Vote for Qld's best weddings of 2020s: All the photos and details
They are dubbed the best day of our lives – but sometimes the wedding event can be even better than we expected.
Lifestyle
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.
They are dubbed the best day of our lives – but sometimes the wedding event can be even better than we expected.
We have had no shortage of beautiful – and quirky – weddings in the 2020s, and these are some of the best of the best.
The 370-guest ceremony at Queensland Parliament House of Auchenflower couple Christopher Piggott-McKellar and Sarath Bodapati led the race to be voted No.1 with readers.
See all the photos below and look at how you voted below >>>
Inside this bride’s pink dream wedding
With a pink theme, glitter-clad acrobats, bubble machines, candy bar, doughnut wall and a waitress serving drinks from a dress made of champagne glasses, this couple turned the party up a notch for their wedding.
Bodybuilders Bec Harvey and Andrew Deasy tied the knot while the skies lit up with fireworks on Riverfire night in 2022 at Customs House on the Brisbane River.
Couple’s bizarre wedding theme
After meeting in an English pub and relocating to Australia almost 20 years ago, a Far North couple tied the knot in an intimate, tropical, Viking-themed ceremony in November 2023.
Jon and Natalie Herbert, who were engaged for 18 years, said they wanted to do something fun and non-traditional for their nuptials.
“We’re both from England so we’re both Celtic, but I’ve got ancestry that goes back to Norway and Jon’s ancestry goes back to Sweden,” Natalie said.
Cast your vote below >>>
Bride's rapid wedding after border mayhem
Their wedding day was nothing like the one they had spent almost a year planning but, like many brides and grooms in 2020, it didn’t matter.
Maddy Galassi and Mitch Stubbings, of inner-Brisbane’s Red Hill, originally planned to get married at the beautiful mountain venue, Ardeena, at Carool in Tweed Shire in northern NSW, on August 15. But with the borders closed due to COVID-19, it was going to be near impossible and, a week out, they changed their plans. The pair, who have been together for almost seven years, moved their wedding to The Calile Hotel in New Farm and tied the knot in front of 56 guests.
Mum to the rescue with jaw-dropping gift
With the bride’s mother a wedding planner, their big day was smooth sailing for Billie Bridger and Angus Higgins.
The couple, who met at a beach party in Sydney, married in 2024 at St Stephen’s Cathedral in Brisbane with the reception for 180 guests at a private estate.
The reception included an illustrator, a magician and CO2 guns from Osmic productions that let the bride and groom spray a blast of cool smoke over their guests.
The Sydney couple honeymooned in the Maldives, Paris and the Loire Valley.
‘Get married a different month’
This couple married in the middle of a tropical monsoon weather event, but thankfully the rain held off for their ceremony.
Mitchell Malt, 30, and Jamie Malt (nee Harper), 28, tied the knot on March 23, 2024 with a ceremony at Maison La Plage on Noosa’s Main Beach, followed by a reception at Noosa Boathouse.
“We have travelled to Noosa many times just the two of us and each time has been so beautiful, it was actually the first time it had rained when we have been there,’’ Jamie says.
Couple’s epic City Hall wedding
This couple married in a beautiful, flower-filled ceremony on the lawn at Old Government House and followed up with a reception for 350 guests at Brisbane City Hall.
Kimmie Tran and Bao Pham, who live in Eight Miles Plains, wed on June 22, 2024 and went all out: the bride had three dresses, a bubble tea cart dispensed drinks in monogrammed cups, there was a lion dance, a traditional tea ceremony the day before and a limitless bar tab.
Bride channels her inner rap star
Not many brides get to unleash their inner pop star on their wedding day.
But Liana Crosdale got to do just that when she was asked to get on stage with the band to sing the female vocal on Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus.
“I obviously did a good job because Mark from Ramjet (the band) asked if there was anything else I could sing,” she says.
Two cultures, 370 guests, three days
With 370 guests, a ceremony on Speaker’s Green at Queensland Parliament House and a reception in the main auditorium at Brisbane City Hall, this wedding was a huge undertaking.
But Auchenflower couple Christopher Piggott-McKellar and Sarath Bodapati, who have been together for eight years, were determined to personalise the event which ran over three days from April 5-7 by handwriting notes for each of their guests on the back of the place cards at the reception.
Bride’s confession: ‘The one thing I’d ditch’
After meeting at a university toga party, 12 years later this Gold Coast couple celebrated their love story with a stunning hinterland wedding.
Shanée Dobeson and Luke Holmes tied the knot at The Bower Estate on the Gold Coast in front of 75 guests. The Hope Island couple encouraged their guests to dress in pastels and neutrals to fit with their theme of timeless elegance. For the bride, however, it took trying on about 40 dresses before she found her perfect gown which she says happened in a twist of fate.
Cast your vote below >>>
Glam bride stuns in unconventional dress
After a Covid delay the year prior, this Brisbane couple managed to make their wedding day one of “love, emotion and laughter”.
Queenslanders Prudence Richardson and Tom Sweep – who have been together for nine years – were due to marry in August 2020 at Nightcap National Park at Nightcap Ridge in northern NSW.
Guests stunned after speech gag
A Townsville couple incorporated their love of the North Queensland city’s rugby league team into their wedding, with their first dance to the club song, Cowboys Are My Team.
The South Townsville couple, who married in 2023 on the lawn at Townsville’s Bridgewater restaurant, followed up with a long lunch reception for their 56 guests inside. Jane Meredith and Ben Galvin had been together just over a year when they wed, after meeting more than 10 years ago at work.
My big fat Greek wedding
A choreographed group dance, endless food and drink and non-stop party made for the perfect wedding day for Toula Georges and Kiernan Tait.
The East Brisbane couple, who have been together for eight years, married in front of 168 guests at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George in South Brisbane before continuing on to an afternoon tea at Nostimo Restaurant and Bar and the reception in the Grand Ballroom at The Greek Club on October 12.
Couple’s epic Bali wedding
A three-day celebration at a clifftop Bali resort that spared no expense was the culmination of a love story that began three years ago.
Gold Coast couple Luke Brechin and Katie Stevens married on August 20 at Ungasan Clifftop Resort with more than 80 guests who flew in, and more than 150 family and friends joining via livestream, with an event also the night before and a recovery the day after. Guests were briefed to wear “neutrals” and dress formally.
Basketballer’s epic Brisbane country wedding
After a surprise Disney proposal, a professional basketball player and her beau married at her family’s country estate near Esk in the Brisbane Valley on August 31 last year.
Miela Goodchild and Joshua Sowah, who met when he helped with her basketball practice when she was home on holiday from her university scholarship in the US, had been together four years when they married at Holy Red Deer Estate before 120 guests.
The theme was classic Hollywood glam meets country simplicity, with white roses, dark greenery, gold highlights, mirrors and crystal.
Bride, groom drop shock bombshell
After their wedding was up-ended by COVID, Steph and Danny Cerneaz had one final surprise for guests at their February 2021 wedding.
A little one.
“We have our first child on the way, I was pregnant on the wedding day and we announced it at the wedding,’’ Steph, 31, said at the time.
Cast your vote below >>>
Brisbane celeb pulls off epic wedding for less than $10k
Emma Sheppard, from the popular Brisbane band Sheppard, married Liam Sheppard in an intimate Brisbane ceremony with a fun,Vegas vibe.
The couple, who coincidentally have the same surname, live in Nashville in the US, but returned home to wed at Wham Bam Thank You Sam in Windsor on Brisbane’s northside on March 8 in a ceremony complete with a pink Cadillac and an Elvis impersonator.
The elopement-style event was before 13 guests, with a reception afterwards at Spicers Balfour Hotel in New Farm.
Why dad left daughter halfway down aisle
After meeting at a football fan day where they were both working in 2018, this Kedron couple celebrated their wedding with two ceremonies that celebrated their cultural backgrounds.
A Chinese tea ceremony was held at the bride Nancy Hsu’s family home in Macgregor on March 13 followed by a full western ceremony and reception, which included nods to groom Andy Allan’s heritage, with 88 guests at Summergrove Estate at Carool in northern NSW on March 16.
Bridgerton theme, pink dress code and a six-storey champagne tower
A Bridgerton theme with all the guests wearing pink, an I spy game during cocktails, a Cadillac used in the Elvis movie, members of the wedding party entering to movie theme songs and a six-storey champagne tower were just part of the festivities at the wedding of Katrina West and Reece Watson.
The Brisbane couple, who have been together six years, became engaged in front of the Disneyland castle in Anaheim and then married on April 18 this year at Braeside Estate on the Gold Coast before 96 guests.
Bridesmaid moment hits 2m TikTok views
They could have crossed paths so many times over the years. Noah Honeywill’s parents were both Grace Chesmond’s art teachers at her school, Somerville House in Brisbane, and one of Noah’s brothers used to work for Grace’s mum at a law firm.
Yet it was Tinder in February, 2017, that eventually connected Noah and Grace. The Stafford Heights couple started chatting online and, according to Grace, “the conversation didn’t get very far” but Noah had mentioned he ran live music venues.
Weather presenter’s stunning destination wedding
Weather presenter Josh Holt is on cloud nine after marrying the love of his life at a stunning destination wedding.
Holt, 10 News First Queensland’s meteorologist, and his partner of four years, Skye Davis, tied the knot on October 1, 2022 in front of 80 guests at St Mary’s By The Sea followed by the reception at Nautilus Restaurant in Port Douglas.
‘Thought he was a DJ’: Guests shocked
After meeting at a primary school tutoring class, this couple met again in high school, went to the formal together and then when they thought they’d never meet again, ran into each other at university.
Jennie Tran and Kha Ngo have been together for the 10 years since, marrying in the Brisbane City Hall and holding their reception in the Watermall at the Queensland Art Gallery on June 3.
The Wishart couple, who own Espresso Hut in Eight Mile Plains, worked “seven days a week for five years straight” due to staff difficulties over Covid and were determined to have an amazing wedding and celebration.
Couple’s wacky choice turns heads
After knowing each other for years, this couple, who were living in different states, started dating during Covid via Facetime.
Tim Mountford and Bernadette Syrimi married after three years together on April 20 this year at The Refinery in Brisbane’s Newstead before 90 guests.
The Noosa Heads couple broke with a few traditions, opting not to have a cake and to use that money towards a gin bar, and rather than a first dance together they asked everyone to join them in one big first dance to Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody.
Cast your vote below >>>
Bride blown away by mum’s gesture
This couple met as teenagers and after 12 years together they married in a beautiful, fun-filled ceremony that included a surprise Maori blessing and haka.
Southport couple Jesse Bowker and Monique St Clair met over the summer of 2011/2012 while camping with mutual friends at Wilson’s Promontory in Victoria. Jesse had just turned 18 and Monique was 17 and after living in Melbourne, then travelling to Europe, they moved to the Gold Coast.
Helicopters, champagne towers and fireworks
A helicopter arrival, a champagne tower with fireworks, personalised shot glasses and stubby holders, a gelato cart, a voicemail guest book and a dance floor blowout, there was no stone left unturned at the wedding of Brittney Young and Jack Raisin.
The Jimboomba couple, who met in 2014 when Brittney liked a Facebook post from a mutual friend, married on September 1 last year at Elysian Fields near Canungra in the Gold Coast Hinterland before 110 guests.
Adding to the fun was the fact there was no end time to the reception, with the guests bussed in for the occasion.
Planning fail that made for a dream wedding
This bride and groom met in Brisbane on a night out three years ago, hitting it off straight away.
Burleigh Waters couple Camille Lagana and James Ridley married three years later with both ceremony and reception at Summergrove Estate on August 4 before 94 guests.
“We met in July 2021 at Sixes and Sevens bar in Brisbane,’’ Camille says.
Shock wedding news sends guests ‘crazy’
Georgie Taylor-Brown and Jack Jervis waited months to reveal their biggest news yet, surprising their guests with the bombshell during their wedding speech.
The Enoggera couple, who have been together for four years, waited for their wedding speech to tell their guests they were expecting their first baby. “Everyone went crazy,” says Georgie of the moment.
Bride, groom break major tradition
Only a few weeks out from their wedding, Ashleigh Ferguson and Byron Thick had dinner with their close friends. They asked them what they would do differently about their own weddings.
Their answer? They would ditch this one tradition.
“In the moment, Byron and I were like, why can’t we do that?! So we did,’’ Ashleigh says.
NRL bad boy's dream wedding day
When the NRL bad boy fell for the reality television star, it felt like a well-worn script. But there is nothing ordinary about the love story of Susie Bradley and Todd Carney.After they met in 2019, they faced their fair share of adversities including Carney’s problem with alcohol, says Bradley, which led to their separation months before they were due to get married in 2023.
Now, two years on, and both now two years sober, the couple are more in love than ever.
The couple, who have been together for six years, celebrated their wedding at their Queensland property in Wonglepong in the Scenic Rim on January 19 this year.
Bride and groom's epic first dance
From a bride on horseback galloping into her reception to a Champagne tower and couture outfits, La’Ace de Vries and Adam Danielli celebrated their lavish wedding in style.
The Nundah couple, who have been together for 14 years, tied the knot at The Old Dairy Maleny, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, on November 9 last year.
It was an intimate celebration with 67 guests for their black-tie wedding sprinkled with an At Last theme, inspired by the Etta James song.
Moment that brought Maroons hardman to tears
Playing a rugby league Test match for Australia the night before your wedding is not a typical preparation for a groom. But North Queensland Cowboy, Queensland State of Origin and Australian player Reuben Cotter and his bride Mackenzie Falco took it all in their stride when he was called into the side in 2023.
Fortunately the game against Samoa in the Pacific Championships was in Townsville, also the location for the wedding.
Originally published as Vote for Qld's best weddings of 2020s: All the photos and details
Best family resorts in Rarotonga
About 47,000 Aussies are expected to visit the Cook Islands this year. So, what are the best resorts for families in Rarotonga?
How protein affects your sex life
A sexologist explains