BENA X MARK

amelia fullarton photography byron bay weddings deux belettes bridal gown venue cake love

wedding date 18 may 2019

66 wedding guests

Bena and Mark met through mutual friends while visiting home in New Zealand for Christmas. Bena was living in Sydney and Mark was in Brisbane at the time. Together for just over two years, Mark prosposed to Bena in a beautiful rainforest that they once came across and loved on the Sunshine Coast. Mark decided that it was the perfect place to ask Bena to marry him so he booked a really grand hotel there and surprised Bena with a weekend away there.

"We went on our walk through the rainforest and he got on one knee at the waterfall." Bena tells.

what led you to decide on deux belettes for your wedding venue? We looked at a few venues but once we visited the french house Deux Belettes we couldn’t look back. It was just breathtaking, the calm tranquility and beauty of the architecture was just amazing. We fell it love with it, just so different to any other venue. I’m from Europe originally so it was an amazing feeling getting married somewhere that felt like we were there.

what was the inspiration behind your wedding theme? Relaxed / cocktail sort of vibe, everyone was just happy and enjoying themselves. The style you could say was vintage with a touch of boho and modern with a blush colour palette.

favourite moment: The ceremony, saying our vows out loud just felt so surreal and magical. And feeling the love from the speeches. They were so touching. We also had so much fun popping the champagne tower and dancing the night away with our friends and family.

favourite detail: I loved cocktail hour set up straight after our champagne tower. The vibe was amazing after just becoming officially married and listening to the musicians. Loved seeing our floral setup come to life, it was so beautiful.

how was your dress/suit shopping experience overall? Really good, found a dress fairly quickly but I must admit I had a change of heart towards the end. But I ended up sticking with the original dress.

what does marriage mean to you? A commitment for life, someone to grow old with. We see a lot of people get married and then divorce soon after. So we feel a lot of people take it lightly and don’t care. We do! It’s a life of love and adventure together forever for us.

advice: Have everything sorted at least a month before (if you can). It would be nice not having to worry and sorting stuff the week of the wedding so you can just relax. Easier said than done but at least try. Maybe get a second photographer and write more of a precise list of the details you want shot and who you want photos with. I didn’t think of it and don’t have a good photo of just my father and I for example. Don’t get me wrong I am still so happy with what I have.

I wouldn’t worry about spending a little extra here and there to make things perfect. For example, I DIY flowers on my cart which I wished I just got Wilderness Flowers to do. I also think relaxing and enjoying the day is so, so important which we did do. Just soak every moment in and take it in because it goes so fast.

any stand out vendors for the day? Everyone was pretty amazing really, everything ran smoothly.