The close-knit Warracknabeal community have banded together to make one local couple's wedding day a memorable one - and in record time.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Daniel and Grace Morrow (née Williams) tied the knot on Sunday night at an impromptu ceremony that took just 192 minutes of planning.
The gleeful couple made the snap decision to bring forward their wedding after media reports outlining the states' borders could close down to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
"We were supposed to get married this Saturday (March 28)," Daniel said. "Grace's mum had flown down from Queensland to see us, but thought she might need to fly back home on Tuesday."
"We thought 'why don't we just do this tonight?' so we rang the pastor and he said the paperwork was ready.
"So we just sent messages to family members and close friends, asking them to meet us at 7pm in my mum's backyard. We wanted it to be pretty casual.
"But it was all systems go from 3.48pm through to 7pm."
In the same amount of time it would take to watch Lord of the Rings, the couple managed to organise a venue, contact family members and friends, and secure several key wedding services."
"I got a hold of a hairdresser and make-up artist, who were amazing," Grace said.
"We even managed to get a cake, a band and even a bouquet.
"Our friends put together platters; I think we had more food on the night than we ever would have catered for at our planned wedding.
"We were very lucky. Honestly, the whole town banded together."
"I was able to contact Sharlene McGinniss of Geoffreys Menswear, who opened up the store at 5.30pm so I could get a shirt and bowtie to wear," Daniel added. "That's the perk of our awesome town."
After three hours of chaos, the couple were wedded in front of almost 40 close family members and friends in a quiet Warracknabeal backyard.
"It felt amazing," Daniel said. "We didn't have too much time to think about what we were doing, but everyone loved it."
"We plan on renewing our vows once everything settles down," Grace added.
"We have a honeymoon planned for July, but we'll wait and see if that goes ahead in the coming months."
We have removed our paywall from our stories about the coronavirus. This is a rapidly changing situation and we want to make sure our readers are as informed as possible. If you would like to support our journalists you can subscribe for the Wimmera Mail-Times here, for the Stawell Times-News here, and for the Ararat Advertiser here.