Tips on planning a destination wedding in FNQ

Q&A with Teagan and Ryan
Little Cove / Sugar Wharf Port Douglas, QLD

Can you tell us your proposal story?

We were up in Port Douglas for my sister-in-laws 30th birthday!

Ryan had apparently wanted to pop the question the night that we arrived but we encountered some car hire issues and by the time that we were heading up to Port D, Ryan decided it was too late to do our dinner on the beach plans.

We re-arranged our dinner on the beach plans for the following night. Fish and chips, enjoying the scenery and watching the sunset on Four Mile Beach, Ryan used a break in the conversation to get down on his knees in front of me and asked me to make him the happiest man on Earth and marry him. I was so lost for words that it took me a minute to even get the word “yes” out.

We headed back into town to see the family and share our news and celebrated with drinks!

What were the early stages of planning your destination wedding like, what things did you organise first and did you always know you wanted to get married up North?

Since Ryan and I had been together and experiencing a destination wedding early on in our relationship, I had always dreamed about having our wedding in Port Douglas. Although we never really spoke about it having our wedding up North before getting engaged, Ryan was mentioning the idea to people the same night we got engaged – which made that decision so much easier that we both had the same dream!

I loved the early stages of the wedding planning! There was so much excitement, not to mention learn – Instagram and Pinterest were a HUGE help! Instagram in particular for finding potential vendors and inspiration for some of the destinations around Port Douglas that we could use for our day. When we got back from our holiday where we got engaged, I think I spent the next month or so just scrolling through Instagram finding vendors and inspiration.

The first thing that I started to organise was a realistic date, I also looked rainfall data for the time of year we were looking at and then locking in our venues! As Port Douglas has a reputation for being a wedding hot spot, I wanted to be sure that we didn’t miss out on the venues we wanted so I booked in as early as possible J

How did you find the planning process from so far away in regards to organising the look and feel of the venue, picking vendors without meeting etc?

I found the process not too bad. I feel we were lucky that we had been to Port Douglas so many times before, we felt confident with how we knew Port Douglas and what we wanted out vibe to be for the day.

We settled on our venues really quickly – Little Cove for Ceremony and then Sugar Wharf for Reception. (Although, the Little Cove didn’t end up happening on our day and we ended up with using Rex Smeal Park, it was still everything!!)

I didn’t find the distance to be too much trouble when deciding who to use for our day.

I feel was able to cheat with some of the vendors as I was able to attend a wedding in Port Douglas about 9 years before, so I had heard of some people’s names which gave me a huge helping hand in having a starting point.

That being said, I did still Instagram and Facebook wedding vendors like crazy for the next month or so after we got back from our trip when we got engaged. You want to be sure that you have looked/sussed out as many people as possible before inquiring and looking at the work that they produce to ensure that you are able to put together a team that can execute the vision and vibe that you want to have for your day. I feel knowing the style of wedding you want before inquiring will help you while you’re making your inquiries – for yourself and the vendors so that you can focus on what is achievable.

Being open to having phone calls, lengthy emails and most importantly trusting your gut instinct when you are in contact with potential vendors is key – they are the people who you’re surrounding yourself with on your day and be in regular communication in the lead up, so trust your gut when choosing who to go with. I felt that we had gelled well and clicked with the people we had on our day and that they understood our vibe!

We were super fortunate to lock in the Vendors that we wanted and were really able to make our dream team! We were also really fortunate and were able to come up about 6 months before the wedding to meet and greet with our vendors – which if you are able to do I would highly recommend. Even though we got on so well with everyone with the communication that we had, it is always great to put a name to the face and it absolutely gave us such confidence that we constructed the best team to bring our day to life.

I would definitely recommend a Wedding Planner/Coordinator also! Whether you would like to have someone there to help plan every step of the way or to be a helping hand in the lead up and take the stress off of you on the day, it was a HUGE help! I was someone who didn’t even consider or think about having a Wedding Coordinator/Planner but can tell you that it made a world of difference.

We got recommended Bec from Dragonfly Weddings and Events while we were up meeting vendors. The work and helping hand that Bec was able to provide on our day was invaluable – she hung my wedding dress in her lounge room so it wasn’t cramped up in a caravan, she kept the boys on track, able to coordinate with vendors setting up about altering things, and looked after all of the little things so that we can truly enjoy our day. We both cannot recommend Bec enough.

What was the most memorable moment from your wedding day for each of you?

Ryan – there’s so many to choose from! It’s probably cliché but it would be seeing Teagan for the first time and seeing her step out from behind the limo!

Teagan – I was going to say a similar moment! Mine would be walking out from behind the limo and walking down the aisle to see Ryan waiting for me. I was so nervous with the big walk but my brother did his best with trying to calm my nerves as I walked down that aisle.

Had you planned to have a videographer to capture the day right from the start or was it a last minute decision? If it was a last minute decision what was holding you back on having one initially and what was the experience like on the day vs. what you imagined?

We definitely planned to have a videographer right from the start. We thought and felt it was an important to have for our day. We valued the importance of capturing our day so that we could look back on how our day and how it unfolded in years to come.

WORTH EVERY PENNY!!!

We actually initially paid for just a highlights film but within a day or two, Ryan had decided he wanted the whole kit and caboodle and we got in contact to see if we could add in all of the other films – you never get those moments back once it’s gone!!

We both imagined it to be more set up but the way that Steph (photographer) and Tayla were, both being really calm and chill it was almost like you were a part of the wedding. We both felt instantly comfortable around you and cannot thank you enough!! (even with the goo-ing and gah-ing hahah)

Do you have any advice you could give to future brides & grooms still planning their big day now that you’ve been through it all yourself?

• Definitely have a videographer and wedding planner/coordinator. Literally worth every cent.

• Go with your gut when choosing vendors – book as soon as you can to avoid disappointment!

• Even if it does rain on your wedding day (like it did on ours), if you still get to marry the love of your life at the end of the day, that is all that matters and what will be, will be!