Sarah + David by Eilish Burt Photography

The venue brought my hopes for an elegant, garden party-style wedding to life.

Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…

Dave and I are both doctors – I’m training as a GP and Dave as an anaesthetist in North Queensland, Australia, where we are from and where we met. We spent a few years in different corners of QLD, and I locumed throughout Australia a few years ago too before settling back home up north. We have been together for just over 7 years now. We got married on the day of our 6th anniversary, which we decided early in our relationship would be our wedding date the next time it fell on a Saturday, and it happened to line up perfectly with our timeline.

We’ve got two nearly 5-year-old dogs, Pudge and Percy, and we’re expecting our first baby in November! We love cooking (and eating) together; we are both vegetarian and love exploring different foods or flavours we haven’t tried yet, and good food and wine are something we prioritise when we go on holiday. We love being outdoors, hiking, travelling (especially to winter destinations to get away from the heat of Queensland), watching thrillers and spending time with friends and family.

We’re spending a lot of time studying at the moment, but if that weren’t the case, Dave would love to be out wakeboarding, woodworking, taking photos, playing golf and perfecting a cup of coffee. I love reading, attempting random craft activities, shopping for baby clothes, and exercising outdoors with our dogs.

How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?

We first met when we were in university in Cairns on placement at the hospital. We started seeing each other around a lot and started talking properly at a cocktail party a few weeks later, where Dave was doing the photography, and he ended up dropping me home that night after kindly and soberly taking me to get a kebab whilst I drunkenly told him my life story. We went on our first date not long after for cocktails and dinner and have genuinely spent most of our time together since then. Things always moved very naturally, and we were on the same page with what we wanted from the start. I thought Dave was the perfect gentleman, though quite mysterious, and I didn’t know much about him despite having quite a few mutual friends. Dave says his first impression was “radiant”, “happy” and “so tall”, but I remember him telling me years ago that he was expecting me to be stuck up based on my appearance – he quickly learnt that not to be the case. I had a strong feeling he was going to be a big character in my life from very soon after we met.

What styling and visual elements worked best for you? (could be things, the florals, particular hire products or your marquee, etc., something the stylist created or simply just the scenic beauty of your location or the existing design of your venue).

The venue brought my hopes for an elegant, garden party-style wedding to life – Dave was just happy to be there, but he thought it was perfect too. The greenery of the meadow surrounded by forest was the perfect, simple, effortless backdrop for our day and our photos are just incredible because of it. I loved the subtle pop of colour from our pastel bridesmaids, flowers, cake and decorations to warm everything up but still feel classic and timeless.

What did you enjoy most about the planning process, and do you have any tips for couples starting their wedding planning journey?

I just loved the whole process of gathering inspiration from instagram, magazines and Pinterest. It really satisfied the type A in me; I love an Excel spreadsheet. It was just such a special happy time for both of us as we were generally just so excited to get to marry each other. One of my favourite parts would have to be wedding dress shopping with my mum, mother-in-law, and maid of honour. My advice is to start looking for a dress earlier than you think because making and/or altering takes longer than you think! But also don’t rush to decide on other things that can wait, because your style can change; such as colour schemes/flowers/bridesmaid dresses etc.

Tell us about your vendors. Were there any standout suppliers you would like to make special mention of?

We truly loved all of the vendors we picked and felt so lucky to have worked with them. Eilish, our photographer, was a huge standout; she helped make the day so fun and relaxed, and everyone who was being photographed by her felt so comfortable. It’s so important to have a photographer/videographer with a good vibe as they’re right there with you all day and you want someone who’s essentially just another friend! Our videographer Ed and our celebrant Dan were incredible too. Penfolds Catering and the Palm Creek bartending team did a seamless and incredible job. Our on-the-day coordinator, stylist, florist – just everyone! I couldn’t recommend them all highly enough. They were all so attentive and helpful and kind. Our guests were gushing over all of them.

Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, and is there a story?

My wedding dress made me cry when I tried it on for the first time because it had the same exact neckline and fabric as my mum’s. I always wanted to honour her dress and style in some way and was even considering altering her dress, but I happened to end up finding a dress that was very similar in style at my favourite boutique I visited, Sphere. I also always wanted the Manolo Blahniks that Carrie wore in Sex and the City, but being 6’1, my feet are proportionate, and they don’t make them in my size! I genuinely scoured the internet for months to find something similar and ended up finding a beautiful pastel blue shoe with a pearl buckle by Badgley Mischka, and I LOVED them. Sadly, they did get quite destroyed as it rained on our wedding day (the name Sunshine Coast is really not very accurate)!

Dave had a tux made by Suit Society, and it was very classic and very him.

Tell us about your wedding and engagement rings.

Dave and I largely designed my engagement ring together; it’s an emerald cut Australian parti sapphire from central Queensland with two diamonds on either side, made with gold from my grandmother and mother. We had this made by our beautiful jeweller Lisa on the Sunshine Coast when we were living there. I absolutely adore the antique style of it and still stare at it every day three years on.

Our wedding bands were also made by Lisa; Dave’s has a smaller version of an emerald cut parti sapphire from the same mine in his wedding band, which is in a rectangular signet style. I’ve got a simple plain gold band to complement my engagement ring and have it remain the standout of the two.

What were one or two elements that were most important to you both that you were happy to spend a little more on? (food, photography, florals, the venue, your outfits?).

Photography, videography and outfits were probably our biggest splurges, and we wouldn’t have changed a thing; it was so worth it. Photography has always been a bit of a passion project for Dave, and it was a really important element to us both. Plus photos, video footage, outfits and jewellery are really the only things you get to physically take with you from the day, and so it made the most sense that these should be prioritised.

Was there a favourite moment (or two) that you will treasure always?

Feeling butterflies walking down the aisle to Dave, even though he is the person who knows me the best in the world, and I didn’t think it was possible to feel nervous around him. We both felt like we were dreaming the entire ceremony, so much so I can hardly remember it, but it was so magical (thank god for the videographer). I think also having a moment with Dave after our photos were finished, just talking and patting one of the horses on the property, was one of my favourite moments. It was so beautiful getting to spend the day with all of our absolute favourite people, but it can also be quite overwhelming being the centre of attention for that many hours, so having a minute to ourselves was really special.

What does being married mean to you, and are there any special rituals you have that you would like to share?

Being married to Dave is the best thing that ever happened to me. We both feel that it definitely changes something in your relationship that you can’t explain; it feels so safe and secure and special.

We made a new last name by playing around with different words we could build using letters from both of our old surnames, because for us we wanted to start our marriage on an even playing field, and it also signified starting something that we can build together, just us two.