When it comes to relaxed weddings, if there is anywhere that has just the right recipe to make it happen, it’s the Whitsundays! So today, we’re hot-footing it to Airlie Beach to join Renee and Matt as they tie the knot. This one is true destination wedding flavour – no stress, a small guest list, blue skies and no fuss. Couple that with wedding photos by Brooke Miles Photography and you have a story worth sharing!

After meeting on a blind date, where Matt wooed Renee with a day on his boat at Stradbroke Island,  it was in  New Zealand that Matt popped the big question! Renee starts the tale. “We had gone to New Zealand for a holiday and for Matt to see where I grew up and meet the rest of my family and childhood friends. One morning Matt woke me up ridiculously early and wanted to go for a drive, he took me up Mount Victoria to watch the sunrise over the water and proposed. I had a suspicion that he was up to something when I got dragged out of bed in the dark but it couldn’t have been more perfect.”

Renee and Matt made sure to include their daughter, Harper in their day – she even “walked” down the aisle!

Renee walked down the aisle with her father to Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect”.

Jan Harvey was chosen to perform the ceremony, Renee noting “We choose to have a small, intimate wedding with just our immediate family and a few good friends. We kept with the relaxed beach holiday vibes.”

Renee and Matt chose the Airlie Beach property Coral Sea Resort to stay and celebrate! Renee tells “I tried to keep it as simple and fun as possible. There was a lot of back and forth emails with our wedding planner from the resort but she just made it all so easy. I am not much of an organiser so needed this! My favourite part was actually picking where to get married. We knew that we did not want to have our wedding on the Gold Coast (our home) and after looking at a lot of options picked Airlie Beach. Coral Sea Resort was just fantastic. Made the whole planning process totally stress free and on the big day everything just flowed.”

Renee raves “Airlie Beach is just gorgeous and we couldn’t have had a better day weather-wise.”

The couple chose photographer Brooke Miles for their day, sharing “Brooke is just amazing! Professional and just the right amount of bossiness to organise a group of excited people who won’t stay put! She made us laugh and feel ourselves which shows on the photos. She captured our moment in time and the pictures we have couldn’t have been more perfect”

The bride found her gorgeous Grace Loves Lace gown, second hand. “I had the most gorgeous Grace Loves Lace dress. The Harriet. I actually brought it second hand as had my heart set on it but just couldn’t justify sending so much! We wanted to have a family holiday as well as a wedding and this was a way that I saved a lot! And I couldn’t have loved my dress more.”

The bride arranged the flowers herself, noting “I made my own bouquet and my maid of honour’s myself using artificial flowers. I knew the colours that I wanted and just slowly collected bits that I liked until I had enough. Putting them together was a lot harder than I had thought it would be! But totally worth the effort as now I have them in a vase on my dresser and get to look at them every day.”

Congratulations Renee and Matt! Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us! Thank you also to Brooke Miles Photography for sharing today’s Whitsundays wedding!