Engagement party turns into wedding

MARIAH and Doug Burton called their friends and family together for their engagement party on September 30 last year.

Little did most of them know, the party was actually a surprise wedding ceremony.

The Highfields couple spurned the pomp and ceremony of a traditional wedding for a laid-back and casual celebration at their property.

Mrs Burton said the couple made the decision when they realised how many of their loved ones would be going to the party.

“It was originally just our engagement party but we decided to have a ceremony,” she said.

“It was in Highfields on our property – we had some nice gardens, and we got some hay bales for people to sit.

“My father-in-law made an outdoor oven and we had about three pigs in it.”

While the wedding was a far more restrained affair, Mrs Burton said her new husband didn’t hold back when it came time for the proposal.

“We got engaged on May 21 last year in Vanuatu. It was extremely romantic – he proposed on the beach,” she said.

The couple met through online dating, and realised there was a connection.

“He’s a bit of an old soul and we just really clicked,” Mrs Burton said.

“Our personalities are different, but we have a lot of the same interests.”

Photo: David Rook