Citaya and Andrew

Tell us your love story. How did you meet?
We actually met at children about 20 years ago. We grew up in small town, Andrew was in the same grade as my older cousin and he was always at her birthday parties and we would often cross paths at the swimming pool and other places around town.  We became friends in high school and I was always so infatuated with him it! If anyone ever wanted to get me to go somewhere they would say Petersen was going and I was there! Andrew moved away in high school but we kept in touch and stayed good friends there was always a mutual strong connection but our timing always seemed so poor and then one day we thought, we might as well give it a go! And here we are..

The Proposal – him or her? Was it a surprise?
It was him! It was such a surprise I actually thought he was playing a cruel joke on me. We had talked about it for so long, picked the ring and talked about being married but the day never seemed to come, and then one night we were enjoying a drink together at home after he had come home from work, catching up on things that happened while he was away etc. and he asked me to be his wife, and I thought he was being cruel, and I think I asked him 15 times if he was joking before I looked at the ring and said yes.

Your Honeymoon Plans
We actually didn’t make any concrete honeymoon plans. After the wedding we really just wanted to have a break from life and just be together. We are fortunate enough to live in a beach side community just where we have access to creeks, a beautiful beach and the ocean right at our front door so for two weeks we went fishing, had picnics down the beach, lazed around and watched movies, caught up with some friends and just genuinely enjoyed being newly married. I think it was the best holiday I have had in years! (I am working on a anniversary trip to the Maldives though 😉 )

Why did you choose Earlando? Was there something that made it stand out from other venues for you?
Andrews family had spent almost every year at Earlando all through Andrew and his siblings childhoods and they often talk about how beautiful it was and how much fun they used to have and have such amazing memories as a family there. I had never been and was curious about the place they had always talked about. We initially were looking at other venues in the Whitsunday area, and they are all stunning but during my searches Earlando popped up and I said to Andrew, isn’t this the place you guys always talk about, and WELL that was it haha that afternoon I had strict instructions to email and ask for dates. The light that came across Andrews familys faces when we said that’s where our wedding would be was amazing, they were so excited to be able to go back! It is the most beautiful location we have ever been too, it truly takes your breath away. It is hard to put it into words and photos don’t do it enough justice. We really wanted a bush meets the beach theme and the minute I got out of the car at Earlando I knew it was the perfect location. The hospitality is world class, everyone is so warm and inviting, from the day I emailed and discussed a meet up with Hannah right through to the end we could not have asked for anything more.

Did you have a theme to your wedding/wedding styling? What inspired this?

I really wanted a rustic/bush theme but also wanted to incorporate our love for the ocean and this was a really hard task haha. The location really pulled the two loves together because the venue is literally bush meets beach. The decorations to me were very warm and ‘bushy’ with the greenery garlands and the lanterns as well as the saloon lighting and being under the stars and the ocean in the background was just perfect.

I really had an idea in my head and the Wedding Planners and The Event Company Whitsundays really nailed it 100%.

What was your favourite part of your wedding?

This is a tough question. The obvious answer would be the part where we got married but there were so many other aspects that were so amazing, from the food to the hospitality, the photo tour, the dancing it was all so wonderful.

Do you have any advice for future brides?

My main piece of advice would be just to take a few minutes with your new husband when you can. The day goes so fast and can be a little overwhelming trying to chat to everyone and get all the formalities done and phones and cameras in your face all day can be a lot. So take five or ten minutes together take some deep breaths and have a real kiss and then party party!

Tell us a a funny story about your wedding day/wedding planning!

Our best man and Fraser (one of the beautiful staff at Earlando) had a worm off on the dance floor, Fraser barely needed encouraging and Matty was way to excited to have a rival. There was some trash talk from both parties and the dance floor was cleared out and the worm off took place, it lasted about 25 seconds and I think everyone was more shocked than anything that Matty could actually do the worm. Even more shocking, Matty was the winner and I don’t think Fraser lived it down for the rest of the night! Haha

Is there anything else you would like to add?

We cannot thank you enough from the bottom of our hearts for such an amazing day/night. It was the most amazing day, we will never forget it and we cannot recommend Earlando enough. Thanks again!