Intimate Rainy Day Beach Wedding

What’s better than a wedding day? TWO wedding days, that’s what! Specifically, an elopement followed by a truly simple gathering with your nearest & dearest. And that’s exactly what Cynthia and Morgan chose to celebrate the beginning of their marriage. They held their intimate, legal-only wedding after their elopement on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland on a moody rainy day by the beach, and Matt from Stone & Wool Photography was there to capture it.

We met the old fashion way at a bar in Santa Monica, CA. I was at the bar after a work event, and he approached me. My husband Morgan (Australian) was vacationing in the US, and it was his last night before flying back to Brisbane. We were in a long-distance relationship until we decided for me to move to Australia. I’m American and was living in California.

Morgan proposed to me while we were on vacation in Hakuba, Japan. It was New Year’s Eve, and we were snowboarding that day. When we were getting ready to leave the mountain, he popped the question while it was snowing! It was so romantic.

We wanted something simple to make our wedding legal and include Morgan’s family. We eloped a month prior in Roatan, Honduras. Our “second wedding” was in Caloundra, Queensland.

My dress was the Dove gown from Grace Loves Lace. I wanted to wear a different dress as I felt it had its special moment. I found the dress very last minute – I bought it a few days before the wedding. I was lucky the dress fit but needed the length shortened as I’m petite. I was able to get to alter the dress in two days. It was beautiful and silky and the best part it didn’t get ruined in the pouring rain.

Morgan wore the same outfit from our first wedding. He likes to be comfortable and wore a button-up white shirt with chino jeans.

Penny Bear, our mini longhaired dachshund, walked me down the aisle. For the flowers, I wanted a natural/native theme to go along with the beach setting. The flowers I picked were native Australian flowers for my bouquet as I wanted an earthier colour palette, and the bouquet was created by Perfect Petals.

We were married by Ann Aquilina at Morgan’s parents’ unit. They live across the beach so it had beautiful views. My mother-in-law organised a lovely dinner at Acqua Restaurant & Bar afterwards.

One of our favourite moments from the day was just spending time with family. Enjoying glasses of champagne and making memories!

We were so fortunate to find Matt from Stone & Wool Photography, who was recommended by a friend. We were happy he was available because the wedding happened so quickly.

It was such a great day. My favourite part of the wedding was the photo shoot on the beach. It was raining so hard and it was so windy! We just had to embrace the weather and have fun.