It was being surrounded by not just the people, but the animals they love that was important to today’s newlyweds Lisa & Alex. The pair made sure they could include not just their daughter Myah in their day, but also Lisa’s two beloved horses Ellie and Mila. The day turned into a beautiful celebration of life, love and family – as evident through every photograph captured by Anthea of The Love Story Photography.

But this was a day, that despite its serene and beautiful moments, was not without the usual wedding stress, or as we now say, the usual COVID wedding stress, says Lisa “With COVID taking off in Australia, our WA borders were supposed to open on 5th Feb 2022, our wedding was planned for 25th Feb 2022. We did get worried about COVID going crazy in WA and having a heap of restrictions or even people falling sick on the day so we actually moved our wedding forward three weeks and had the wedding on the 1st Feb 2022. Regardless of us moving the date it was still such a special day.”

The pair, who met as young teenagers while working at their local supermarket, became engaged on a family holiday Lisa recalled, “We were on a family holiday down south in November 2020. When we had some time to ourselves we went for a walk along a boardwalk in Grace Town, Cowaramup Bay in WA; Alex got down on one knee overlooking the beautiful beach.”

Lisa found her lace gown at Tuscany Bridal. “I had my mum and bridesmaid with me at the time. It was actually the first dress I had tried on. After trying on a few others I did come back to this one.”

Lisa wanted dried flowers for the day. “We chose to have preserved flowers in natural, beige and taupe tones which tied in with all the surrounding paddocks.”

Lisa walked down the aisle with her dad to “Kiss Me” by Ed Sheeran. “I was supposed to wear a veil, but I forgot to put it on” remembers Lisa. “Just before the ceremony, our lovely wedding planner rushed back to the room to get it, I stuck it in, the music started to play and I set off down the aisle with my dad. Just a few steps along, a gust of wind caught the veil and it landed on a rosebush. I guess I was never meant to wear a veil!”

The couple was married by Chelsea Crowe. Says Alex  “Our ceremony was just what I’d always hoped for – it was a laid back, interactive ceremony set in front of the beautiful manor house. We arrived in a carriage drawn by two beautiful, gentle grey Clydesdale horses. My friend Jepina wrote a reading, especially for us which she got up and said during the ceremony.”

“Having our daughter Myah, who is 11 months old, with us was very special” remembers Lisa. “Watching her walk down the aisle in her tiny white dress is a moment neither Alex nor I will ever forget.

Lisa has two special friends she holds incredibly dear, and she was able to have them present on the day! “The main reason we booked Brookleigh Estate was so that I could have my two beloved horses, Ellie and Mila, at the wedding. I have always dreamed of them being with me on our wedding day, and once we realised they could overlook the ceremony from the paddock everything fell into place.”

Lisa and Alex give all their praise to their photographer Anthea. “Anthea from The Love Story Photography were perfect for us. From the moment we first spoke and she found out that my horses for coming for the photos, she was so excited. She even arrived with a bag of chopped carrots!

We felt we were in really good hands with Anthea. She knew exactly what she was doing, the photo session flowed and we got all the shots that we wanted, with lots of surprises too. We love all our pictures.”

“On the day, try to make sure you both take some time out to just take it all in and enjoy it” advises Lisa. “The day goes so fast and it’s easy to get caught up doing a million things but just take some time to embrace it all.”

Lisa and Alex left the planning of their wedding to Weddings and Events Unlimited. “Our wedding planner Jacqui, from Weddings and Events Unlimited, did a fabulous job on the day. She worked so hard to make sure everything was perfect. From sorting out the delicious catering, to holding our phones while we got our photos, she took care of every imaginable detail that we couldn’t have thought of beforehand. All we did was give our excellent wedding planner the details of what we were looking for, told her what we wanted for the food, cake and flowers and she brought it together so stylishly and effortlessly. It was fun looking at beautiful, inspiring wedding pictures and imagining the set-up of the whole day and it truly came to life with the help of Jacqui.”

Alex and Lisa were married and celebrated at Brookleigh Estate. “I instantly fell in love with Brookleigh the moment we saw it” tells Lisa. “It was so beautiful and just had such a peaceful, country atmosphere. It just felt like the place we had always imagined for our wedding day.

My dream was to have my two beloved horses there on the day with me and to be able to have them in my photos. Brookleigh was able to accommodate this. We were able to stay there the night before and the accommodation there was amazing. It made the day so much easier and smooth. We had comments all night on how amazing the food was and the wonderful, seamless service from the staff.”

“We loved our whole wedding. The gentle, calm and relaxed atmosphere made everything seem unrushed. As the sun set and the hundreds of fairy lights twinkled in the balmy evening, I loved how we had the time to go and interact with everyone.”

The newlyweds danced the night away surrounded by their favourites, kicking it all off with a first dance to “Yellow” by Coldplay.” As we had a change in wedding dates and moved the date forward by three weeks last minute we did not have time to prepare the first dance. We decided to just go with the flow, thinking surely it couldn’t be that hard. Well, it was a good laugh as we were so unprepared and it was a lot more difficult than we had imagined!”

A big congratulations to you both Alex and Lisa. Thank you for sharing your beautiful wedding day with us and thank you to The Love Story Photography for sharing today’s beautiful celebration!