Wedding bliss on dreamy island

A BEACH wedding on sun-kissed Daydream Island, in the Whitsundays, may sound cliche but it really is a unique and memorable way of tying the knot.

Romantic ... Daydream Island's white beaches and tropical backdrop form a magical settings for weddings / AAP

THE golf buggy zips along the path, swerving around the couples in their togs and towels, the beach just centimetres away with its bleached white coral sands.

It's an unusual way to get to a wedding – especially if you're the bride.

The buggy skids to a halt outside the brilliant white chapel and her bridesmaids, dressed in a deep ocean blue, converge, fussing over the dress and fixing her hair.

The bride takes a slower, more purposeful pace as she drifts down the aisle to the sounds of a string quartet. The groom waits before a roof-to-floor glass wall which takes in the dazzling tropical sights.

The couple make their pledges over the dull roar of the Pacific Ocean.

Once the province of starry-eyed teenagers, more and more couples are running away to get married – especially if there's a tropical island involved.

Boasting white sands, and a deep blue underwater playground where there are as many colours as there are fish, the Whitsunday Islands do a booming trade in weddings.

Daydream Island is situated five kilometres off the mainland in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and is the closest of the 74 islands to the mainland hub, Airlie Beach.

Just one kilometre long and 500 metres wide, its three beaches are fringed by outcrops of live coral while the centre of the island hosts a dense jungle of tropical vegetation inhabited by parrots and tiny sunbirds.

It is among this natural beauty that more than 250 couples tied the knot last year – but they have been coming for decades.

The drawcard, apart from the breathtaking surrounds, is the personal wedding planner each couple has access to, says the island's wedding sales executive Lee Mellor.

She describes it as "a mecca for the romantics" who want a dream wedding, but don't want to spend the time organising it.

"And there's so many different locations. You can do the private, intimate thing for the runaways, to weddings with 100 people," she says.

The chapel is even equipped with hi-tech webcast facilities in case family and friends interstate or overseas can't make it on the day.

Later, after photos have been taken on a beach backdrop, guests take their seats at one long dinner table, draped in white and sprinkled with fresh flowers.

Before the bride and groom is a waterfall feature cascading down to the resort's ocean aquarium – home to hundreds of tropical fish and live coral – and an ocean view stretching through the palms.

The intimacy of the dinner is one of the perks of being married in such a private setting – one of 11 settings couples can choose for their reception.

Down below, by the beach, couples can sway to their bridal waltz to the sound of lapping waves on a timbered deck decorated with dancing flames.

Lovers Cove is one of the more popular locations, its seaside setting attracting those attached to the tropical theme.

But couples are not restricted in the way they wish to celebrate and any location that takes a couple's fancy can be furnished by resort staff.

And the point of getting married on an island is that the wedding blends seamlessly into the perfect honeymoon.

Couples stay as long as they wish – taking a break before the special day, or stretching out the stay to take in the magnificent Great Barrier Reef.

A helicopter flight and picnic on nearby Whitehaven Beach – a must see for visitors, with its blinding white sand and deserted-island feel – is one of the most popular activities for honeymooners.

But with regular deep-sea fishing trips disembarking from the island, which also has its own spa retreat to chill out at, it's also a good place to practice that which underpins marriage – compromise.

The writer was a guest of Daydream Island Resort and Spa and travelled by ferry courtesy of Cruise Whitsunday.