Fiona and Geoff’s wedding at Bougainvillea House was a true celebration of their love and happiness.
Having met and unexpectedly fallen in love later in life, these two were both so full of gratitude to have found such a special love.
When planning their wedding, it was so important to them that they spend as much time as possible enjoying the company and celebrating with their nearest and dearest, so they opted for a less traditional wedding schedule.
Opting for a 5pm ceremony time, and instead of arriving separately, they both arrived early together so they could both greet and welcome guests as they arrived.
The ceremony took place beneath the veranda of the elevated Bougainvillea House with a sweeping backdrop encompassing the Brisbane river, the Story bridge and the wharves prescient.
Their ceremony was a true celebration of their love with their grandchildren standing beside them as their wedding party.
When I asked Geoff to tell me about the things he loves about Fiona to share during the ceremony, he said:
He thought he could cook, and that he knew a bit about wine, however after meeting and getting to know Fiona, he quickly learned he was but a novice in both of these categories.
Notwithstanding his beginners licence, he quickly learned of their shared passion, for food and wine, but more importantly for integrity, humour, laughter, family and friends.
And Fiona’s response to the same question about Geoff:
She loves that making people laugh is important to him, even if not all his jokes are funny! She describes him as easy going, genuine and generous to a fault.
She knows how much he loves his family and friends and would do anything for any one of them even if he had to go without, which shows a beautiful quality and strength that she deeply admires.
She loves that he is honest and true to all of those that he surrounds himself with and to Fiona, this has been demonstrated by the many long strong friendships he is blessed with.
They shared beautiful heartfelt vows that they wrote together, and in keeping with their humour and love for laughter, included these fun vows too:
Fiona: I promise to share my extensive wine collection with you even though yours wasn’t as good as mine.
Geoff: I vow to find your sunglasses and phone and everything else you misplace on a regular and daily basis, just so you can misplace them again.
We always like to step off to the side while our couples share their vows, allowing the Photographer to capture these special moments.
The ceremony was the perfect balance of being heartfelt and special, while being relaxed and fun too.
As Celebrants it’s always such a highlight seeing wedding guests fully engaged with the ceremony and enjoying it this much.
What an amazing celebratory ceremony! After the ceremony the couple took a short stroll around Howard Smith Wharves with their very talented Photographer Trang who did an amazing job capturing these beautiful shots, as the day turned in to night.
Trang was so understanding of the relaxed celebratory day they envisioned and how important it was to them to spend time celebrating with their family and friends, so she kept the location photos quick and nearby, giving them time to have some moments alone together but also allowing them to get back to the celebrations.
If you enjoyed hearing about this wedding at Bougainvillea House and you are looking for a Celebrant for your special day, we would love to hear form you.
Contact us now to confirm availability and let’s start planning your special day.
Wedding Vendor Team:
With Celebrant Jamie Eastgate – Brisbane City Celebrants
Photographer Trang of Still Wild Love
Venue Bougainvillea House at Howard Smith Wharves
Eager to see more? you can view more blog posts of weddings we have loved being the Celebrant for on our blog at Howard Smith Wharves weddings.