It was meant to be a big wedding for Phuong and Adam on April 18, 2020 at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, Brisbane but as the global Coronavirus pandemic took hold, restrictions began to take place in Australia that limited weddings to no more than 50 people.
With great sadness the couple decided to postpone their wedding to later in the year but were determined to legally get married on the original date, so they decided to legalise the marriage in front of a dozen or so family members on the 18th then have a small lunch reception to celebrate their nuptials. But again the Government made further drastic changes to social events and limited weddings to just 5 people - the couple, a celebrant plus two witnesses.
Again, being determined to get married, they asked myself (videographer) plus the photographer to act as witnesses plus film and photography the brief ceremony for them. Of course we both agreed to be a part of this unique situation and as to not tempt fate they brought the wedding forward two weeks to the 4th of April.
With much back and forth Adam finally got permission from the Brisbane City Council to make this ceremony happen. Next hurdle was the weather, it was forecast to storm on Saturday afternoon around the same time as the ceremony, but rain, hail or storm they were not going to postpone or cancel due to Covid-19. And as fortune favoured the brave the rain held off and we were greeted with lovely overcast conditions (great for photos and video). Although there were some unwanted pesky guests in the form of mosquitos, a quick spray of repellant to care of them.
Just after 3pm, the beautiful bride made her way along the rainforest path to Adam awaiting in the rotunda, months of planning followed by weeks and days of replanning had finally come to fruition. The ceremony was performed in front of myself plus the photographer as well as many other joggers and bike riders who passed the rotunda, some even wishing them the best as they strolled by.
With vows and rings exchanged the couple were pronounced husband and wife. After a very long first kiss and a look of 'we did it' Adam and Phuong embraced with the realisation that what seemed the impossible had become reality - they were married!
I had the honour of signing their marriage certificate and filming their special ceremony, something which I may never do again. As a videographer and photographer I get to go to many amazing places all over the country and meet many beautiful people, this experience is certainly one of my highlights.
Thankfully I was available for the rescheduled wedding reception and look forward to filming that later in 2020 - fingers crossed!