As a wedding celebrant there’s always the big Kahuna. Well usually there’s more than one, there’s a list, but the big Kahuna of venues that you hope and pray that one day someone will let you marry them there.
Maleny Manor is on my list. While my Big Kahuna is an outdoor dream venue that actually doesn’t it exist, I live in hope that some amazing couples will tick off my list and help me reduce that list to one.
This week I did my first wedding at Maleny Manor. From the moment you hit that sweeping driveway and hit that hair pin turn you almost forget you’re in control of a vehicle as the view across the mountain valley opens in front of you.
The open air gazebo makes you feel like you’ve put yourself in the mouth of the valley and the view is almost enough to distract you from why you’re really here. Almost. Maleny Manor is beautiful. The staff, some of the friendliest I’ve encountered and just being there amongst the green made this one of the most beautiful and relaxed venues I’ve ever seen.
While waiting for Kellie to arrive, I mingled and chatted with guests, found myself staring at the greenery and generally doing all I could to soak up the atmosphere. Then Kellie arrived. Kellie and Dave’s love story is one of those really revolting ones that makes you feel a little bit sick on the inside. And then you meet them. And then you realise that they are the quite the loveliest people in the whole world and you have no choice but to like them. They are those kind of people.
The wedding underway, there is nothing else to focus on than the people in front of you. Kellie and Dave, their attendants and their friends and families. The view disappears and the wedding becomes about the people. About making sure the expressions on faces are all based in happiness, that all we can all feel is the love that is shared by these families.
At the end of that wedding, there are only two things that I walked away with. That breathtaking first view of that valley and the warm gushy feeling that comes from really being part of something that is so much bigger than I am. That view will be a hard one to beat, but that feeling, it can never be beaten.
Kellie and Dave were married at Maleny Manor in Maleny. Photographer was Matt Rowe Photography. Check out their instagram for more pictures of Kellie and Dave’s big day. And thanks again guys. It was an absolute honour to be part of your big day!