Local Sunshine Coast couple, Amanda and Steven Cheyne, announced they were married to their family and wider circle of friends with a poem they wrote.
Our Elopement Announcement to our Families – the morning after
Yesterday by the shores of Lake Baroon, we gathered at three in the afternoon
In the secret garden where people were few, we exchanged the enduring words ‘I do’
With just little Flynn and a handful of mates, standing beside us to celebrate
Sealed with a kiss, to elope we did choose, we’re ready now to announce our big news
We’re thrilled to exclaim that we share the same name, our little trio now sealed with a ‘Cheyne’
And although you were missing we just want to say, you were deep in our thoughts throughout the whole day
Amanda believes it’s important to realise not everyone can get their whole families together stress-free, so breaking the mould is an option worth exploring. Her and her now husband, Steve, chose to have their elopement at Secrets on the Lake in Montville, as the added element of “secret” appealed to the sentiment of the day! Amanda shares her Sunshine Coast elopement experience with us here.
Deciding to Elope
We “eloped” with just close friends who kept our secret- no family, just close mates. We did things a bit differently, out of necessity. It was a bit difficult when we first set out to do this. There was a bit of hesitation when we told traditional vendors we were doing it this way, and felt like we were breaking the mould of a traditional day. It made us think we should just elope – the two of us and our son. But that made us feel too isolated and we felt we needed some key people from our lives to celebrate with!
When we pushed past that, we realised that there’s no exact formula to a wedding. It can be as customised as you like, and when we pushed all of that aside, we truly felt like our format was incredibly fitting for us and we hand-crafted our dream little tropical event.
Smooth Planning
It was such a wonderful day with thanks to the Sunshine Coast wedding vendors we worked with- and I think it’s worth mentioning how we got on to them all through The Bride’s Tree‘s wonderful content and information. It was such a well-oiled machine (the Sunshine Coast wedding scene), and it was lovely to see everyone working together so beautifully and promoting one another’s services. It was such a positive experience to see each business tagging each other and helping to promote one another. I don’t know many experiences I’ve had in my time where it feels so collaborative of one another in any one industry.
Keeping with Tradition
My beautiful diamond and earrings (something borrowed, something blue) were loaned from Artisans Bespoke Jewellers, where we had my engagement ring made. They have an awesome offer – if you have your ring made there, they loan you a piece of jewellery for your wedding day. They were aquamarine drops with white gold diamond flower tops.
Special Moments
On behalf of my late Grandad, my friend Bob walked me down the aisle, reading out the last card my Grandad wrote to me before he passed. I carried a photo medallion in my bouquet to represent my Grandad and put the flowers from the bouquet in the ocean on our honeymoon on Fraser Island as a symbolic gesture to him.
To open the ceremony, our friends read out our very first love letter we wrote to each other which made us all giggle. Our friends also read portions of our ceremony instead of our celebrant reading it all – including the asking vows, which felt really personalised.
Unique Touches
We landed on a tropical themed wedding- it was so colourful– ALL of our guests wore Hawaiian shirts and our flower arrangements were so colourful. Steve is known for his Hawaiian shirts!
Our two-year-old son, Flynn, was included in putting his special ‘seal’ on our marriage by helping us lock a personalised padlock onto the fence at the location of the ceremony and throwing the keys into the fishpond.
We had ‘love ladders’ displayed at the ceremony, which we made ourselves, with photos from our lives together and alternating quotes from our letters and cards to each other over the years.
Photographer: Christy Maree Photography | Venue: Secrets on the Lake | Celebrant: Kath Tilly Marriage Celebrant | Florist: Willow Bud | Dress: Made with Love – preloved from the Still White website |Earrings: Artisans Bespoke Jewellers | Hair stylist: Evalyn Parsons | Makeup Artist: The Ballerina Bride | Musician: Ollie Murk (on didgeridoo)
Thanks for supporting our A-list Vendors below, who helped make Amanda and Steve’s Sunshine Coast elopement so special…
