April, 2009Our first ideas on how and where to get married where based on the naively romantic idea that we could just find some land somewhere and put up a marquee, do all our own food and just have the big old party we wanted! We were also keen to get people out of Brisbane and be surrounded by nature. So we began looking at Maleny, the beautiful hinterland of the Sunshine Coast. My great friend Simon Jeffcoat let us know about a family getaway called Top of the World, comprising two beautiful houses overlooking the Glass House Mountains. After initial investigations the picture was painted to us of 150+ guests queuing for a portaloo, ladies stationary due to stiletto-in-grass capture, inclement weather blowing glasses off wobbly tables and a catering crisis because someone forgot to fill up the gas bottle. We decided to take a different route! As it happened just down the road was the newly refurbished Solothurn Rural Resort. It was the perfect solution. Solothurn is on 400 acres, boasts a working animal farm, the quaint St Albertus Chapel, a huge unpretentious reception area with beautiful open air sides overlooking the rolling green hills of Maleny and accomodation for over 80 guests in carved wood chalets and cottages. Hosts Anna and Richard couldn't have been more down to earth and we loved the simple feel of the place. Anna's Dad actually built the entire complex after arriving here from Switzerland (hence the Solothurn reference). He was a master carpenter and you can see his amazing craft everywhere on the property. The other great benefit was being allowed to do all our own catering and drinks ... because I wanted Mum's rice and curry! So we decided to book the two houses at Top of the World for us, our close friends and family to stay in for the 3 days leading up to the wedding and we booked in Solothurn!
