And then, in an almost nonchalant manner, he asked if I’d marry him! I cried, he laughed, and we stayed engaged for four years!

‘When choosing our wedding date we wanted it to be sometime in February as we became a couple and got engaged on different dates in that specific month. I also wanted to be married on the evening of a full moon, and the closest one to February was Friday 29 January – close enough to keep all our celebrations close together.

‘I wanted to do as much as I could for our wedding – starting with making my dress. It was one I had pinned on Pinterest when I first started my account a great many years ago, plus it had pockets – so I knew that was the one I was going to use for inspiration.

‘Our celebrant Jade Kyles wrote our beautiful ceremony, and we changed parts to better suit us. Neither of us wanted to speak more than the legally required parts and Jade was more than happy to make that happen for us.

‘We stayed at Stonebridge to have our photos taken, as it’s so beautiful everywhere you go.

My favourite photo is the one of Jesse and I standing in front of the willow tree branches, a little way apart, holding hands.

‘Our photographer Ashlee made us both so comfortable in front of her camera, and this photo is very powerful to me because it speaks of two strong, separate people but we are still firmly connected – and now we’re also connected by the rings we gave to each other.

‘We had one long table with chairs all around set up outside for the reception. There were no table place names or rules on where to sit. Everyone just found a spot and chatted to whoever was near them.

‘I wanted it to be under the stars, but it was a little too cloudy for them to show, but at least it was warm enough for us to spend most of the evening outside. There was an outdoor fire, plenty of food and of course great company.

‘There were lawn games, and I had provided some table games, like cards, noughts & crosses, pick-up sticks, dominoes. People were all sitting around together laughing and sharing a game. It was beautiful.

‘The best part of the day was seeing all of my hard work come together – the decorations I had made and the table setup I had worked on with Justine from Stonebridge being set up.

‘Jesse and I both enjoyed that our plan to share the food around the table worked so well. All the food was brought to the table to be shared. People were passing their plates around, sharing dishes, loading food onto each other’s plates. It was such a beautiful moment for all our family members to be sharing food together around the one table.’

We met when we were both 16 and on school holiday. Jesse didn’t live too far from me so it was easy for us to spend time together. We moved in together after we left high school at 19. This year marks 12 years of being together.

‘Jesse asked me several times to go out for a picnic dinner at the beach, but I kept saying no, totally unaware of his intention! Eventually we went to the beach, set up a picnic rug and had a lovely dinner.

Q&A

Tell us about your theme.

Nature, the stars and the moon. We were married on a night of a full moon, however it was a little too cloudy to see it.

Tips?

Do whatever you want, it’s your day! Take some photos before the ceremony so that you aren’t away from your wedding guests for too long, otherwise you’ll miss out on your own wedding.