into the reception.”

Brigitte and Ric what a treat it was to share your day! Thank you to you both and thank you to Adriana Watson Photography for sharing today’s beautiful celebration!