Emma + Alex

How did you meet?

Alex moved to my school in Year 9 – we actually dated here for around 6 months – he was my first kiss on the ferris wheel of the local show. After ending things we stayed friends but not close, would only catch up at group events. Fast forward 8 years and he came to my housewarming party (invited by a mutual friend, not even me!), and we caught up, drank alot, and danced alot – and have been inseparable ever since 🙂

When did you know they were the one?

Everything with Alex was ‘easy’. I never felt like I had to be someone else, or try too hard. I was so comfortable from Day Dot and he felt the same way. We already knew each others backgrounds and families which helped alot! Our first year of dating was via distance, and we always made such an effort to do things for each other, and to see each other whenever we could. He was my best friend first, and my boyfriend second, and I knew I didn’t want to lose that!

What are your three favourite attributes of your partner?

– His sense of humour: Alex makes me laugh more than anyone I have ever met! He is so witty and has a ridiculous talent of making me smile when I could have been crying the second before.

– His work ethic: Alex is so so driven and motivated to be better, and to do better. He is always looking at ways to learn more, to help others more, and to provide for our future.

– His kindness: Alex does things on a day to day basis without even thinking, that my friends all say ‘how do you get him to do that?’. Surprise flowers and date nights are a regular occurrence, breakfast in bed on weekends is routine, he often writes me little notes and hides them in my lunchbox, he is just so thoughtful.

Who proposed and how?

We moved to the NT in 2020 for an adventure (couldnt go overseas before of covid), which was hard as we were away from all of our family and friends, and often couldnt get home because of border closures. We were in a ‘lockout’, which meant we couldn’t leave the town we live in, but could go about as normal in the town. Alex organised a date night that I wasn’t allowed to know any details of (because this is semi regular I didn’t suspect a thing!), and he took me to a local Outback Experience venue, which is based on someone singing and playing guitar while doing agility tricks with horses and dogs. They usually do big shows for the public but there was nothing on that particular day, and they were opening glamping tents to the public the next day.

We had the whole property to ourselves, and Alex had organised a private dog agility show because of how much I love dogs! They also let us in the glamping tent, brought us a big cheese platter and made us dinner. As the sun went down Alex got on one knee (and I still had no idea).

Funny part of this story – he had ordered a dozen red roses to go in the glamping tent from the one florist in town. The afternoon of he went to pick them up (very stressed!), and they said ‘we have no red roses so just spray painted white ones’.

Where did you fall in love with your dress and why?

MWL Gold Coast boutique! Because of covid I had to go alone, so I had my three sisters, sister in law and mum on facetime. I made myself go to three different boutiques so I could try lots of different styles, but had been following MWL on instagram for awhile and had a feeling I would find one I loved! I ended up loving every single dress I tried on – it was so hard to pick. I tried on Archie twice and just felt so so comfortable, and SEXY! I loved the back and how easy it was to wear. I ended up going home and booking an appointment for the next day so I knew I was sure, and I dreamt about it all night, so went back and bought it 🙂

What was the best moment for you at your wedding?

SO hard to pick. My grandmothers were my flower nanas which was insanely special – I will treasure the memory of them walking down the aisle in their matching dresses forever.

Our first dance – we suck at dancing but had practised bopping around the dancfeloor for a few weeks, and it was pretty much the most alone time we actually spent together on the day! So much emotion.

Walking down the aisle after the ceremony: we had SO MUCH confetti and I have no regrets – the elation we felt as all our friends and family showered us in confetti was incredible. just so happy.

The dancefloor! Weather was terrible so we embraced it- everyone wore gumboots and cocktail hour got almost shoved because no one could go outside, so everyone went to the bar and barely left. We had to move speeches and first dance stuff earlier because the dancefloor started before dinner, and went all night!

What were your favourite details?

Of the dress:

– the back for SURE. It is so so stunning and I will never get sick of looking at it.
– the neckline: i ended up getting it 3cm higher when I ordered it, which was perfect for me. It was so flattering.
– the material: it was thick and supportive and so so flattering! I didn’t need to use any shapewear (or underwear) and had no issues.

The wedding:
– I grew up on a rice farm, so for some of the table settings we had rice plants that my dad had picked from the farm and brought up to the wedding. It was super special.
– Our ceremony decorations – super last minute. We were meant to get married under a giant fig tree so made no plans for an arbour or any decorations, but the rain was so bad you couldnt actually access the tree. We were so lucky one of the guests was a florist and Alex’s uncle had a beautiful property nearby, so she just made them up on the day – and they were amazing.
– We had a memory board with photos of loved ones we wished could be there, which was such a nice way to include them.
– my bridesmaids had slightly different styles and colours of dresses so they could pick one that suited them, and that they loved.
– we put a bucket of thongs for people to wear when they got sick of heels, and they went IMMEDIATELY!! so worth it

What advice would you tell other brides?

– Don’t worry about the weather. I checked BOM ten times a day for the month before my wedding, and it was useless – I cannot change the outcome. If you’re dreaming of a certain day and it’s not going to happen – embrace it. As long as you get to marry your best friend, it will be perfect.

– Plan the morning of and give your bridesmaids tasks eg. food reminding, photo taking, organising family to be there at certain times.

Any standout vendors?

Chris Hutchison Weddings – our original band cancelled two weeks before our wedding and we panic called every band we heard of to see if they could cover. Chris happened to have one weekend free in three months and it was ours – and he was EPIC. Acoustic set during ceremony and a DJ during reception – the biggest feedback we had all night and afterwards was ‘I wish the DJ played worse music so I had time to pee’. He was AMAZING!!

Spanish Catering Co – Pepe and his team were AWESOME. The food was incredible, no dietary requirement too much hassle (even though we did cocktail settings and the main was tapas – he even made mini paellas for one who couldn’t have garlic or onion). We also had them as bar staff and they were so fun, they danced all night and were just so fun. Cannot recommend more.

Wander and Follow – these guys were awesome. I was so stressed the morning of and they just chatted and joked around and made everything fun. My husband was so nervous about being the centre of attention and it was just so relaxed and easy!!