‘There were lots of tears’: Alfred blows wedding plans
An ill-timed and unwanted “guest” wreaked havoc on this Brisbane couple’s wedding day, forcing them to call it off three days out. But thanks to great planning, everything fell into place just one week later.
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Tropical Cyclone Alfred wreaked havoc on Molly Mee and Mitch Treleaven’s wedding celebrations, with the wild weather forcing the couple to call off their big day three days out.
But the Stafford couple didn’t have to wait long, rescheduling for one week later at their original venue of The Calile Hotel in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley.
The pair, who have been together for 12 years, tied the knot on March 14 in front of 168 guests with their ceremony on the rooftop followed by the reception in the Grand Room.
How did the weather impact your wedding day? Molly: We had everything planned for Friday March 7 until the week of the wedding when Cyclone Alfred threw a HUGE spanner in the works. A phone call from The Calile Hotel on that Monday advised us that we had to make a decision by midday Tuesday to either postpone or keep going ahead and run the risk of the Calile cancelling on the day and us losing our money. The risk was that The Calile could be out of power, or that no food would be able to be served due to no transport services, or that no staff would be able to make it. At this point, the cyclone was meant to hit Wednesday night so it was a very difficult decision, and there were lots and lots of tears! Tuesday morning and the cyclone decided to continue taking its sweet time and so Friday was then looking not so good. I had been in contact with all vendors at this point to see their availability for the following Friday as The Calile Hotel had this date available. Friday the 14th was then decided on the Tuesday afternoon to be our new wedding date and thank goodness as the weather turned it on!
How did you meet? We had mutual friends in high school and I went to All Hallows and Mitch went to Marist College Ashgrove. I invited Mitch to my semi-formal and we became quite good friends. Mitch then invited me to his semi-formal the week before as he had ditched his original date. We also knew of each other as our cousins were dating at the time and are now married – Emily and Blake Goddard, who were actually the MCs at our wedding. We also knew of each other as our grandfathers used to be mates and often shared a XXXX Gold at the Caxton back in the day.
The proposal? We had a weekend away to Noosa North Shore where my parents have a beach house but then we got taken to Sunshine Beach by Mitch as the “beach was more quiet than Noosa”. Mitch was so adamant on going to a quiet beach and nowhere near the flags. He was sweating like a crazy man as well. I went into the water as soon as we arrived and walked back to the beach to Mitch on one knee and the ring there – upside down!
What would you spend more or less on? I wouldn’t change anything! We probably didn’t need to hire the cars to The Calile Hotel for us girls – I was in an old school white Jaguar with my dad and the bridesmaids were in a black Rolls Royce. I love the vintage cars and loved the moment going to the wedding with just Dad and I but none of the guests even saw us arrive. We upgraded our drinks package from prosecco to a beautiful Champagne and I am SO happy with this decision as Champagne was heavily drunk by the females.
How did you go about choosing your wedding dress? I absolutely dreaded wedding dress shopping! I don’t like to be the centre of attention and don’t like trying on multiple dresses at a time. I knew I didn’t want strapless, V neck, backless, or poofy. I did however only go to three shops and found the dress at the third.
What thoughts did you have seeing Molly walk down the aisle? Mitch: Surprisingly, all the nerves were gone by the time I was waiting and it was just complete excitement.
What was the most stressful part of wedding planning? Cyclone Alfred! It was a big relief once the decision to delay was made but then it was planning for wedding 2.0. Messages were sent out to all our 180 guests and we only had about 12 who couldn’t then attend. The Calile Hotel were great in that we could then use the 12 per head money on the bar tab at the end of the night. Due to the new numbers, I then had to re-do the seating chart as the table arrangement became quite uneven. This then meant redoing the original, most stressful part of the wedding!
What was the standout moment? I loved the speeches! I loved being able to hear some of our favourite people speak about us and our relationship. We had both fathers speak, best man, maid of honour and Mitch and I.
What was a wedding non-negotiable for you? A videographer is a definite for me as I feel that even though the photos are absolutely amazing, the live footage on the day is something else. I can’t wait to re-listen to all the speeches and watch parts of the day that I didn’t focus on. Also, hard copy wedding invites – love that you get to stick it on the fridge and everyone can have it as a keepsake.
Best advice for other couples? Try and enjoy the planning, do the planning together and
be open and honest about what you both want. Take a moment during the afternoon/night for just you two to sit and have a drink together.
The Bride
Molly Mee, 28
Profession Radiation therapist
Parents Greg and Julieanne Mee
Bridesmaids Hannah Brown, Georgia Mee, Prue Clarke
Dress Toni Maticevski – designer (purchased from Sphere Bridal Gallery)
Hair Sarah Harrington
Make-up Cleo Cox
Flowers Sarah Serena from YourBud
Engagementring Family Jeweller
The Groom
Mitch Treleaven, 28
Profession Sales development representative
Parents Wayne and Julia Treleaven
Groomsmen Sam Clarke, Dylan McManus, Henry Devine
Suit MJ Bale
Entertainment Nick Trovas Band
Transport Tic Tac Tours
Videographer Phoebe Galloway
Celebrant Ange Anderson
Caterer The Calile Hotel
Cake emilyybakes
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