Australia trip, Post 1: Kraig & Ingrid's wedding

We landed in Brisbane on the morning of Thursday, November 11th, and were met at the airport by Ben's parents (Jim and Jenny) and Bevan. After a few hours at Jim and Jenny's, we set off on the 2-hour drive up to Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast. We were staying that night in a unit with the groom's family and a few other friends before the wedding at 3pm the next day.

After we arrived and greeted a bunch of our good friends that we hadn't seen for 2 years, the boys went go-karting. The photos below show Kraig and his two brothers, Wes and Tim (in helmet). To provide a bit of context for those reading this blog who are about to see lots of photos of people they don't know: Ben has been mates with these blokes for over 10 years; Kraig was MC at our wedding and Tim was best man (and also went on to marry one of my friends - in fact, that was the wedding we went home for between England and Canada)...




That evening a large group of us had a BBQ on the beach, and we caught up with a whole lot more people. Note the plaster on Kraig's arm in the photo of him cooking up some snags on the barbie - an unsuccessful plot to scare Ingrid when she arrived!



The next day we spent the morning lazing around in the unit. Here's the view from the balcony, and some photos from lunch. The third photo below shows the groom's parents, Trevor and Valmai - very dear friends of ours...





A couple of hours before the wedding, Ben, Ash, Tim and Wes tackled Kraig, zip-tied his feet together, and decorated his back. No doubt some payback for many similar incidents Kraig has been involved in over the years! Here's a video of the tackling and tying process, and a photo of the end result (censored for the enjoyment of your imagination)...

A few more pre-wedding photos...

And here are some photos from the wedding, which was at Clio's in Palmwoods. If you're interested in seeing a LOT more wedding photos, visit our Australia trip album in Picasa.

Photos of various friends...
Tony and Corinne
Amanda and Kel
Tish and I
Chany and Tim
Wes and Lianna
Us with Petrina and Mark(This was the first time we had met them. Long-time blog readers may remember Trev and Sharon of the cooking competition etc in England - Mark is Sharon's brother so we took this photo for her.)
Kate and Russ
The Bus Boys...


Kraig and his mates...

The reception...



L-R: Tony (holding Sienna), Corinne, Mark, Petrina, Tim, Chany, Ben
And, of course, a few bits of mischief towards the end of the night...
Putting Vegemite on the manifold
Securing a doctored smoke alarm
Some strategically placed ice...
...Which was then poured up Kraig's trousers...
...And his pants legs taped up!

Brrr!
And... goodbye!

As you can see, it was a beautiful wedding, complete with lots of laughs and good friends. It was also a great way to see more of our further-afield friends than we otherwise could have!
After the wedding, we drove a few hours north to spend the next few days at my parents' place. To be continued!