Farmer Wants A Wife season 13 favourites David and Emily McMahon will celebrate their second wedding anniversary on October 19. To mark the occasion, they will help another couple organise their own special day at Lagnicourt, the new French-inspired wedding venue they’ve opened on their Stanthorpe, Queensland, property.
“It’s in the heart of the farm here,” says David of the stunning space, which has been built on a vacant lot of land that used to grow strawberries.
“We got married out in a paddock under a big marquee and David’s brother and wife got married on the farm as well. So we kind of had this idea, ‘Hey, we should build a wedding venue,’” says Emily. “It’s very unique to Stanthorpe.”
“It’s an elegant European style build,” adds David. “The great thing about the venue is you can dress it up or dress it down, but the build itself is quite formal.”
THE BIG DAY THEIR WAY
The couple launched the space in July and hosted their first wedding on September 25. And they’re hoping it will be just one of many to come.
“We market ourselves as a family venue, so it’s very important that we’re in constant communication with the couples,” says Emily, 30. “We want to make sure we walk through [the process] with the couple from when they book to the day of [the wedding].
“I think a lot of our wedding comes through in our site visits and meetings. When we built everything behind our wedding, we wanted it to be a lot of fun. We didn’t want it to be too stressful. So we try to get couples in that mindset: don’t freak out about your wedding day, have a lot of fun. The planning should be just as fun as the actual day,” says Emily, who jokes the couple are more than willing to offer a “mates rates” discount to any fellow Farmer couples, like recently engaged Tess Brookman and Harry Lloyd from season 12, who want to get married at Lagnicourt.
“If they want to get in touch,” says David. “I’m sure we can sort something out!”
The pair hope to hand down the new family business and farm to their own daughter Willa, who was born in April.
“We’re in a bit of a sweet spot at the moment, she’s just a very smiley, happy girl,” David says of the five-month-old. “Everything’s going really well.”
“I love it,” adds the new mum.
“It’s nothing you can prepare yourself for before you’re in it, but it’s the most incredible journey,” says David, 33, who reveals farm life makes fatherhood a little easier.
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY
“One of the amazing things about working on a farm is that your business is at home, so I get to spend a lot of time back at the house during the day.
“Emily’s been doing a lot of stuff for the wedding venue in between sleeps and feeding and everything like that. We’re just making it work.”
Former city girl Emily says raising Willa in the country is “an ideal way to spend a childhood and I’m very excited for her to grow up and learn all things farm”.
The couple say it’s too early to think about whether they want to give Willa any siblings to run around the property with.
“We’re in that bubble where they’re little and we’re like, ‘How do you fit in more?’” Emily laughs. “We can only imagine her in our lives right now.”
And little Willa has cousins to keep her company in the meantime.
“We’re really lucky. There are now three grandchildren on the farm, the eldest being Robert. He’s very, very keen on the farm. He knows more about the farm than I do – and he’s three-and-a-half,” jokes David, who is the fourth generation that has worked his family’s 100-year-old Granite Belt apple orchard.
“It would obviously be great to create an environment that they would be interested in taking over. And the wedding venue is definitely part of that as well. I think it opens up more areas of interest and more reasons to be continuing the farm.”
With plenty on their plate, it’s no wonder the pair say they haven’t watched Farmer “since we were on it”, Emily reveals.
“But a lot of people ask us about it, so we’re usually in the know about what’s happening,” says David.
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