It’s set to be Australia’s own royal wedding, but we still don’t know too many details about Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell’s upcoming nuptials.
The 21 year-old wildlife warrior may be young, but she already knows that planning a wedding is a big deal. So who better to ask for advice than your 2.6 million Instagram followers?
“Wedding planning is in full swing for us and it has been an amazing whirlwind,” Bindi captioned a photo of herself and Chandler from the day of their engagement, cuddling one of Australia Zoo’s adorable koalas.
She continued: “We’re looking forward to celebrating our wedding day next year at Australia Zoo❤️ Of course the day will be filled with family, friends and lots of gorgeous animals (koala cuddles are a must)! Do you have wonderful wedding planning advice? I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Hugs from us both xx”.
Bindi was flooded with advice, ranging from practical tips to ideas that are rather out of the box. We’ve rounded up the best tips here:
Family first
It will be a bittersweet day for the Irwin family, as Bindi’s beloved dad Steve won’t be there to celebrate.
One of Bindi’s followers sweetly drew from their own experiences saying: “We put one chair on the front row to symbolise the Father who had died. In His chair we placed a candle that had his picture on it. We kept the candle burning through the whole ceremony and dance. His Wife sat next to that chair and candle and watched their Son give their daughter away.”
On a happier note, a few of her followers encouraged her to use younger brother Robert as the day’s official shutterbug with one suggesting: “Don’t try to save money on the photographer, you get what you pay for…. you could always ask Robert to do it!”
WATCH: Bindi Irwin shares sweet video footage of Steve in honour of Father’s Day. Post continues after video…
Keeping things practical
Other followers (judging by the sound of it) had gone through the mammoth task that is wedding planning and offered some very practical tips to the bride-to-be.
“Get someone to save you a plate of food because you won’t have time to eat, but you’ll be starving at the end of the day!” one exclaimed.
“On the invitation, ask guests to request a favourite song. They’ll get a real buzz when it comes on and they can hit the dancefloor!” suggested another.
One also put forward the idea: “Instead of people bringing gifts for you both, maybe have them make some donations to wildlife.”
The out of the box
Other ideas were a little left of field.
“Enjoy each other! If that means eloping before the big day to take time to do so, so be it,” one of Bindi’s fans suggested.
Another one went rogue when they said, “Pop some Go Pros on some of the animals (safely obviously) and film their perspective of the day.” Umm..ok.
The sweet and sentimental
Of course, the majority of advice Bindi received was to enjoy the day and celebrate spending the rest of her life with her soulmate.
“My advice is to let it be about the two of YOU! No one else. Play lots of great music and enjoy the night. I’m wearing sneakers to mine to be comfortable enough to dance in,” one sweetly wrote.
“No planning advice as such, rather a little whisper of wisdom. Every so often through the day, take a step back with your husband and take a minute to take it all in. Look at your family and friends faces, breathe deeply and take in the smell, close your eyes and listen to the laughter and absorb it. It goes so quick, photographs are amazing memories but smells, hearing and the looks of your loved ones will absolutely stay in your mind forever. With best wishes to you both,” penned another.