A Central Queensland man has taken his love of farm machinery to another level, building the venue for his wedding reception out of six combine harvesters and a tarpaulin.
Precision farming specialist Kingsley Vandersee, from Emerald, borrowed the John Deere combines from locals for his and his now-wife Chloe's big day in August, which they held at Old Rainworth Fort just outside of Springsure for 120 guests.
There was only one rule - the machines had to be green.
It was not a colour coordination edict, but rather a nod to his grandfather Gordon Vandersee, who founded Vanderfield in 1963.
"I don't think I'd be forgiven if I used any other colour," Kingsley said.
And while Mr Vandersee works at Vanderfield Emerald and planned the mammoth operation months in advance, trying to source headers at harvest time was never going to be easy.
"I called in a few favours and tested a few friendships," Mr Vandersee laughed.
The plan appeared to be coming together until one week from the wedding, a spanner was thrown in the works.
"We actually had one machine pull out a week before the wedding, so I was in a mad dash to get a sixth machine, but fortunately one of the local fellas really came through there and helped us out," he said.
"We weren't actually sure it was going to work until the day before the wedding, but we got there."
A former boss and two local contractors were able to provide him with four John Deere S770s, one S670, and one S780.
It took the team almost two days to arrange the headers three a side and fasten the custom tarp to the outstretched augers. The tables and chairs were then moved into place the day before the ceremony.
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International inspiration
Mr Vandersee first came up with the idea for a harvester installation years ago when he was scrolling on Facebook and saw a Canadian wedding feature the six JD configuration.
"I always thought, 'That's cool, but I'll never have the opportunity to do it', and then I got engaged earlier in the year and the more I thought about, the more I was like, 'I could probably pull this off'," he said.
"It came out ten times better than we could've hoped."
Moving to CQ
Mr Vandersee grew up in Toowoomba before moving to the CQ town of Comet in 2017, where he worked on a grain farm.
"I was only supposed to be there for three months and fell in love with the place," he said.
He was there for two years and then moved to Emerald, where he started working in machinery sales and met Chloe.
While Chloe didn't come from a farming background, she still appreciated the work that went into her husband's project.
"She loved it," he said.
"I was very fortunate. She trusted me to have a crack at it and make sure it worked."
Green is gold
While many of the couple's family and friends were able to attend, sadly, Gordon didn't get to see the big green wedding, dying in March 2018, aged 92. His wife Betty died a month before the wedding, aged 97.
Gordon started Farm Equipment Pty Ltd in Toowoomba in 1963 and later renamed it Vanderfield in 1970.
Vanderfield was partially acquired by global company RDO Equipment Co in 2012 and then fully acquired in 2019.
Mr Vandersee said the green machines would always be close to his heart.
"Dad [Rob] ran the Toowoomba Vanderfield branch for many years and I used to spend some weekends there. I was exposed to it pretty much since I was born," he said.
"The John Deere brand is what I grew up around and it's what I have a passion for."
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