Sometimes, the most romantic of stories, unfold beside the sea. “Our wedding was at the beach, but it wasn’t really a beach-themed wedding. It really was just one big happy party if I’m honest!” explains one of the stars of today’s show Mia. Mia and Damo wed in an intimate wedding, that embraced every bit of what they love about the Sunshine Coast. “We kept decorations pretty minimal and simple, with our main priorities being enough really yummy food and drink and a great band! The wedding reception was cocktail (stand up) allowing everyone to mingle all night – we wanted to be amongst family and friends.”

With an incredible frock (complete with bow and embellished veil) a private seaside ceremony, and booking out a favourite restaurant to dance the night away, it’s no wonder photographer Jessica Turich had endless excuses for beautiful photography! This is a story you’re not going to want to miss!

Although they’re both from Queensland, Mia and Damo met in Sydney through mutual friends. In Mia’s words “Damo had been living in Sydney for several years, and I eventually moved from Brisbane to Sydney for a bit of change. When I was in Brisbane one of my great work colleagues was the best mate of Damo’s from boarding school.  So, when I told this colleague I was moving to Sydney, he told me about this mate he had in Sydney. I found out after we started dating, that this friend had also had the same chat with Damo.

Long story short, I moved to Sydney and we had a few mutual friends which meant I quickly fell into the same friendship group (who are some of our closest friends!). If Damo was telling the story it would be at this point, that he’d point out that he was friend-zoned for a fair well, but it wasn’t intentional on my behalf I was just busy being me! Nonetheless, we become the best of friends and the rest is history, as they say, I suppose.”

Well, history until Damo decided to pop the question! “It happened in Noosa one Christmas after the ‘busyness’ of Christmas was over. We went for a walk one morning just the two of us and Damo proposed along the way. It was a very private and happy moment.”

“Damo wore a three-piece linen suit from InStitchu in a lovely ‘blue denim’ colour in linen” explains Mia. “He didn’t mind what he wore, to be honest, but decided on the linen as it was very ‘Noosa’ vibes. He looked dashing indeed!”

Mia’s look included very special sentimental details. “I wore my mum’s beautiful pearl bracelet with a coral clasp which I’ve loved since I was a girl. I borrowed my eldest sister’s aquamarine ring as something borrowed. Damo surprised me with a diamond band on the morning of the wedding (very lucky!) which I wore with my sister’s aquamarine on my right hand.”

We can all agree on Mia’s look, complete with bow and embellished veil, was drop-dead gorgeous, so here’s the low down on how she pulled it all together. “We got married within five months of being engaged so I knew I didn’t have the option of ordering a dress on the standard ‘6-8’ month lead but didn’t want to go down that route anyway. I wanted something a little different.
The dress was a vintage Carla Zampatti (brand new) that I found on eBay and had tailored to fit me. It was quite ironic and special as sadly she died about a month before the wedding. The bow (which was detachable) was something I found at Harriette Gordon, a wedding designer in Perth. I bought it online without seeing it, somehow knowing/hoping it would work.
My veil was from Karen Willis Holmes which I found a couple of weeks before the wedding and they managed to get one made express. I had beautiful wedding shoes with big satin bows that I found online somewhere in the UK. I didn’t know what I was searching for and then I came across these. I didn’t try all four things on together until a week before the wedding but had visualised it all in my brain and hoped that they would all work together – and they did!

We were very very lucky to have our wedding as planned with no covid disruptions (aside from a few very close friends/family overseas who couldn’t make it). We did though, make a very quick decision to fly to Brisbane (from Syd) a couple of weeks before the wedding as Covid was starting to ramp up and were fearful of border closures. At this point, I hadn’t picked up my dress from the alterations and so I had to arrange for it to be shipped to Brisbane once finished.

I did have an outfit change later in the night and I changed into another vintage dress by Carolina Herrera – the most fun ruffle number! I bought this as a sample at a lovely wedding shop in Brisbane (Bessette Bridal) a week before the wedding as a backup as my original dress hadn’t arrived from Sydney. I was prepared for whatever outcome and was lucky I had a backup option but even luckier we were able to have the wedding. In the end, the original dress arrived, so I wore that, and didn’t plan on changing during the night but did anyway!”

Mia and Damo chose  Maison La Plage right on the water for their ceremony, Mia explaining “We wanted to be outdoors for the ceremony and wanted something relaxed and fairly simple. Originally we looked at the lookout at Noosa but that wasn’t feasible at the end given we had 95 guests, so opted for practicality and minimal logistics for guests and got married at Maison La Plage.”

“I had both my mum and my wonderful stepfather walk me down the aisle” remembers Mia, the trio walking to Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love”.

The couple was married by Jay Flood – Noosa Style Ceremonies. “We didn’t want an overly long ceremony” explained Mia, “Neither of us like a whole heap of attention so we wanted to keep it private and simple. We both wrote our vows. We were very fortunate to have Damo’s grandmother do a reading and my aunty read a poem.”

“Just enjoy the day and each other” advises Mia, “It goes so quickly and all the small stuff is so quickly forgotten afterwards. It’s your day so soak it up and do it your way!”

The beautiful and simple floral arrangements, were styled by Campbell & Bradley Flowers and adhered to Mia’s brief of seasonal flowers in tones of white and green. Says Mia “I had a peonies and the girls had white roses and baby breath. The boys had a single white rose. The decorative flowers were a combination of beautiful white flowers that were in season and some greenery.”

“Jess came recommended through Damo’s mum as she’d recently photographed a wedding of a family friend in the country” explains Mia for the decision to hire Jessica Turich. “I also just really liked her and felt comfortable with her from the moment we first spoke on the phone. She felt like an old friend. Neither of us are photogenic, we can be quite awkward in front of the camera so being comfortable around the photographer was very important. Jess was great at taking charge on the day to ensure we got amazing photos. And amazing photos we certainly got!”

After dark, the celebration kicked off at Bistro C. “Bistro C was an easy decision really – it’s beachfront, the food is amazing and really is quintessential Noosa!  We also didn’t really have long to decide on things, which meant we didn’t dwell or get overwhelmed with too many choices.”

There is no lack of amazing vendors when it comes to Mia and Damo’s dream team, right down to wedding cake maker Stephanie’s Creative Cakes. Says Mia “All our vendors were amazing!! Top 5 vendors – Bistro C (venue), Jess Turich (Photographer), The Hamilton Band (our band), Stephanie Creative Cakes (our cake was amazing!) Stephanie is a family friend and has been making cakes for my family for years & Jay Flood (our celebrant) as he was cruisey, down to earth and made us feel super comfortable!”

The newlyweds combined two of their favourite tunes for their first dance. “We love Elton, so our first dance was Tiny Dancer and then it changed to “Wagon Wheel” (a good old country song) as a way to get our guests on the dance floor. And it worked! It works every time.”

Congratulations to you both Mia & Damo and all the love to you both in your life together. Thank you to Jessica Turich for sharing this beauty of a story with us.