the white luxe country wonderland
The most magical wedding week we could have asked for.
It started something like this in forster…
Damien and Luke envisioned that their 350 guests would be entertained and pampered over the four days. The guests each packed nine smart casual outfits for this grand event.
There were 100+ glamping tents for guests, a wonderful white jumping castle for the bridal party, photography shoots, fine dining experiences, luxury wine tastings, spectacular fireworks, and so much more. The event base designed of only the best guest experience – from the moment they arrived, to their departure, guests had experienced the absolute best.
The 4 day extravaganza was a purely luxe and opulent affair, where nothing was spared or missed.
Luke and Damien’s special day was televised on Channel 7’s show ‘Extreme Weddings’, but we have a sneak peek for you! This extravagant dream wedding was a reality for Luke and Damien and was bestowed as Australia’s largest same sex luxury wedding to date.
Sneak Peak millions of fresh floral blooms at palmyra B&B
lets chat the wedding theme…
“We decided early on that the destination would be country-styled. We loved white, and knew we could be creating unique experiences over the 4 days -the only word that summed that up, was Wonderland! For everyone that knows us, luxe and opulent are given in our nature. So once we had a sentence that put our vision into words, we went about breaking down every part that would make it all come to life.
We wanted our bridesmaids to be dressed in couture designs by Velani, in gowns most brides would only dream of. The guys dressed in George Elsissa, who brought every detail of our brief to life. The jewellery for the girls and Damien, were bespoke creations from John Khoury. I am a landscape architect, so having flowers and lots of them was a given – we had over 1,000,000 imported Columbian rose stems plus all the foliage filling florals! We added pops of black with the bonboniere elements and chairs, to add masculinity to the design. We had suede grey menus, matching gold acrylic foils and name tags, to tie the styling back to the décor of the plates and cutlery. The tables were mirror-topped, so that florals and chandeliers suspended from the ceiling bounced reflections off everywhere.”
some insights from the couple
“Nothing was traditional about our wedding – we were the first same sex wedding on this scale in Australia and titled ‘Wedding of the Year 2019 in Australia’, so every detail was designed, executed and thought out well. Most couples get ready separately and sleep apart the night before – we slept together and got ready together! We are not Lebanese but having drums was a must for the energy – our guests were blown away with this additional cultural touch. To take the edge of the bridal party, we had a 30 minute session of jumping crazy in a white jumping castle, to take away the nerves – the guests also enjoyed it later.”
See more of the luxury affair at Palmyra on the barrington coast
some advice from the Happy Couple…
“Biggest piece of advice is secure a wedding planner from day 1. Pick someone you can go for dinner or have a drink with – you will be very close and personal with them for the whole planning and lead up to your wedding. Even if you’re organised, you need to enjoy your wedding and not stress over the production – leave that to a professional and enjoy your wedding – it comes and goes so quickly!
Funny thing is 3 months after our wedding we launched LUKdesign Weddings & Events - a Wedding Planning business. It took over 18 months to build Palmyra inside the house and outside in the grounds to be ready to host our wedding. In creating both Palmyra B&B (the venue) and LUKdesign Weddings (the Wedding Planning brand) for our wedding as event No1 - we never dreamed they each would be in 2025 - they say everything happens for a reason. We saw a huge opportunity after completing our own wedding in 2019 to be a couples best friend in supporting, guiding and educating them thru the best wedding planning journey possible. 350+ under our belt now - safe to say we 100% bring the fun, stress-free and superb strategy to the best day of your life with no exception.”
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