Rhys and I grew up in the same country town, went to the same high school and sat next to each other in the school band for four years, but we didn’t start dating until we’d finished school. Now we’ve been together for eight years
Nikita: Rhys is a software developer who loves guitar, camping and tinkering on his car. I’m a lawyer and my favourite things would be coffee, plants, reading and thrift shopping. We have two sausage dogs (Marshall and Theo) who rule our household. Rhys and I grew up in the same country town, went to the same high school and sat next to each other in the school band for four years, but we didn’t start dating until we’d finished school. Now we’ve been together for eight years, and two years ago, we moved to the city.
Rhys makes me laugh. He’s very supportive and always the first to help out anyone who needs it. Rhys: Nikita is so intellectually curious. I am constantly learning from her. She cares deeply about those close to her, and will go out of her way for them. Nikita: Due to the nature of Rhys’ work he has spent much of our relationship away. That’s a challenge we’ve had to work through as a couple.
Once, we were apart for seven months. After that, we met up in Switzerland. We took a cable car up to a sleepy little mountain village and, after a lovely dinner, Rhys proposed on the cliffside looking out at the mountains. I almost hadn’t gone outside because it was so freezing! Originally we’d planned to elope in Copenhagen before trekking off on a European holiday. But when the borders closed due to Covid-19, we decided to keep our plans within Queensland.
In the lead-up to our wedding day, we had some wild weather. The day before the ceremony, we went down to the lake with our photographer Janneke to scope out a spot, and our umbrellas snapped in the wind! We didn’t have a specific theme or style for our wedding, we just wanted to keep it simple and relaxed.
We stayed at the most peaceful cottage, minutes walk from Lake Weyba. We started the day with coffee and watching the rain from the patio. Then we met with our celebrant Annie before making our way down to Lake Weyba for the ceremony. We didn’t have any guests and Annie delivered a warm and intimate ceremony. Moments later, it started pouring down. The lake was beautiful in the rain and so perfectly captured by Janneke. We wanted to keep our outfits casual. I wore a Zimmermann dress which was the perfect combination of lace, pleats, and polka dots. My pearl earrings were an anniversary gift from Rhys. Rhys wore an olive suit from MJ Bale paired with a simple linen shirt. We ended our wedding day so soaked, we jumped in the pool in our clothes. And then we went out for celebratory pizza.
Photographer: Janneke Storm | Bride’s dress: Zimmermann | Groom’s attire: MJ Bale | Engagement ring: La More Design | Bride’s shoes: Jo Mercer | Groom’s shoes: Wild Rhino | Bride’s earrings: Natasha Schweitzer | Bride’s fragrance: Baie 19 by Le Labo | Makeup & hair: Fernando Hervas | Location: Lake Weyba, Sunshine Coast | Celebrant: Lady Love (Annie Molenaar) | Airbnb: The Lake Shack
