Maleny Manor Wedding
It all started with a room advertised on Flatmates, a vodka cruiser and two bedrooms right next door to each other.
Nicole & Tom
Their Love Story
When Nicole first moved into the house Tom was already living in, neither of them could have known where it would lead. Tom remembers Nicole arriving with a vodka cruiser in hand, seemingly ready for a quiet night at home. Their rooms happened to be beside each other, Tom kept finding reasons to hang around the hallway for a chat, and those chats quickly turned into hours-long conversations about pretty much everything.
That friendship became something much bigger. Over the years they’ve built a life that Nicole describes perfectly as a “wonderful blend of love and chaos.” They’ve welcomed their beautiful daughter Harper, opened their family and their home to Vaughan and Charlie, bought their first home together and created a family where love isn't just something they talk about ... it shows up in what they do every day.
Tom is the calm to Nicole’s chaos. Nicole is the constant energy in Tom’s life. They’re silly together, they genuinely enjoy each other’s company and, underneath all the jokes, there’s this really beautiful sense that these two are a team. Their wedding wasn't the beginning of their story. It was a chance to stop, look at everything they'd already created together and celebrate it with the people they love most.
Sneak Peak
A Quote from the Vows
One of my favourite parts of creating wedding films is hearing couples put into words what their relationship actually means to them. Nicole and Tom’s vows were full of little inside jokes and references to their everyday life, but there were also some bloody beautiful lines amongst them.
Tom summed up his promise to Nicole perfectly:
“Most of all, I vow to choose you every single day.” ~ Tom
And Nicole’s vows had a line that really captured what Tom means to her:
“Tom, standing here with you feels like coming home.” ~ Nicole
Simple. Personal. And very them.
Their vows weren't about pretending life will always be easy. They were about choosing each other through the adventures, quiet moments, dark clouds, random packages arriving at the front door, cupboards full of bed sheets and whatever other chaos comes next.
Full Wedding Film:
A little about the celebration
From the beginning, Nicole and Tom said the most important part of their wedding was being able to experience it together with their daughter Harper. That tells you pretty much everything you need to know about these two.
Their ceremony at Maleny Manor wasn't just about becoming husband and wife. It celebrated the family they'd already created. Harper was there as their beautiful flower girl, Vaughan and Charlie were a huge part of their story, and Nicole and Tom also took a moment to remember Tom's mum Patricia and Nicole's grandma Mona with a remembrance candle during the ceremony.
That's what made this day so good to film. There was emotion, but it never felt forced. There were beautiful moments alongside plenty of laughs. Their celebrant Debi told their story in a way that sounded like them, and Nicole and Tom weren't trying to turn their wedding into some giant performance. They were just enjoying the fact that all their favourite people were in one place while they celebrated the life they'd already built together.
why I love this wedding venue for weddings
If you're looking at Maleny Manor for your wedding, there's a reason this place has become one of the best-known wedding venues in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland.
The private 30-acre estate sits in Maleny with huge views stretching towards the Sunshine Coast and Mount Coolum. There are multiple ceremony options across the property, including the garden beneath the Crows Ash Tree, the Pavilion and the elevated Helipad, plus an indoor wet-weather option. There's also the garden party area, reception space and accommodation all within the one property.
From a wedding filmmaker's perspective, Maleny Manor weddings work incredibly well because you don't need to disappear for hours to find somewhere beautiful to film. There are so many different locations and backdrops within the estate itself, which means we can keep portraits relaxed, chase the good afternoon light when it arrives and then get you back to the people you've actually invited to your wedding. That's always a massive win in my books.
There's also something about having the ceremony, garden party, portraits and reception all flow together in one private location. Rather than your wedding feeling like a schedule of places you need to get to, you can actually settle in and enjoy it. And that's normally when the best candid moments happen.
a thank you message
Nicole and Tom, thanks so much for trusting me to capture this chapter of your story.
I loved that you gave me the freedom to simply watch the day unfold and capture the moments that felt like you. Nicole actually wrote in their questionnaire, “We trust you, capture the moments you want and will ask if needed.” For someone who films weddings the way I do, that's pretty much the dream brief.
You guys have already built something bloody special together, and I hope this film becomes one of those things you can pull out years from now, with Harper, Vaughan and Charlie sitting beside you and remember not just what everything looked like, but exactly how this little chapter of your family felt.
legends from the day:
A little about the celebration
