Ben brings big day to region

BEST job Ben Southall and his fiancé Sophee McPhee are busy planning to have a Whitsunday wedding on November 3 this year.

After first meeting on Daydream Island when Ben was MC for the Whitsunday Tourism Awards, the bubbly adventurer proposed to Sophee on New Year's Eve at Sydney Harbour during the fire works.

It was no surprise for family and friends that the couple decided to host their wedding in the place that launched Ben's career in Australia.

"Sophee and I have decided there's no better place than the gorgeous Whitsundays to have our big day together and we're going to make it as special and different as possible," he said.

"It will be fun and relaxed and a bit off the cuff."

As far as locking in a location for the wedding, Ben was tight lipped, saying it would be held "on and around Hamilton Island".

Ben shot to fame in 2009 when he beat 36,000 applicants from around the world to win Tourism Queensland's Best Job in the World Campaign.

"Taking the wedding back to Hamilton Island is what I'd always wanted to do. I'm looking forward to bringing family and friends there," he said.

Wedding plans so far include a luxury dinner and private sunset cruise around the Whitsundays for the couple and their closest family and friends before the wedding and travel in a helicopter for the bridal party to the ceremony on the big day.

After the ceremony, the couple will enjoy some quiet time at Qualia, while friends and family will be treated to a day of snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef.

"I'm very excited about having my niece and nephew here from England and showing them the marine life I talk about on Skype," Ben said.

A pre-ceremony will be held in the UK in June for family who can't make it to the region for the big day.