Courtney and Brendan

Venue: Novotel North Wollongong
Photos: Wollongong North Beach

This one was tonnes of fun!

Courtney and Brendan’s big day did not initially seem like it, if you had been a guest. While planning their engagement party and adding up the costs, one day it clicked to them that with all the planning and effort going into it, why not just have the whole wedding as well? And so a plot was hatched.

What started out as an engagement party with a super fun atmosphere quickly turned to surprise for all the guests, as an apology for running late turned into a surprise announcement that everyone was actually here for their wedding! Everyone poured out onto the Admiral’s deck of the Novotel to see that there was a beautiful set-up waiting for them, and Courtney had been stashed away and hiding the whole time.

Almost everyone had a smile plastered onto their face for the ceremony, which was full of jokes and laughter. It also boasted one of the cheekiest and glitter-filled recessionals after, as while the guests were still processing the wedding, Courtney and Brendan just continued walking straight out the door and across the road, with the guests having a cocktail hour to discuss what they’d just witnessed. We took our portraits around the esplanade of Wollongong North Beach.

The reception’s order of events considered of food, drinks, and LOTS of dancing! I believe if there had not been a sparkler exit planned, this fun crowd would have kept partying late into the night.

Published by Chloe Ianni

I am a Wollongong based photographer who specializes in small weddings and on-location portraits.