Rebecca and Trent had one mission statement in mind for their wedding. “It was based on K.I.S.S (Keep it Simple Stupid)” laughs Rebecca. “Trent and I wanted to focus on not only us having a great day, but our guests as well.” And well, as evidenced by every beautiful photo snapped by Love by Shae, they nailed it.

The couple booked out the beautiful Murray River-side resort of Tindarra Resort, turning their wedding into a weekend celebration. They embraced every single bit of the relaxed country lifestyle (helped by the incredible scenery) marrying by the river, before celebrating with a marquee reception. They even added endless ice cream and cake, just to make their day even more perfect!

It was in year nine, on a school camp to Tasmania that left Rebecca and Trent to meet (yes they’ve been meant for each other from so early on!).” Rebecca remembers “We crossed paths in 2006 when we both attended our Year 9 Tasmania camp – although the story is told, that Rebecca was looking for someone else, she came across a little red-haired, freckle faced boy who asked her to come to watch the sunrise, on what was a very foggy morning, no sunrise was seen.”

And with a love of Disney movies, it was only fitting that it was while Rebecca was settling in to re-watch a favourite, that Trent would ask her to marry him. “Not much gets past me, but on the day Trent proposed I was very surprised.
Trent had arranged for us to watch “The Lion King” at home in the theatre room, as I settled myself in for the movie, the screen played the Disney Castle introduction, and then went into Ed Sheeran – Perfect, to which I noticed my name written on the screen, with a beautiful slide show of all our memories, and the all-important words “Will you marry me?” – the day ended with all of our friends arriving on the doorstep shortly after to celebrate.”

On Trent’s look, Rebecca tells “The Groom wore a Politix suit, he chose the contrasting grey jacket, with black pants because he wanted something that still looked formal, but with a relaxed look.”

Family is one of the most important things in life to Rebecca, so she made sure she included many sentimental details throughout the day, including in her outfit “I recently lost my Grandpa before the day – my Maid of Honour gifted me a “guardian angel” pin, not only in remembrance of him, but as my “something blue”, my “something borrowed” was my veil, it was the veil my bridesmaid had on her wedding day, my “something old” was a photo of my grandparents from their wedding day, and my “something new” was a set of Vera Wang Champagne glasses to use during preparations gifted from a very close friend.”

Rebecca chose a beautiful dark champagne gown from Oleg Cassini Australia.  “My wedding dress shopping was not as “streamlined” as I’d hoped for, there were many shops/stores, there were tears, and not of the good kind. As a plus-size bride, I found it very hard in some stores to get help, they would look me up and down, and give me a choice of 3-4 dresses based on my size. Until I walked into Oleg Cassini, Nomii at the Melbourne, went above and beyond. She gave me multiple options and gave me the time of day. She was so helpful – and when I tried on “The One” I felt nothing but happiness, and to be honest, relief!
I chose a dark champagne dress, with a beaded bodice, it was perfect, it complimented my shape, and made me feel incredible!”

Embracing the countryside for their day, Rebecca and Trent booked out Tindarra Resort, the bride noting  “We chose Tindarra Resort because it was exactly what we envisioned as our perfect wedding venue. We didn’t want a wedding that only lasted one day – we chose a venue where all our family and friends could join us for an entire weekend.
The Tindarra Resort was just that, with 30 villas we were able to have exclusive use of the resort for the entire weekend. The team at Tindarra were nothing but incredible, Emilly took the stress out of everything on the weekend; if I had forgotten something she made it happen!”

Rebecca walked down the aisle accompanied by her father to Elle Goulding’s “Love me as you do”. “One of my favourite moments was hitting the aisle as Ellie Goulding sang “What are you waiting for!!”

The couple wanted their ceremony to be quick and easy, so they chose Anita Heard to officiate it. Says Rebecca “When discussing what we wanted from our ceremony with our celebrant Anita, we wanted to keep it light-hearted, and to put it simply “quick” – Trent and I were more excited to celebrate! Anita nailed it, she was light-hearted, she made us feel comfortable, and “got the job done”.
We asked Trent’s sisters to do a reading, and they fittingly chose to read “He never leaves the seat up” by Pam Ayres. We sealed the ceremony with a kiss, a confetti toss to the sounds of “This will be”by Natalie Cole.”

The simple floral details of white flowers and greenery were put together by Bryants Buds, says Rebecca “Sarah from Bryants Buds – completely nailed our K.I.S.S style, we wanted to keep it in theme, the use of natives, with white roses, she was able to create a romantic yet simplistic bouquet, and styling for our wedding.”

“My favourite thing about planning a wedding was seeing it all come together, checking off the list was so satisfying” laughs Rebecca. “I planned a wedding during lockdown, so it occupied my time; now post-wedding, and in another lockdown, I feel lost.”

Rebecca and Trent could not dish out enough kind things to say about their photographer, Rebecca sharing  “Mon Mon Mon, how can I explain our photographer? EPIC, she went above and beyond the entire day. I cannot thank her enough for capturing our day, we can look at our photos are relive the day.
Mon made us feel so relaxed, and comfortable straight away. We wanted our photos to look natural, and she absolutely nailed it. She was extremely organised and didn’t miss a beat. We are incredibly grateful for choosing Mon, and will, and have been recommending her to everyone we know.”

Rebecca has this advice for those of you sitting in the planning your wedding mode. “On the day live in the moment. Don’t let anything stop you from having the best day – find out about “all the drama” the day after, and laugh at the fact that it didn’t affect you. Celebrate hard!”

That wedding cake made by the bride herself! “Many people were in complete shock – I DIY’d our wedding cake.
As we hired the team from The Port Ice Creamery to serve unlimited ice-creams for dessert, we didn’t want to splurge on a cake as well. So my Maid of Honour, and myself the night before the wedding whipped up a 3-layered sneaky Woolies, wedding cake! Thank you Betty Crocker Frosting!”

Trent chimes in “I am so proud of the day Rebecca created for us – she is incredible.”

For their first dance, Rebecca and Trent chose the same song playing as Trent proposed – “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran.

The couple chose Twentyfour 18 to capture their day on film, a decision they are very thankful for! “All our vendors were amazing. The Dynamic Duo of Love by Shae & Twentyfour18 were impressive, Mon & Dave completely captured our wedding and we are extremely grateful – not only did they make us feel comfortable, everyone loved them!”

The biggest of congratulations to you both Rebecca and Trent! We are so thrilled to be able to share your day. Thank you both for taking the time and to Love by Shae for sharing today’s beautiful images.