'Virgin River's' epic wedding episodes were hard to shoot but 'had to be big'

Season 6 spoilers ahead.

In Netflix's hit "Virgin River" show, the much-anticipated wedding between main characters Mel and Jack was an elaborate, dreamy affair with the whole town attending.

Hot on the heels of the season's release last week, Netflix shared a look into what went behind putting it together, from bringing in props from past seasons to tying in elements like river rocks that signify the couple's relationship.

"It's a huge wedding," Alexandra Breckenridge, who plays Mel Monroe, says in the video. "I was surprised about that, to be honest with you. I thought it was gonna be quite small and intimate by a riverside somewhere."

The sixth season of the romantic drama, which follows the love story between nurse practitioner Mel and former marine-turned-bar owner Jack (Martin Henderson) in the quaint little town of Virgin River, came out released last week on Dec. 19, picking up a few months after Season 5's Christmas-themed episodes as the community gathers to celebrate the nuptials.

While the couple had a low-key wedding in the "Virgin River" books by Robyn Carr, showrunner and executive producer Patrick Sean Smith told the LA Times that he felt the fans would "have come for me and my family” if he had stayed true to the book.

“It felt reasonable to deviate," Smith said. "It just felt like to go six seasons and build to this epic milestone for this couple, that had to be big.”

And big it was. Not only did Mel and Jack get a rustic farm wedding at their future home, but the décor also included flower arches, ice sculptures and doves. Wesley Schultz of the Lumineers wrote the song that the couple first dances to after the wedding.

Shooting the wedding episodes was 'really hard'

The two wedding episodes of Season 6 were filmed over 16 days, Smith told the LA Times. Filming for the wedding took place about an hour outside of Vancouver, Annette O'Toole, who plays Virgin River Mayor Hope McRae, told USA TODAY last week. Smith said concerns over weather prompted them to shift the location just a few days before filming.

"The wedding was really hard because it took place over a long period of time, and it was out on a location that we've never used before," O'Toole said "It was a lot to get people there every day (and) get them dressed in their full wedding attire most of the time."

O'Toole was lucky to wear a suit with her long Johns underneath, but others, especially the "bridesmaids in their little, cute, very, very skimpy dresses," weren't so fortunate.

"The hardest part of filming in Vancouver sometimes is you're out there all day on location, we never get to go back to our trailers. Or very rarely," O'Toole added. "Working in all the elements makes you really tired when you're outside all day."

Breckenridge told the LA Times that she wore fleece-lined leggings under her wedding dress to give an illusion of skin as she battled the cold temperatures. In fact, the shrug Mel wore over her dress after the vows was the actor's own and which she wore on her own wedding to musician Casey Hooper in 2015.

'Virgin River' cast

Here's a list of actors and their characters in Season 6 of "Virgin River:"

• Alexandra Breckenridge as Mel Monroe

• Martin Henderson as Jack Sheridan

• Tim Matheson as Dr. Vernon Mullins

• Annette O'Toole as Hope McCrea

• Colin Lawrence as John "Preacher" Middleton

• John Allen Nelson as Everett Reid

• Benjamin Hollingsworth as Dan Brady

• Zibby Allen as Brie Sheridan

• Marco Grazzini as Mike Valenzuela

• Lauren Hammersley as Charmaine Roberts

• Teryl Rothery as Muriel St. Claire

• Kandyse McClure as Kaia

• Kai Bradbury as Denny Cutler

• Sarah Dugdale as Lizzie

• Jenny Cooper as Joey Barnes

• Elise Gatien as Lark

• Mark Ghanimé as Dr. Cameron Hayek

'Virgin River' filming location

Much to our disappointment, the small town of "Virgin River" with its lush green mountains, babbling brooks and serene trails does not exist outside the world of Netflix. While the fictional town is said to be located in Northern California, somewhere between Sacramento and the Oregon border, filming for the series takes place all the way in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and its surrounding mountainous areas, per Netflix.

O'Toole told USA TODAY that the cast and crew have "worked really hard to make it a seem like a real place."

'Virgin River' Season 7: What we know so far about Netflix romance including release date, cast

How to watch 'Virgin River' Season 6

All 10 episodes of "Virgin River" Season 6 dropped on Netflix on Thursday, Dec. 19 and are available to stream on the platform along with prior seasons of the series.

Looking for reliable options to stream “Virgin River” on Netflix? Check out USA TODAY Home Internet for broadband service plans in your area.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cast, crew share how elaborate 'Virgin River' wedding came together