When the settings are as dreamy as a palm-fringed resort in tropical North Queensland, or a stunning seaside hotel overlooking Port Phillip Bay, romance is bound to blossom.
For Melbourne couple, Emily McMillan and Flynn Holt, these two idyllic destinations separated by over 2,000kms have played central roles in their love story. It’s just a complete coincidence and pleasant surprise that they turned out to be connected.
The venues in question are two of the most iconic in Morris Group’s collection – The Ville Resort-Casino in Townsville and Portsea Hotel on the Mornington Peninsula.
The Ville Resort-Casino in Townsville
Emily first visited The Ville in 2023 as part of a group trip with her modelling agency, Neon.
Since it was to be her first trip with the agency, Emily was keen to make an impression. She was 100 per cent focussed on the job at hand.
Little did she know that in the background, her partner of three years Flynn had been scheming.
Enlisting help from the modelling agency, one of Emily’s best friends Evie, and the team at The Ville, he worked for three months to plot out the perfect surprise proposal.
“I had no idea that Flynn was coming. Like, no clue!” Emily said.
“He’d worked it out with the agency to come on the last night of the trip. He had it all planned with them – they had all these ‘deliverables’ to keep me occupied during the day that were completely made up.
“I think we were out on Magnetic Island running around on jeeps when he arrived at like 6am.”
When Flynn finally emerged on The Ville’s picturesque ocean-view lawns and got down on one knee, Emily was overwhelmed. This was the fairytale proposal she’d always dreamed of.
In the orange pink glow of a Townsville sunset, she said yes.
“It was just amazing and perfect. That location is like a work of art,” she said.
“I can’t even think of a setting in Greece that’s more beautiful than The Ville, with the ocean, and the boats, and the island, and the palm trees, and the sunset. Honestly, it’s so scrumptiously beautiful.”
“But even more so, the humans. Everybody who works there was so lovely the whole trip. They were all in on it and I had absolutely no idea. They came out with sparklers and champagne for us – it was just amazing.”
Emily and Flynn enjoying their engagement weekend at The Ville
After the whirlwind of excitement from their surprise engagement had eased, the pair turned their attention to planning the big day in November 2024.
Central to the discussion was choosing the perfect wedding venue with only one key selection criteria: it needed spectacular ocean views.
Portsea Hotel sprang immediately to mind.
It wasn’t just the legendary hotel’s panoramic views that put it straight to the top of the list. Portsea had also played a key role in the early stages of the couple’s burgeoning romance.
“We first started dating during COVID lockdowns, so we did a lot of hiking and picnics and all those things we were allowed to do at the time, but the first event that Flynn and I went to as an actual couple was at Portsea,” Emily said.
“We went to their big Christmas Eve Eve party, and it was the first time we went out together somewhere with a big group of friends.
“So, I kind of already had the idea of that venue in mind, and I always wanted to get married on like a cliff overlooking the water or something like that.
“We did all the research and ended up coming back and did a full wedding tour and I was gobsmacked.
“Having kind of the three venues in one, that amazing lawn, the sports bar, and the reception room upstairs – it’s just perfect. My entire wedding party can stay there for the whole weekend.”
Portsea Hotel on the Mornington Peninsula
Although Emily and Flynn’s Morris Group-centred love story was really just a happy coincidence, Emily says it’s no accident that they keep coming back. The pair recently spent their ‘engagement moon’ back at The Ville reliving their engagement and regularly visit Portsea on their weekends.
“The Ville and Portsea are such perfect places to curate a love story,” she said.
“There’s just something so romantic about those locations – the scenery, obviously sets the tone. But also, the humans.
“In all the times we’ve visited either of the venues, I’ve never had one complaint. The food is amazing, the drinks are amazing, and the service is above and beyond.
“But the people really take it to another level.”