NSW bushfires: Sydney couple vow to hold wedding at Campbell Rhododendron Gardens in Blue Mountains

A Sydney couple is refusing to cancel their wedding ceremony in a bushfire-damaged garden as a show of support for hurting businesses.

Bride-to-be Teegan Diamond and fiance John Huckins are looking forward optimistically to seeing signs of rejuvenation in all the ash and black burnt trunks. Picture: David Swift

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A loved-up Stanmore couple are refusing to cancel their February wedding in the bushfire-damaged Campbell Rhododendron Gardens, as a show of support for the venue’s volunteers.

The Grose Valley fire tore through the gardens on December 21, decimating nearly a third of the usually colourful 18.3ha venue, including the swamp next to which they will wed on February 8.

“They need all the help they can get now,” bride-to-be Teegan Diamond, 36, said from under an umbrella on Sunday underneath the blackened trunks of the Blackheath venue she had chosen for its beautiful ferns and other natives.

Teegan Diamond at the Campbell Rhododendron Gardens with fiance John Huckins ahead of their wedding at the venue. Picture: David Swift

The usually colourful Rhodo Gardens as seen in Spring. Teegan will walk over the intact wooden bridge towards her groom. Picture: Campbell Rhododendron Gardens website

She and fiance John Huckins, 30, had already locked in the gardens for their wedding ceremony — and Blackheath’s The George Boutique Hotel for their reception — when bushfire started threatening the upper Blue Mountains villages in late December.

A gardener by profession, John watched the Fires Near Me app anticipating the worst.

“Christmas Day I was literally passing a present to my brother and John said, ‘The fire’s gone through the gardens’,” Miss Diamond said. The news stopped her in tracks, but then she decided she’d look on the bright side.

The Blue Mountains Botanic Garden Mount Tomah is beginning to reopen to visitors after the recent fires significantly affected over 80 per cent of the 186-ha wilderness area of the Garden’s estate. Picture: Jeremy Piper

“The fires happened when the wedding is; that’s just how it is,” she said philosophically.

The couple has since also booked a two-night honeymoon stay at the Hydro Majestic in nearby Medlow Bath to, in a small way, help support the local economy even as other brides cancel their Blue Mountains weddings.

Tania Wiseman, owner of Victoria and Albert Guesthouse in Mount Victoria, said a bride cancelled her October wedding due to fires and Carrington Hotel, Katoomba, has had three March weddings cancelled.

Lovebirds John Huckins and Teegan Diamond kissing in the rain among the burnt trees at the gardens, known among locals as the Rhodo Gardens. Picture: David Swift

“My nan spent her honeymoon at the Hydro,” said Teegan Diamond of the iconic Hydro Majestic Hotel. Picture: David Hill/Deep Hill Media

“Fire came through the swamp from the Grose Valley; because it has methane gas in it, it went up,” Deb Wells, president of volunteer-run Blue Mountains Rhododendron Society, who maintain the gardens, said.

However, even she has managed to find a silver lining in the ashes of the fire — the high canopy of the gum trees was minimally affected and firefighters stopped the blaze crossing the valley to the main developed gardens area and saving buildings.

The gardens have reopened to the public but in some areas restoration is underway and some trees still need to be felled.