Jacinda & Brent

There is a reason we’re so committed to sharing engagements. They’re the beginning of something new, they’re celebrating love stories without any of the hullabaloos of a wedding, all you need is you, your beloved and a photographer. There is a sense of relaxation and celebration that comes when you get back to the very core of what an engagement is all about.

So we’re delighted to share the tale of Jacinda and Brent because it has all the relaxed, sunshine-filled vibes we adore.

The very much in love pair were joined by photographer Matt Ashton Photography to celebrate their engagement session. The fact that it involved a stunning setting (at Sydney’s Royal National Park) and plenty of photos that sum up the joy these two share, is just the tip of the iceberg about why we love this story. That humour, that joy, is actually evident in their every day too, admits bride to be Jacinda, who shares “I don’t think there’s ever a time where Brent and I are really fully serious. We are continuously being sarcastic, goofy and weird. So for us, I can honestly say that every day there’s a funny relationship story!”

The pair first laid eyes on one another in Canberra, the story unfolding a little something like this “Brent and I met back in November of 2012 at a music festival in Canberra.” remembers Jacinda, ” I’m a Canberra girl but was living in Melbourne at the time and Brent is from the South Coast, NSW. Brent had me in stitches of laughter and we had the best afternoon together, so I made sure that I asked him for his phone number!

We parted ways in the late afternoon of the festival and after that weekend I went back to Melbourne and he went back home to the South Coast. We stayed in touch over text messages for a few weeks… but that was until I sadly lost my phone!! I couldn’t back up any data from my phone so I had no choice but to buy a brand new phone with a new number. Brent and I, unfortunately, lost contact.

A year and a bit later, in January 2014, we stumbled across each other on Tinder! LOL! Brent was still living on the South Coast and I was then living back home in Canberra. We then started a long-distance relationship for a further 10 months until we both decided to move to Wollongong together! We’ve been together for just over 6 years now!”

On what they love about one another, Jacinda notes “Brent and I are actually polar opposites with our personality types and people often say how different we are. But you know that they say… opposites attract! I am extroverted and loud, and I’m a very organised and detail-oriented person and I can become overwhelmed and stressed easily. Whereas Brent is the more cool, calm and collected type. Brent is introverted and quieter and is always the happy go lucky type. Everything is always “water off a duck’s back”. I feel that we perfectly balance one another out and complement each other in that “opposites attract” type of way.”

As is (almost) always the way, Brent’s original proposal plan, completely changed. “Brent’s original proposal plans fell through when he broke his foot playing first-grade footy. But Brent decided he was still too excited about proposing and wanted to go ahead with it instead of waiting for his foot to recover. Brent knew that the proposal had to be done differently as he couldn’t do much in a moon boot and crutches.

One casual Saturday morning of June 2019, Brent and I went to the Royal Botanical Gardens as it was a beautiful sunny winter’s day. We sat in the sun on a picnic rug with our coffees just having a peaceful, quiet morning together. As we were packing up to leave, Brent suddenly got down on one knee (and yes, in his moon boot) and asked me to marry him!!!”