Beach weddings not so simple
Thu 23 March 2006
Hannah Klose, Journalism
Weddings on the Sunshine Coast’s beaches, although appealing in theory, are not so easy in practice since Maroochy Shire Council introduced fees and guidelines in late 2002.
Amber and Daniel O’Brien got married at Yaroomba beach in January, and are both jaded by the process they had to go through to tie the knot.
“You’d think having a beach wedding would be something simplistic, but all the hidden politics and fees involved make it more difficult than you’d expect,” Mrs O’Brien said.
Initially they wanted their wedding at Tea Tree in Noosa, but they were told by council only 20 people could attend.
“They said only 20 because it’s a National Park and it could cause damage to the environment, but hundreds even thousands go through that park every day,” Mrs O’Brien said.
So they chose Yaroomba beach as the site for their wedding. Nervous about getting rejected a second time, Mrs O’Brien told the Maroochy Shire Council there only 
would be 50 people attending.
“The lady said ‘How many people are you thinking of having?’, and I said maybe 50 and she basically implied that she was glad it was only that many,” Mrs O’Brien said.
However, Division Five Councillor Bruce Dunne said that there is no restriction.
“Because it’s public land you can have it as big as you want,” he said.
The O’Brien’s then had to pay an upfront non-refundable fee of $110 with their application form.
Cr Dunne said it was an administration fee and estimates it costs the council $50 just to issue the approval letter.
A Technical Support Officer from the Customer Service Centre at the council deals with the requests.
“Last year apparently 248 weddings were approved, but we actually get at least double that in reality in applications,” Cr Dunne said.
Cr Dunne said the council also strives to maintain public areas that are popular for weddings. He said some areas need extra maintenance due to the number of ceremonies.
“Every weekend there’s three to four weddings at Point Perry in Coolum. It’s getting loved to death,” he said.
Cr Dunne said even though the fee is for administration purposes only, they try to enhance the physical appearance of couple’s ceremony locations.
“If we know there’s a wedding coming up in that area, we try to make sure the area is dressed up, the lawns are mowed and looking respectable too. It’s not a given though,” he said.
But Mrs O’Brien said she was surprised by the lack of service.
“They even said we had to check and see if there was toilet paper in the public toilets,” she said.
This process for having a wedding on a Maroochy Shire beach was decided upon at a public consultation in November, 2002.
“Sixty-four per cent of the people who attended agreed to a wedding fee,” Cr Dunne said.
Even though the permit for a wedding won’t give couple’s privileged use of the land, Cr Dunne said it’s essential to avoid events overlapping.
“We want enough room for all users,” he said.
Image(s) designed by Hannah Klose
Enter comments about this article
Submitted Comments
The price to pay for love in a post-modern world. Good work.
Steve Muller
Interesting an unique story. The council never miss an opportunity to earn more money from the community.
Aleisha Davies
Interesting an unique story. The council never miss an opportunity to earn more money from the community.
Aleisha Davies
This is a great article, detailing the pitfalls and problems of having a beach wedding. I didn't even know there was a limit to the number of people allowed at a National Park wedding! Getting married these days seems such a hassle. I'd suggest getting married in your own backyard, but I'm sure there are problems involved there too!
Philippa Broadley
They had to check the toilet paper! Very interesting story. Something I would never have known otherwise
Robyn Daniels
What ever happened to the romance in Weddings?
Amy
More bureaucratic nonsense, as if local governments don't earn enough, and getting married is expensive enough as it is, though i can understand councils not liking their most "beautiful tourist magnets" getting trampled.
Robin
Interesting story dealing with the behind the scenes aspects and obstacles of public beach weddings that are not normally considered. This is an issue relevant to a large majority of the Sunshine Coast.
Nikita Lee
It's interesting to see how simple requests for using public land for events such as weddings can be so difficult. That will be usesful for people to know.
Gabby Flavell
Very interesting to hear the costs and realities of beach weddings
Chiara Keeys