Real Wedding - Nicole & Brenton, Lara VIC

January 10, 2018 In Real Weddings By Jo Betz

Real Wedding – Nicole & Brenton, Lara VIC

When it came to their wedding day, Nicole and Brenton kept it natural, but oh so nice.

Setting their ceremony in the beautiful You Yangs national park, they surrounded themselves with beautiful gums, gorgeous greenery and their nearest and dearest.

Seeing each other for the first time was a magical moment the two will share forever and there to capture it all was Tribe fave Michael Renga Photography.

In Nicole’s words…

The meeting.

We met seven years ago in 2010. We both worked part time at an outdoor store while studying. We loved working together as it was a chance to be goofy and simply chat. Clear to say once we started dating, managers quickly took us off the same shifts.

The ‘one’.

I don’t know if there was a moment that we would say ‘that’s when we knew you were the one’. It was more of an ongoing feeling. I never felt like I had to pretend to be someone else when I was around him. We both challenged each other to be the best we could be. The way Brent managed to seamlessly fit into my family so casually and the way I managed to give Brent just as much cheek as he gave his brother. That’s when our families knew we had found the one.

The proposal.

Every month we have a ‘date day’ where the other person plans what we do. You never know what the other person has planned, all you are told is what to wear. It was Brent’s month to plan a date, so I really didn’t think anything of it. He laid out an outfit for me to wear and we went to the botanical gardens for a picnic. He had made the most amazing cheese board and pulled out a puzzle for us to complete. I still thought this was a fairly normal date day activity. The puzzle was of an old sentimental building, somewhere I always said would be a great place to have a wedding photo. That’s when I started to click. Towards the end the puzzle I realized I was missing a few pieces. Those pieces spelled out ‘will you marry me’. It was just perfect. After we had taken a few moments for ourselves. Brent drove me to the nail salon where he had booked me in get my nails done before going to share the news with family.

Planning process.

The planning was easy. Well for Brent, he didn’t do much. No, in all honesty the planning was fairly smooth. We decided that we wouldn’t always be talking about the wedding so we sat aside one night a week to go over wedding things. I am a teacher so I would say I was rather organized with my wedding planning folder and colour coordinated to do lists. Brent was great at making all my ideas.

Style inspiration.

We wanted something relaxed and natural. The idea of getting married outside amongst the trees and greenery was exactly what we imagined. We had both been to weddings that felt really traditional and didn’t represent the couple getting married. We wanted to make sure our wedding was our day, whilst still respecting our families and faith.

The dress.

I had seen the Grace Loves Lace ‘Inca’ dress online and had fallen in love. I remember being really annoyed the dress was only sold in Byron Bay and wasn’t easily accessible to try on. I was too scared to buy it online without trying it on. So, I went to Armadale and tried on countless numbers of dresses, but none compared to the Inca. Eventually I found someone selling the Inca in Melbourne, so I organized to try it on and that was it. I bought the dress that day.

Favourite moment.

That moment when we saw each other for the first time is a moment I will treasure. When I stepped out from behind the curtain and saw that Brent was close to tears, I couldn’t help but beam with love. Brent isn’t an emotional person at all, I would have honestly bet money on the fact that he wouldn’t cry.

I also loved the car ride back to our hotel at the end of the night. It was the first moment since photos that we were able to stop and be with each other. I just remember talking the whole time about how amazing the day was.

Meaning of marriage.

Marriage is more than a lifelong decision of what’s for dinner and who’s going to be cooking dinner. It’s the coming together of two families. We’ve made the best commitment to each other and God. Our marriage is unique to us.

Wedding sountrack.

Aisle song- Better Place by Rachel Platten

Recessional – Better Place– Jack Johnston

Reception Entry- Crazy in love by Beyonce

First dance- Still into you by Ashley Tisdale and Chris French

Funny stories (or near disasters).

Our wedding was actually really smooth. I would say go to the toilet before you leave the house before the ceremony. I was so caught up in making sure I didn’t forget anything that I forgot to go to the toilet. So, amongst the excitement and nerves I was busting on the way to the ceremony. To my bridesmaid’s disappointment we had to stop so I could go to the toilet. As we were getting married in the forest, there were very minimal places I could go to the toilet. We ended up stopping at Coles on the way. Yes, I ran through Coles in my wedding dress to go to the toilet. All I can say is the looks I got were priceless.

Words of wisdom.

Have fun! The minute you start to worry about every little thing that could possibly go wrong, you’ll get stressed and not enjoy yourself. Make sure the day represents you as a couple and try to take a minute to yourselves to take everything in.

Feeling lured by the call of a bush bash, check out Emma and Richard’s darling day.