Olympic swimmer Lisa Curry has married Elvis entertainer (her “burning love”) Mark Tabone. And they invited Susan Chenery along to their romantic country hideaway on their wedding day.
Music drifts across an emerald green valley on a sun-splashed early winter afternoon, as blowsy roses and peonies tumble from antique vases and pink champagne flows. The relaxed, chattering guests would never guess that, just days ago, this perfect pink fairytale bride was dressed in overalls and muddy gumboots, shovelling straw and manure in a colossal effort to prepare the property for her wedding day.
“If you saw it four months ago, it was a mud pile,” says Lisa Curry, in her no-nonsense way, of the 25-hectare property in the Sunshine Coast hinterland that she and the groom, Mark Tabone, bought last August with their wedding day very much in mind. “We wanted to get married on our own property. We looked at this place three times before we decided we could make it work.”
Most critically, the sheds and horse stables needed to be transformed into a venue for the perfect country wedding. “I was shovelling manure out of the barn and sawdust. There was a snakeskin in there,” says the much loved triple Olympian, laughing. Plainly she’s no stranger to hard work or discipline. “And he’s very handy with a drill,” she says of Mark, the singer who stole her heart three years ago.
Lisa and Mark have been working seven days a week on the property for months. “At times we were out there with floodlights until 11 o’clock at night,” says Lisa. “I’ve been up to my knees in mud. My hands were sore, my nails were dirty and broken. Several times I yelled out, ‘I bet Meghan Markle isn’t doing this!’”
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Hitting a nerve
Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.
Take me to the river
With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.
The last act
When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.
The wines and lines mums
Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.
Growing happiness
Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:
Winter baking with apples and pears
Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.
Budget dinner winners
Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.
