Tracey and Phil’s story is the classic boy next door story. “We met while I was living with my brother & his wife, after moving to the Peninsula from Gippsland,” explains Tracey. “Phil was the boy next door with a little bit of flirting on the walk past to our first date, he managed to draw me in.”

Much magic and many moments later, Phil surprised Tracey with a romantic night away. “Phil created a beautiful video design around our life together and what the future could hold, then he got down on one knee awkwardly and asked me to marry him.”

The pair chose the beach for their wedding, and I know you will agree, there is something special about coastal weddings. They’re a little relaxed, they embrace the wild nature of the sea, they’re just the setting a love story needs to show itself off in all of its glory. For Tracey and Phil, it was with the ocean as their backdrop, that they jumped into married life, And oh, it was blissful. Evidence needed? the beautiful photographs by Matt Elliott. Say no more! Settle in for the story!

Phil and his groomsmen found their outfits at Mickey Blue, Says Tracey “We had the most amazing experience with Mickey Blue in Mornington, Michael was the inspiration and gave us all the information we needed to pick Phil’s suit, his suit was sharp and snazzy, and our experience from the day we walked into Mickey Blue was one of a kind!”

Tracey and her bridesmaids prepped for the day in robes from Bride Tribe.

For Tracey, finding her wedding gown was a labour of love.  “After adventuring into over 20 wedding dress stores, I managed to purchase one dress before the dress I wore on the day, also put two deposits on other dresses and finally found the perfect dress at Fairytales Bridal Boutique after finding a design I liked from Stella York. I chose my final dress as it was simple but still beautiful and would still allow me to feel that extra special on our wedding day.”

Tracey and Phil’s flowers, styled by Petal To The Metal,  complemented the blues of the day. “My flower inspiration had come from Pinterest, I loved the combination of greens, blues and the pop of white, the bouquets stood out on their own and added a pop of blue to our wedding.”

Tracey and Phil chose the seaside venue All Smiles Sorrento for their wedding. “We chose this from the relaxed environment and stunning views of the ocean” explains Tracey.

Tracey walked down the aisle with her father to Kina Grannis’s cover of “Can’t Help Falling In Love” by Elvia Presley. “The song choice was based on a love of Elvis Presley,” laughs Tracey. “I grew up listening to Elvis & watching his movies with my mum, we both love the song.”

“We wanted to keep our ceremony short but sweet, and we included parts of our story and the love we have for each other,” remembers Tracey of the ceremony which took place overlooking the sea. “Sally Taylor our celebrant helped our day come together so smoothly and kept us both calm and relaxed. We had my brother Rob and his wife Ange read out the below reading.”

“Love is: being happy for the other person when they are happy, being sad for the other person when they are sad, being together in good times and being together in bad times.

Love is the source of strength.

Love is: being honest with yourself at all times, being honest with the other person at all times, telling, listening, respecting the truth and never pretending.

Love is the source of reality.

Love is an understanding that is so complete that you feel as if you are a part of the other person accepting the other person just the way they are and not trying to change them to be something else.

Love is the source of unity.

Love is the freedom to pursue your own desires while sharing your experiences with the other person, the growth of one individual alongside and together with the growth of another individual.

Love is the source of success.

Love is the excitement of planning things together, the excitement of doing things together.

Love is the source of the future”

“My favourite part of our day would have been speaking our vows and being able to start our journey as husband & wife. We loved everyone coming along to our special day and being a part of the fun & dancing.”

Tracey tells “Our favourite photo would be when we had just been announced as husband & wife, Matt got a photo of us walking back down the aisle which had the action of the confetti and excitement that we had finally done it.”

Tracey does not have enough good things to say about their choice of photographer Matt Elliott “Where do I even begin.
From the moment we met Matt we straight away felt comfortable, confident and at ease that he would have our special day covered, Matt listened to us and took all our ideas on board. And it didn’t stop there, Matt continued to come up with big and amazing ideas for our wedding, he is so passionate about being creative and adding a unique touch, we loved every part of Woking with Matt, it was fun, easy and got some amazing photographs.”

“My favourite part of the wedding planning would have been choosing my theme and bringing it all together,” remarks Tracey. “I loved matching my cake and flowers together with the bridesmaid’s dresses.” She also advises “Don’t rush in to buy a wedding dress, take your time and make sure it’s the right one.
Enjoy and take in as much as you can, don’t worry about the small things going wrong, the day/night goes so quick, take in as much as you can and let the things that go wrong slip to the wayside, (it’s) not worth the stress.”

Tracey and Phil’s first dance remains one of the couple’s favourite memories. Says Tracey “Our first dance as husband and wife was to “I’ll stand by you” by Beth (cover song). We performed a dance routine that we learnt in four sessions, we had a lot of laughing and finished with a dip.”

And not only did Matt Elliott capture the couple’s wedding day in stills, but this fun video? Also a special memento of the day for these two!

A big congratulations to you both Tracey and Phil! Thank you for taking the time to share the stories of your day with us. And thank you to the lovely Matt Elliott for sharing today’s beauty with us!