Small footprint weddings – Eco Elopements in Tasmanian Wilderness

Imagine you and your partner wake up on your wedding morning, enjoy a slow breakfast together and jump in the car on your way to your wedding. You arrive at a beautiful wilderness location that might hold sentimental value to you, or perhaps you just fell in love with it through photos. You start to get ready, getting dressed in a beautiful outfit that you love and have chosen because it makes you smile. You meet together under the canopy of the rainforest, or on the beach with the sand underneath your bare feet. You exchange heartfelt words (or maybe some silly ones, if that’s more you!) and are guided through an intimate ceremony by a celebrant who feels like a friend. You share your first moment as married partners and toss the (biodegradable) confetti in the air! You share hugs, someone pops the champagne and you bliss out for an afternoon of local Tasmanian grazing and your favourite Tasmanian wine. You might have chosen to stay in one of our stunning accommodation choices or you may jump back in your car and head off for more celebrations with your nearest and dearest.

Whatever vision this brings up for you as you read it, is exactly the experience you should have. Authentic, meaningful and full of love. A day without pressure, without anxiety, without endlessly being pulled in a million directions. We offer you a space to relax, be yourself and soak up every minute of the day.

I absolutely adore the Great Western Tiers, from Deloraine all the way through to Cradle Mountain. Cradle Mountain is somewhere I have visited every year since I was a little one and it definitely lives up to its reputation – absolutely breathtaking. Our family property is nestled in the Great Western Tiers as well and we’ve had countless bonfire nights and celebrated just about every milestone we’ve shared as a couple in that bush area – so that is incredibly sentimental too. Meander Falls is somewhere close to our farm that is relatively quiet, but absolutely amazing – some of the most beautiful forest in Tasmania. Places that I would like to explore much further are the magnificent Tarkine, the Blue Tier are in the North East, as well as Maria Island. There are so many amazing places to go, it takes a lifetime to really explore them all to the fullest.

Tasmanian festivals are like no other! I’ve travelled extensively and I’ve never come across celebrations like you’ll find in Tasmania. Unfortunately 2020 hasn’t been a great year for our arts and culture, but they will be back bigger and better than ever. My absolute favourite is the ‘Huon Valley Mid Winter Festival’ where you dress up, head out into a freezing paddock on a winter’s night and wassail to bless the apple orchard. There’s amazing food, the best music to get the paddock dancefloor bustling and an endless sea of quirky characters to meet. I think an elopement there would be absolutely unreal – it would be an experience of a lifetime for the right couple.

Eloping has so many benefits, lots of which I share each week on our social media. One of the great benefits is that you are investing your time and your money into something that really makes your soul happy. Priorities are shifting with each generation and I believe that we are becoming very in tune with the notion that the choices we make, particularly as a consumer, are our vote on the kind of world we want to live in. Wilderness Weddings is changing the wedding experience from being about consumerism, to being an experience for the soul. We are placing the things that are truly important at the forefront and giving you permission to forget about the traditional pressures around marriage.

Another benefit of eloping that is becoming more and more obvious by couples who choose this path, is that you and your partner actually get to enjoy it. How many times have you been to a big, traditional wedding and noticed the couple don’t eat, they barely get a drink and they just look a bit frazzled. When you choose to just invite your nearest and dearest (or maybe no one at all), you get to soak up all of the amazing elements that you want included in your day. You get to really enjoy the location, close your eyes and breath in the fresh air. You get to enjoy your partner, you’ll be laughing and smooching all day. You have time to eat the food, enjoy the drinks and make memories to last a lifetime.

For me, business with purpose comes really naturally. I come from a background in Women’s Health and Community Fundraising, so I have always been drawn to things that are serving the community, rather than just someone’s bank account. By having a purpose that you feel incredibly passionate about, you are able to effortlessly find the people who believe in the same things that you do. I have connected with so many amazing people through this business and I am able to offer my enthusiasm to create something incredibly special in someone’s life. I know that what I do not only makes the couple and their family happy, but also gives opportunities to other small business owners in Tasmania to join in as well as giving back to the planet on a larger scale (through our carbon offsetting program). My business is so much bigger than me, it belongs to the community as a whole.

People and plants! Just about anything that I do in life revolves around people and plants. I see my family both as my husband and baby, plus the people that I have invited into my innermost world – they all make me incredibly happy. Celebrating what my nearest and dearest achieve in life is one of my favourite things – hence why I am always organising little dinner parties, birthday shenanigans and getaways with my friends – as that’s how I show my love.

I also love plants in all forms. I am incredibly happy when I have some free time in my market garden at our family property, or even just with my pot plants at our unit. I grow my own veggies on our concrete patio in suburbia, using recycled styrofoam boxes from the greengrocer. I also love getting outside and being amongst tall trees. There’s something special about being under a canopy of forest that I really like – I always leave happier than when I arrived.