Our day was just a dream. I don’t recall any stressful moments, or anything going haywire. I do remember having a good laugh about 2 minutes before walking down the aisle because my mum wanted to re-iron her dress.
Tell us a little about yourselves, what you do, what you love…
B: I am a paramedic; an extremely rewarding job with exceptional colleagues and opportunities. It has allowed us to live in beautiful parts of Queensland, something we wouldn’t have done otherwise. In our time off, I love to get outdoors, hiking, camping & beach trips.
M: I work with children in the child protection system. It can be challenging work at times but it’s really rewarding. In my time off, I like to go on road trips with Bridge and take our kelpie, Mia, down to the beach for some fetch!
How/where/when did you meet – and what were your first impressions?
M: Bridge stole my job! She will say that she didn’t, but she was made supervisor and my boss at the supermarket we both worked at. My first impression wasn’t that great but we found love stacking the confectionary aisle shelves. How sweet…
B: Matt summed up our first encounter quite well. In my defence, I didn’t know he wanted the job. We got to know each other through work, always looking forward to working together or changing the roster so we could.
When did you first realise that this was someone you’d like to spend the rest of your life with?
M: I knew that Bridge was the one when we had both moved our lives up to Townsville. It took a while to put these thoughts into action… I had to make sure she would say yes.
B: This is a bit of a tricky question. I guess there was no specific moment in time. Prior to moving to Townsville, I had planned to live overseas for a while. I think the moment Matt decided to join me was the moment I realised he truly was my best friend and I didn’t want to do any more adventures without him.
Was there a proposal? Tell us a little about it…
M: There was a proposal. It wasn’t set up and filmed but I like to think that it was a surprise. It’s a bit of a blur for me though, all I remember is my heart beating out of my chest. Lucky there was a paramedic on scene!
B: There was a beautiful proposal. Matt had just picked me up from the airport (post night shift so I was a touch on the cranky side). It was to be our last night in Townsville before we moved to the Fraser Coast. When we got back to our home, Matt had flowers and a beautiful letter. After reading the letter, I looked up and Matt was down on one knee. I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Tell us about the vision you had for the mood or style of your wedding…
M: My creative voice came through strongly in support of Bridget’s vision. Wood, greenery and active flowers.
B: I didn’t have a specific “mood board” or image of how I wished our wedding to look. We were asked in a few consultations, and I laughed and just said wood, greenery and flowers. We had decided early on we wanted an outdoor wedding and I loved the idea of a rainforest typesetting. We were fortunate to stumble across Beerwah Hideaway Weddings. They were the first and only place we looked at for the ceremony and reception. They did a wonderful job in achieving the dream we had for our special day. All of our vendors did an exceptional job of achieving what we wished for. They made planning a wedding a very smooth process.
What was one element you were happy to splurge on?
M: I’m not much of a splurger but what I lack, my beautiful wife makes up for.
B: We were quite adamant that we did not want to spend a fortune on our wedding. However, we only planned on getting married once and with that excuse I bought my dream wedding dress.
Did anything happen on your wedding day that you laugh about in hindsight (even if it was stressful at the time)?
M: I think that the whole day went smoothly and there weren’t any hiccups. My mates had a bet going that I would cry during my vows and sure enough I did. I choked up and struggled to get my words out with the first sentence. Sorry to the lads that lost out, I tried!
B: Our day was just a dream. I don’t recall any stressful moments, or anything going haywire. I do remember having a good laugh about 2 minutes before walking down the aisle because my mum wanted to re-iron her dress.
Tell us about your main outfits, what was unique, is there a story?
M: I had to get my suit from MJ Bale because they sponsor the Wallabies. We all know Rugby Australia is hard up for cash, every dollar helps. That’s Bridge’s version of how I picked my suit, but the truth is it looked good and felt right.
B: Shortly after our engagement I received a Together Journal Magazine as a gift. Whilst browsing it, I found the most beautiful dress by Suzanne Harward. My mother and I decided to fly to Melbourne to try the dress on. We had the thought that if we tried it on and it looked awful we could move on. It was the first dress I tried on and I couldn’t leave the store without purchasing it. My grandmother joined us for this dress shopping day. At the time it was just lovely to share the moment with her. Due to COVID she was unable to attend our wedding day, so on reflection, it was a very special day.
Ceremony + Reception Hideaway Weddings / Photographer Stone and Wool Photography / Celebrant Brigette Stanton / Styling Hideaway Weddings / Flora Unveiling Poppy / Catering + Beverages Hideaway Weddings / Cake Chocolate 2 Chili / Bride’s Dress Suzanne Harward / Groom’s Attire M.J Bale / Ring/s Natalie Marie Jewellery / Makeup Lauren Montgomery / Hair Sunshine Brides Bridesmaids Attire Shona Joy / Groomsmen Politix
