Tara & Brent

The gritty atmosphere of a mine, could not be further from the urban streets of Fremantle, but for Tara and Brent, it was at work in the North Western Australian mines where we these two sparked their flame. A weekend wakeboarding trip on the back of a Harley sealing the deal in a story that ended (or began) on a Fremantle’s winter day, where there was a wedding that was all about modern romance. A stunning, of the moment, off the shoulder gown, a beautiful canopy of flowers, and a dream team that made it all happen, beginning with, photographer THE DAY Weddings to work her magic and capture every moment.

And it makes sense that it was by the sea that these two dined as married for the first time – the sea was, after all, where Brent popped the question. Tara remembering “As we both work FIFO and were not home for my birthday in 2016, he organised to take me to dinner to celebrate my birthday about 6 days later at il Lido in Cottesloe. Brent had the ring but he didn’t have an exact plan of when he as going to propose, that night as I was getting ready he just thought that this was the night. So we enjoy a lovely dinner, he kept ordering wine and even dessert and I thought this was one hell of a celebration. After dinner had finished he said, “let’s go down to the beach” as he reckoned he’s never been to Cottesloe since moving to Perth 8 years ago. As we were walking along the beach he started to tell me how much he loved me, I initially thought he was going to tell me he’d bought another motorbike but next he was down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I froze and said “what?”, then “yes!” and then “wait have you asked my dad?!”

Tara worked with Brides By Design to create her off the shoulder lace gown, she tells “At first I was unsure about getting a dress made, but when I couldn’t find one that had all the elements I wanted, getting a dress made was the best option. I combined three different dresses to create my dress. It had an oyster silk underlay with structured lace with beading over the top. The lace was all hand selected and sewn onto the dress piece by piece. Lastly, the arm straps were added as a little extra. Lynette and the girls at Brides By Design were amazing they really went the extra mile. If I didn’t like the placing of the lace or if I was unsure about how it was going to look, they reassured me and made any amendments with no hesitation. It was a truly wonderful experience.” Tara’s mother even stitched a small blue bead into the gown as her “Something blue”.

Fremantle’s St Patrick’s Bascilia was chosen for the ceremony, honouring the bride’s Catholic beliefs.

Tara walked down the aisle on the arm of her father, to the sounds of the church choir singing a traditional hymn.

Tara shares “We didn’t have a full Catholic mass as we wanted people to come and witness the marriage and then head to the celebration. We had three readings which were performed by Shannon Lowry ( Groom’s Sister) – First Reading ( A reading from the Book of Sirach (Sirach: 26: 1-4, 13-16), Madeleine Schutte ( Bride’s Friend) – Responsorial Psalm and Cathy Wilson ( Bride’s Aunt) – Prayers of the Faithful.”

Fox and Rabbit styled the lush floral details for the day, Tara tells “As the groomsmen and bridesmaids wore black and black & white, I wanted the flowers to be the main colour feature for the wedding. I worked with my wedding stylist to come up with the dark red, purple, dark pink with a splash of pastel pink and white and some greenery.”

Of their photographer Tara remarks “Alana from THE DAY Weddings was just outstanding, she captured every little detail from the start to the end. She also had researched locations for photos and sent through some examples so I knew exactly where we were going to go and what the photos were going to look like. I cried when I got our electronic album, as her work was amazing she managed to capture things that I didn’t even notice on the day and it was so nice to have the memory of them.
Alana was also so easy to get along with and she made it fun for both Brent and me, we didn’t feel like we had to pose for the pictures. She also took a lot of candid shots which we both loved, I would recommend her to anyone it was such a lovely experience.”

Tara and Brent worked with wedding planner Sophia Monique Events and floral designer Fox and Rabbit to style the modern, flower-filled look for the day. Tara remembers “My favourite part was working with Sophia from Sophia Monique Events to put together what sort of style I wanted for the wedding. I enjoyed selecting the colour palette for the flowers, table settings etc and then seeing it coming together on the day was just amazing.”

The newlyweds sat under a hanging canopy of flowers, Tara says “We wanted a Classic (Black & White / Monochrome) Theme, with a burst of colour. The atmosphere at the reception was very chilled and relaxed with lots of laughing and conversations. The flowers were the main decoration of the hanging installation combined with festoon lighting and additional arrangements on the tables with candles.”

Tara and Brent chose Fremantle’s seaside restaurant Bather’s Beach House for their reception, Tara says “Brent and I both really loved Fremantle’s vibe so when we were looking at places to get married we both agreed Fremantle would be it. Bather’s Beach  has the most amazing view from the upper storey of the harbour at sunset.”

A beautiful wedding cake of black created by Sukar Cakes was one of the highlights of the reception for the bride. Tara gushes “The Reception absolutely blew me away when we arrived, it was even better than I could have imagined. The place settings, with the flowers and the candles, were just perfect and it created the mood which we wanted for the night. The cake was also another detail which I loved as it was black and tied in with our black and white theme.”

The speeches were another highlight for the bride, who explains “We kept the speeches and formalities to a minimum so that we could just enjoy the moment and get to speak to everyone at the reception.”

And on a custom printed dance floor, the newlyweds swept each other away with their first dance. Tara remembering “We chose “I’ll Be” by Edwin McCain – we chose this song as it was a song that we felt best represented our love and the vows that we had just taken.”

Their wedding was captured on film by the terrific Neni Films.

https://vimeo.com/266725300

A big congratulations to Tara and Brent! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us! Thank you also to THE DAY Weddings for today’s stunning imagery!