Hello! I’m going to start this blog/website thing with a bit of information about the event. The dress code will be, as described on the invite: smart casual, summer, tropical vibes. If you have a fantastic Hawaiian shirt, we’d love to see it. If you are more comfortable in shorts than pants please wear shorts. If you have a bold print dress or floaty linen style, flats or heels, whatever you are comfortable in! Maddy will be wearing flat shoes and Bo will probably be in shorts with a jacket. If you’d like to take the opportunity to dress up, please do!

Kids are welcome to come, but if you’d rather leave them at home that is fine by us. If you do bring them along please be aware we will be serving alcohol, and there may be a point in the night where things get a little messy (questionable dancing probably).

When you send through your RSVP, please let us know if you have any dietary requirements and if you are bringing your kids.

No wedding presents please, as almost everyone is travelling for our party your presence is the best present for us :).

We have booked a courtesy bus for everyone staying in and around Atherton. We have the bus booked for the duration of the event and it will be doing pick ups to the event and drop offs throughout the night. As we have the bus booked all night, if anyone wants to be dropped back to their accommodation at a time not listed we can make this happen. I will email closer to the date the bus’s route and planned pick-up and drop off times. Everyone can have a good time without worrying about driving.

The event will start at 3:30 – 4:30pm with welcome drinks/cocktail hour, we’ll then have an early dinner before speeches. After the speeches, the dance floor is open! A dessert table will be served later in the evening, with a pause in dancing for the cutting of the cake. The event will wrap up at around 12pm.

There will be assigned tables, so please have a look at the seating chart on your way in to see where you will be seated. Dinner will be share plates on each table or a buffet with loosely Middle Eastern vibe cuisine, with loads of salads, skewers, falafel, dips and flatbread.

We will be having a polaroid style guestbook for everyone to pop a picture of themselves and write something for the couple to read later. There will be loads of film and some cute scrapbooking stickers to decorate the guestbook, so have fun with it!

In terms of getting to Atherton and Herberton, depending on where you are coming from: Fly into Cairns and hire a car from there. If you are looking to grab a lift with someone from Cairns or pitch in/ carpool please let me know when you send your RSVP and I can connect people up :). There is a bus that goes between Cairns and Atherton, but it only runs Mon-Sat: https://www.transnorthbus.com.au/bus-services/cairns-atherton/. Herberton is located 122km west of Cairns. Atherton is the biggest town, and is approximately 20 minutes down the mountain from Herberton. There are lots of accommodation options in Atherton: motels, caravan parks, serviced apartments and Airbnbs.

If you are staying for a bit of a holiday, pre or post event there are loads of things to do on the Tablelands. There is the Waterfall Circuit which takes you round all the beautiful waterfalls and bushwalking trails: https://tropicalnorthqueensland.org.au/listing/itinerary/waterfall-circuit/. And this handy website with all the market dates and what’s on in the Tablelands https://whatsontablelands.com.au/ Swimming in extinct volcano craters, bush walks and hundreds of years old Curtain Fig in Yungaburra.

If food is more your thing, there are TWO cheese makers: Mungalli Creek Dairy – https://www.mungallicreekdairy.com.au/ and Gallo Dairyland (who also make very delicious chocolates) https://www.mungallicreekdairy.com.au/.

Other food experiences include: Lake Barrine Teahouse https://www.lakebarrine.com.au/. Emerald Creek ice creamery in Mareeba (en route from Cairns to Atherton) https://www.emeraldcreek.com.au/.

If you are into spirits Mt Uncle Whiskey Distillery is just around the corner from our venue https://www.mtuncle.com/ and Eventide Hills Gin Distillery in Tolga (really great gin & cocktails) is just outside Atherton https://eventidehillsdistillery.com.au/. If beer is more your thing there’s a great brewery right in Atherton https://www.billycartbrewing.com.au/.

Herberton boasts the fantastic Historic Village. The village has original Herberton buildings from its tin mining days in the mid-19th Century: https://www.historicvillageherberton.com.au/. There is also the Herberton Mining Museum, which has lots of information about how and why the town of Herberton was formed https://herbertonminingmuseum.com/. The best place to see crystals, fossils and all things geological is the Crystal Caves in Atherton https://crystalcaves.com.au/.