By Margaret Maccoll
When Tori and Alexi Cella travelled from Sydney along with 120 guests to marry at Noosa Heads, they didn’t have a solid wet weather back-up just a car boot full of umbrellas.
Fortunately, it was a perfect Noosa sunny day and like many others the couple held an outdoor ceremony with the ocean as a backdrop and reception at a riverside restaurant just a ferry ride away.
Had a riverfront chapel been available as a wet weather alternative, it would have been a consideration, Tori said.
“It’s a good concept. It would come down to the cost as weddings can be quite expensive and if you had a guaranteed time slot,” she said.
The Noosa Wedding Organisation is urging residents to support their appeal for a wedding chapel to provide a wet weather venue and boost the industry which last year attracted about 630 weddings, more than 44,000 guests and delivered about $33m to Noosa’s economy annually.
Organisation spokeswoman Patricia Quinn said an attractive wedding chapel at Chaplin Park or the Botanic Gardens would make the Noosa wedding industry more competitive with regions such as Maleny, Port Douglas and Byron Bay.
Russell Green of RG Strategic and a former councillor said weddings not only brought in a lot of money, they also supported the brand of Noosa.
“People who come for weddings are always in a good frame of mind. They come for the wedding, but take in the natural beauty, good services, great food and wine. A lot are observing Noosa for the first time and they come back. That’s why our tourism is so strong,” he said.
Noosa mayor Tony Wellington said suggestions had been made for a chapel to be built at Chaplin Park, and this would be considered as part of the Noosaville Foreshore Master Plan.
“It is certainly true that many people wishing to be married in Noosa choose our shire because of our scenic amenity,” he said.
“It would not be a simple matter for a wedding ceremony to suddenly switch to a chapel in the event of inclement weather. After all, any chapel could well be booked for another ceremony. If both outdoor venue and wedding chapel were to be booked simultaneously by a wedding party, then one or other would inevitably be unused. Given the number of weddings occurring in the shire at one time, particularly on weekends, this would not be an advantageous outcome.”
Have your say on the Noosaville Foreshore Master Plan by 26 May at
yoursay.noosa.qld.gov.au/projects/noosa-river-foreshore-management-plan
