I had just come out of the water from being dunked, literally looking like a drowned rat and noticed Brock walking toward me with purpose. He dropped one knee to the sand and said “At our favourite place, at the perfect time, I love you, will you marry me.” Short, but very sweet… I of course cried and said YES.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
We had been dating for almost eight years when we got married. The dating years were filled with camping adventures, backyard bonfires with our two dogs – Pippa + Oscar, visiting as many wineries and breweries as we possibly could, and spending quality time with friends and family.
C: I work in the wedding industry and have done now for almost four years.
B: I am currently labouring and awaiting my intake to the QFES to be a firefighter. We have been married for 9 months now and are pregnant with our first child – we couldn’t be more excited.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We met back in 2014 at a local pub in Toowoomba, ‘The Spotted Cow’ at a mutual friends birthday. Back in the day when The Spotted Cow was the best local pub for live music. Although it was the first time officially meeting, I (Cheryse) would frequent his place of work to become caffeinated and did not realise who Brock was. He admitted quite some time after that he knew who I was and that he followed me on Insta.
B: The first thing I noticed about Cheryse was her smile, that no matter the circumstances, was always contagious. We hit it off at the pub that night and Cheryse eventually was brave enough to slip into my DM’s after the night out. We have never looked back.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
C: The proposal was completely out of nowhere, and I did not expect it whatsoever. We were away at Moreton Island for a camping adventure. We were visiting our favourite beach, which has always held so many special memories for us, ‘Honeymoon Bay’ at Moreton Island. I had just come out of the water from being dunked, literally looking like a drowned rat and noticed Brock walking toward me with purpose. He dropped one knee to the sand and said “At our favourite place, at the perfect time, I love you, will you marry me.” Short, but very sweet… I of course cried and said YES. The ring was designed by him and a great friend of ours, Lachy Hogan from Hogans Family Jewellers and was absolutely perfect.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
Having been to a lot of weddings, and Cheryse having worked in the industry, we always knew we wanted to do something totally different. With a lot of guidance from our great friend, floral designer/stylist – Bec from Poppies for Willow, we came up with the perfect layout for the day that was suited perfectly to us. The most important part about our wedding, to us, was actually to be getting married, and celebrating with our favourite people. We chose to have an intimate ceremony of just immediate family – parents, siblings, grandparents, and our bridal party – which was a total of 24 guests. After the intimate ceremony, we went offsite into the CBD to get some photographs away from Gabbinbar, for something different, and arrived back to our wedding where an additional 100 reception guests had joined into the festivities. We had an outdoor cocktail reception, with little traditional aspects, followed by an amazing band setup indoors to dance the night away.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
The weather prediction was a little sketchy for later on our wedding day/night – despite the concerns, we chose to still have an outdoor reception and not change any plans. When we were offsite with our photographer and videographer, Toowoomba was hit with a hail storm. Our poor guests and vendors were back at the venue trying to save everything from the hail, whilst we were in a car waiting for the storm to pass. It was pretty fun for us to be honest! Our arrival back at the venue, we chose to stick with the original plan of entering to see all of our guests on Brock’s café racer motorbike. In hindsight, we should have thought this through, as the back tire flicked up mud all the way up the back of my gown from travelling down the pebble driveway. Luckily I had a second outfit to change into, but didn’t plan to change so early. So the muddy bummed gown was hung up early.
Ceremony + Reception Location: Gabbinbar Homestead, @gabbinbarhomestead / Photographer + Videographer: Feather & Finch Photography, @featherandfinchphotography / Videographer: Anchored Cinema, @anchoredcinema / Celebrant: Love by Lara, @lovebylara_celebrant / Entertainment: Andrzej Fenner Music, @andrzejfenner / Styling, Hire, & Flora: Poppies for Willow, @poppiesforwillow / Brock’s Suit: Institchu, @institchu / Cheryse’s Gown: Sphere Bridal Gallery (Lola Varma), @spherebridalgallery / Cheryse’s Suiting: Lettie Bespoke Bridal, @lettiebespokebridal / Crop w’ Suiting: Scanlan Theodore, @scanlantheodore / Ring/s: Hogans Family Jewellers, @hogansfamilyjewellers / Brock’s Shoes: Florsheim, @florsheimaus / Cheryse’s Shoes: Wittner, @wittnershoes; RM Williams, @rmwilliams / Brides Jewellery: Di Lunedi ‘of Monday’, @di_lunedi / Bridesmaids PJ’s: The Bridal Thread, @thebridalthread / Makeup: Luminosa, @luminosalove / Hair: Cropt, @cropt_ / Brock’s Fragrance: Aesop, @aesopskincare / Cheryse’s Fragrance: Chanel, @chanel.beauty / Groomsmen’s Attire: Institchu, @institchu / Bridesmaids’ Attire: Joslin Studio, @joslin_studio
