A heartbroken bride-to-be didn’t put two and two together after she saw flames and thick black smoke coming from the direction of her wedding venue.
The 99-year-old heritage-listed events venue ‘The Lussh’ was destroyed on Wednesday after a massive fire spread from an abandoned warehouse in Brisbane.
Nurse Madison Sullivan, 33, and several of her colleagues had been keeping a close eye on the flames coming from Woolloongabba, in the city’s south.
“It made sense, but I just didn’t think it would be that way,” she told Daily Mail Australia.
She and her partner, Nathan Crawford, 37, have been ready for more than five years to welcome 105 guests for their wedding at the venue on October 26.
Ms Sullivan told Daily Mail Australia that after spending more than a year planning her perfect wedding, she fears they won’t be able to afford a new supplier.
“(I’m) just very overwhelmed and hoping for the best. It’s so fresh and in its early stages after the fire,” she said.
“I hope and pray that we will have a seller and that we can make it financially.”
Brisbane couple Nathan Crawford, 37, and Madison Sullivan had been planning their perfect wedding for more than a year before their wedding venue burned down on Wednesday
The 99-year-old heritage-listed event venue ‘The Lussh’ was destroyed on Wednesday afternoon after a massive fire destroyed the warehouse in Brisbane (pictured)
Mr Crawford said they knew at least 10 couples who had planned to celebrate their weddings at The Lussh before it was destroyed this week.
Despite the help of friends, finding a replacement location in a time crunch proves difficult
“People book these things a year in advance like we do and try to get everyone in a new location… it’s like trying to squeeze blood out of a stone,” Mr Crawford explained.
‘There are quite a few guests who cannot arrive until October 26, there are many international and interstate flights.
‘They have already arranged hotel bookings and flights, changes to dates around that time would be costly with a number of high profile concerts in the city.
‘I got home from work and saw a few notifications on my phone, one popped up in real time from my best man’s friend and just said ‘please call me’, we did FaceTime. He saw my face and said, “Has anyone spoken to you yet?”
‘He just told me, “There’s no way to put this to you, my buddy’s just being controlled by The Lussh… he’s on fire, he’s going to burn to the ground.”
The fire started in a warehouse on Wednesday and then spread to nearby buildings
The couple is concerned they will not be able to find a replacement vendor for their October 26 wedding
He quickly called his fiancée to tell the bad news, but couldn’t reach her because she works in a busy hospital ward.
‘I just told her that our wedding venue burned down. She kept saying ‘no, no’, she was devastated,” Mr Crawford said.
The couple are yet to hear from The Lussh but understand the team is working with clients who were due to get married this weekend.
“Well this sucks,” the Lussh team wrote on social media.
“We are devastated by this afternoon’s events and extremely grateful that our team is safe. Our thoughts go out to our Woolloongabba community and everyone affected by the fire that broke out in a neighboring building earlier today.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding as we prioritize outreach to events booked in the coming days and weeks.”
The couple are yet to hear from The Lussh but understand the team is working with clients who were due to get married at the venue this weekend
The fire in the abandoned warehouse was reportedly accelerated by a number of mattresses inside, with one man suffering ‘significant smoke inhalation’.
The flames caused roofs of affected buildings to collapse, with police declaring an exclusion zone over fears chemicals were stored in the warehouse.
The Lussh – which is listed online as ‘temporarily closed’ – is described as a ‘custom renovated warehouse wedding nestled in the cliffs of Woolloongabba’.