Bree and Eric Inglis were celebrating their wedding in Queensland, Australia, last week, when an uninvited guest suddenly crashed the party. To their surprise, a wild kookaburra swooped in just as the wedding was getting started and watched over the event
for hours, refusing to leave until the very end.
It all started moments after the couple exchanged vows in front of their family and friends. Everyone in attendance had been formally invited, except for the kookaburra, who saw the event while flying by and decided he couldn’t miss it.
“[The kookaburra] came down and landed on the festoon lighting just as cocktail hour commenced,” Alicia Evans, of Glass House Country Weddings, told The Dodo. “He stayed for the duration of the whole wedding.”
The couple and their guests were delighted by the kookaburra’s presence, admiring him as much as they could before he inevitably flew away. But they were shocked when he stayed for the entire cocktail hour and showed no signs of leaving as the reception started.
“He observed the guests during cocktail hour, watched the reception take place, stayed through all the formalities and even sat on the couple's chairs and welcome sign,” Evans said.
The curious bird stoically observed the wedding for hours, unaware of how amazed everyone was by his extended visit. It seemed like every time the couple turned around, no matter what they were doing, the kookaburra was watching close by.
“They were blown away by the kookaburra,” Evans said. “It watched over them as they did their photos, danced, had their dinner, [and] it even tried to sit down on their guest tables.”
While some couples may not want an uninvited guest at their wedding, Bree and Eric were more than happy to welcome the kookaburra to the party. To them, having the kookaburra felt more than just representative of the diverse wildlife found in Queenland’s scenic Glass House Mountains. He seemed to symbolize their late relatives, whom they missed so dearly on their special day.
“A lot of them were in awe and were saying it was one of the family members who had passed,” Evans said. “They have also had kookaburras show up at other family occasions.”
You can watch footage of the kookaburra’s visit here:
Though known locally as a laughing kookaburra for their unique call, this bird didn’t make a peep during the entire event. He watched from a distance until the very end of the night and flew away just as everyone began to leave.
Bree and Eric never expected to share their wedding with a sweet and curious Kookaburra. But after seeing him in the background of their pictures, and realizing just how rare his visit was, they wouldn’t have wanted it to go any other way.
“The owners of the property also live on-site … and they have never seen [this],” Evans said. “[It] was such a special thing to witness.”
