{"id":192682,"date":"2017-02-14T03:12:41","date_gmt":"2017-02-13T16:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/au\/real-weddings\/mel-and-ben-win-wedding-of-the-year-2016\/"},"modified":"2022-03-16T19:51:25","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T08:51:25","slug":"mel-and-ben-win-wedding-of-the-year-2016","status":"publish","type":"au-real-wedding","link":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/real-weddings\/mel-and-ben-win-wedding-of-the-year-2016\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel and Ben win Wedding of the Year 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"lead\">The votes have been counted!<\/p>\n<p>From 300 gorgeous\u00a0<a title=\"Real Weddings\" href=\"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/real-weddings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Real Weddings<\/a>\u00a0we featured last year, down to just 12\u00a0inspiring\u00a0finalists, Cairns&#8217; Mel and Ben Groves, together with Something Special Photography, have won our 2016\u00a0<a title=\"Wedding of the Year Competition\" href=\"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/real-weddings\/wedding-of-the-year-competition\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Wedding of the Year<\/a>\u00a0competition.<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations! We\u2019re so thrilled for them.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Dancing in the rain: Mel and Ben\u2019s soggy but special tropical wedding\" href=\"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/real-weddings\/dancing-rain-mel-bens-soggy-special-tropical-wedding\/\">Mel and Ben&#8217;s North Queensland wedding<\/a>\u00a0embraced everything that&#8217;s tropical &#8211; pineapples, bright colours\u00a0and &#8211; a torrential\u00a0downpour!<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was the WETTEST wedding I have ever been to,&#8221; recalls\u00a0photographer Rowena Walker. &#8220;And the shortest photoshoot I&#8217;ve ever done.&#8221; In fact, it was the wettest May day in 96 years.<\/p>\n<p>But despite a last-minute move from garden to undercover, and the fact that guests <em>started<\/em> the night with shoes off, Rowena managed to capture the essence of what was an incredibly fun and loved-up day. And the rain only added to their frame-worthy photos.<\/p>\n<p>The lucky couple, who have yet to take a honeymoon, have won seven magical nights at the award-winning, boutique resort, <a title=\"The Havannah Vanuatu\" href=\"http:\/\/ewed.us\/hvb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">The Havannah Vanuatu<\/a>, flying with national carrier, <a title=\"Air Vanuatu\" href=\"http:\/\/ewed.us\/avb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Air Vanuatu<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to our\u00a0<a title=\"2016 Yearly Nominees\" href=\"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/real-weddings\/competition\/2016-yearly-nominees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">other 11 finalists<\/a>\u00a0&#8211; we wish they\u00a0could all be the winners! They&#8217;ve been such an inspiration and for that we\u2019re truly grateful.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some of our favourite photos from <a title=\"Something Special Photography\" href=\"http:\/\/www.somethingspecialphotography.com.au\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Something Special Photography<\/a>\u00a0that sum up what we love about this winning wedding.<\/p>\n<p>Happy Valentine&#8217;s Day!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118175\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_005.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_005\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-118169\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_003-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_003\" width=\"550\" height=\"825\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118162\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_001.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_001\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118207\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_018.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_018\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118193\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_012.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_012\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118200\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_015-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_015\" width=\"600\" height=\"900\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118210\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_019.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_019\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118222\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_024.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_024\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118219\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_022.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_022\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118241\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_031.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_031\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118265\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_040.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_040\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118262\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_039.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_039\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118249\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_035.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_035\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-118259\" src=\"https:\/\/content.easyweddings.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_038.jpg\" alt=\"Mel_Ben_Tropical-Wedding_038\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" title=\"\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":151608,"parent":0,"template":"","au_real_wedding_category":[6856],"au_real_wedding_tag":[7230],"au_real_wedding_style":[9005,9003],"au_real_wedding_location":[],"au_real_wedding_setting":[9014],"au_real_wedding_colour":[10593,10605,10602],"au_real_wedding_competition":[],"class_list":["post-192682","au-real-wedding","type-au-real-wedding","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","au_real_wedding_category-6856","au_real_wedding_tag-wedding-of-the-year","au_real_wedding_style-classic","au_real_wedding_style-modern","au_real_wedding_setting-garden-chapel","au_real_wedding_colour-blue-grey-wedding","au_real_wedding_colour-coral-wedding","au_real_wedding_colour-hunter-green-wedding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au-real-wedding\/192682"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au-real-wedding"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/au-real-wedding"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au-real-wedding\/192682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_category?post=192682"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_tag?post=192682"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_style","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_style?post=192682"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_location?post=192682"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_setting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_setting?post=192682"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_colour","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_colour?post=192682"},{"taxonomy":"au_real_wedding_competition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.easyweddings.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/au_real_wedding_competition?post=192682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}