It turns out that now the most important person in my life is the best friend and most beautiful soul I’ve ever known.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
Nadia—I’m a registered nurse. I love Ashtanga yoga and anything that involves the water or ocean. In our spare time, we both do lots of sailing, surfing, and swimming together.
Mati—I’m a product manager and work in tech, and I love everything ocean/water.
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
We chatted for about three weeks before we first met. Nadia was hard to catch. She seemed interested in starting with him, but Mati wasn’t ready to give up. (Nadia was smitten with him from the start! But he probably didn’t see that as he tried to play it cool.) Mati came up with topics for chats and silly excuses to talk to her.
Our first date was meant to be a surf date at Greenmount, but on that day, the surf and conditions were terrible. We went for a swim instead, had some chats, and then had an iced chai latte and sat on the grass and talked for ages. Our chats were meaningful and deep. We spoke about his life and my life, how he ended up in Australia, and all about his travels.
It was so lovely; Nadia remembers thinking, “Is this guy real?!’ Just so genuine, respectful and such a gentleman. Nadia thought he was so handsome, funny, and smart and loved his Latino nature. Mati says he thought Nadia was smart and not superficial at all. She had substance.
When did you first realise this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
Nadia—We connected the most in the ocean during our first surf/swim dates. It was probably after these first couple of dates that I realised he was someone I wanted in my life forever.
We developed a very special friendship first, and then the more I got to know him, the more I realised how special he was and how grateful I was to know him!
We share the same values, perspective on life and have the same interests and hobbies (definitely both water babies haha).
It turns out that now the most important person in my life is the best friend and most beautiful soul I’ve ever known.
Mati—I was sure of this quite quickly. It didn’t take long to get to know her, and I knew we had such a strong bond that I wanted her in my life forever. She’s beautiful, and the kindest and best companion a man can ask for. We have the same values and interests, and sharing life with her is super fun and easy—except when she loses her personal stuff every second day.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
Nadia—Mati proposed to me when we were on a surf trip in the Mentawais. We were checking the surf around the corner from our villa (and one of my favourite surf spots!), and he got on one knee (on the rocks!) and popped the question. It was perfect. It was just me and him- nobody else around, so it was very intimate and beautiful.
I think he was planning to propose in the water, but I’m glad he didn’t because, knowing me, I would have dropped the ring and ruined it!
Mati—I was SO nervous. I somehow managed to hide the ring in my bag all the way to Mentawai’s, but she almost blew my cover a couple of times, haha.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
Food and drink—we just wanted everyone to have amazing food, whatever drinks they want and have a good time!
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
There was a massive sweep during our ocean ceremony. We were all drifting fairly rapidly whilst trying to keep our circle formed- The celebrant handled it so well and still managed to carry out the ceremony so well!
I had envisioned us in a nice, neat circle the whole ceremony but the ocean had other plans!
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
Our ocean ceremony outfits:
Nadia—I didn’t want a dress in the water as I could imagine this being sooo uncomfortable and couldn’t think of anything worse than surfing in a wet dress haha.
So, I came across these bikinis. I loved the high cut of the bottoms from ALT swimwear, and then I found out they had a ‘bridal edition’ that you could personalise with ‘Mrs’ and your soon-to-be last name. It was perfect!
Mati—I was the same, I didn’t want the traditional suit, so went with something comfortable and easy (I was so happy to have this option on our wedding day, haha)
Our reception outfits:
Nadia—It was the first dress I tried on! I had been looking online for this style (low back, ruched around the torso). I was also after something comfortable and cool (the wedding was in the middle of summer). I found this, and the store was in Adelaide. I had already booked a girls’ trip to Adelaide, so tried this on when I was there and loved it!
Mati—I didn’t want the standard black suit. I went with a linen, cream suit which was really comfortable and Nadia said I looked cute in it so I was sold.
CEREMONY LOCATION Tallebudgera Creek, Burleigh Heads, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia RECEPTION LOCATION Boomerang Farm PHOTOGRAPHER Marina Emerald, @marinaemerald FLORIST Dried Blooms, @_dried_blooms OFFICIANT Andrew Michael, @am.celebrant CATERING The Acre Boomerang Farm ENGAGEMENT RING Angara, @angarajewelry WEDDING BANDS Mati’s grandma had it melted down from her jewellery CEREMONY OUTFIT Bride’s Bikini – ALT Swim, @altswim; Groom’s – Wetsuit Top MAKEUP Holly Leigh, @hollileighmua HAIR Lauren Locks, @laurenlocks_hairdressing
