Matika + Ryan

How did you meet?

Our story begins in 2013 when Ryan added me as a friend on Facebook. He had seen me tagged in a photo with my cousin (Shenae, who was our MC) and must’ve liked what he saw in the photo lol! So, he added me as a friend. He knew who my cousin was because she was seeing a guy that lived in Ryan’s town. Small country towns I tell you, everyone knows everyone haha. A few months after we became friends on Facebook, in Feb of 2014, Ryan dm’d me and wrote “This might sound weird but you are extremely beautiful!” and that is word for word because I still have a screen shot of the message. I said “aw thanks ” back to him , he said “that’s okay” and that was the end of the conversation. A few weeks later he messaged again saying our parents knew each other and that he remembered me from when we were little, mind you I have no recollection of us ever meeting haha but I do have the worst memory so not surprising. From that moment on, we continued talking and getting to know each other, decided to go on our first date in May around mothers day, started dating in July and well the rest is history. We have now been together for 8 and a half years!

What are your three favourite attributes of your partner?

He is selfless, charming, and super encouraging

Who proposed and how?

For my 25th birthday (3rd September 2021) Ryan organized for us to have a picnic at the beach in Miami in the afternoon after work. He set up the picnic with nibbles and drinks and we bought along our little pup, Mya. As we were sitting down and eating, Mya ran off and Ryan asked me to go get her and bring her back. As I was bringing her back, he met me halfway and started telling me how much he loved me and the life we were building together. The next thing I know, he is down on one knee, asking me to marry him. He had also organized a sneaky photographer to capture the moment. It was perfect. But if you ask Ryan, he reckons he was stressing the whole time at the picnic about how he was going to get me to stand up (since we were sitting), so that he could get down on one knee haha thank god Mya saved the day!

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

I feel in love with my dress the moment I tried it on in your Gold Coast store. The way it felt on my body, I knew it was a dress that I was going to be able to dance all night long in.

What were your favorite details?

In regards to my dress, it was the low neckline, the split, and the button detail we added to the back.

What advice would you tell other brides?

Soak it all in as much as you can because the day goes by so incredibly fast. Take some time at the reception to have a moment with just you and your partner outside.