Joyful Wedding Day At Victoria Park

Some things are just meant to be. Like Libby & Trent’s love story. “We met on Tinder in Feb 2017. We swiped right on a Saturday night, met for coffee the following Sunday morning, and had 3 dates that week!” recalls Libby about how she and her now husband first met. A single swipe can sometimes seal your fate and it led this beautiful couple to their joyful wedding day at Victoria Park, captured by Sunlit Studios. Libby tells us about her & Trent’s long-distance journey to be together, and about their glorious wedding day…

In May 2018, Trent moved from Brisbane to London for work and we began what we thought would be 12 months of long distance. However, in April 2019, he was headhunted and moved to Sydney. The long-distance continued and we built the best communication skills and we learned to appreciate every little text, call, or fleeting weekend together that we could organise.

We planned a trip to New York for April 2020 and Trent had elaborate plans to propose on that trip. However, in late March 2020, I was visiting him for a weekend in Sydney and we heard that the state borders were closing indefinitely in a few days. Trent decided he couldn’t wait and he proposed in his bedroom, just 20 minutes before we had to leave to get me to the airport. We sat in the Virgin Australia lounge and drank champagne for an hour before I took off to Brisbane. Unfortunately, we remained apart, on opposite sides of the closed border for 7 months and we planned our wedding online. Skip forward to May 2021 and he finally moved to Brisbane and our long-distance days were over!

Originally, our wedding was planned for September 17th, 2021, but border closures forced us to postpone. We did elope on Sept 17th as we didn’t want to wait to be married. Our wedding on March 18th was all about love, family, and long-overdue celebrations.

The style and theme were all about incorporating the colours of my engagement ring from Brilliant Earth. My ring is a peach sapphire, with a diamond on either side, set in a platinum band. Our colours were pinks, white, silver, and greenery. The atmosphere of the day was pure happiness and joy to be able to celebrate together.

I designed my dress with Nancy Khau Boutique. I knew I wanted a crisp white fabric, that was soft and comfortable. I decided on a one-shouldered style to help flatter my busty shape, while still showing some decolletage and my waist. The skirt has a pleat to give it some structure and we added a jeweled belt around the waist. The whole design and making of the dress only took 2 months. It was also more affordable than I expected, so totally recommend that!

My flowers were artificial flowers from Beautiful Weddings. They were stunning and a gorgeous addition to our day. The bouquets and the arbour florals were all the same.

Trent wore a 3 piece suit from InStitchu. He chose a pink lining on the inside, to incorporate the colour of my engagement ring and he had our wedding date stitched inside. The groomsmen wore emerald green ties (to match the bridesmaids) and Trent wore a white tie to match me.

We were married in the courtyard at Victoria Park. It has an incredible outlook of the green parkland and the city skyline behind it. I walked down to an acoustic version of “Here Comes The Sun” by The Beatles. Walking down the aisle and seeing all the faces I love was so special, as was having our two dogs at our ceremony!

Our ceremony was written by our incredible celebrant, Jacs Moore from Moore Celebrations and it was every bit emotional, heartwarming, and hilarious. She shared our love story in a way that had us laughing and tearing up. The best thing about having a brilliant celebrant who you can trust is it is one less thing you have to organise! We wrote our vows, filled in a questionnaire, and went out for drinks with Jacs a few times and that’s all we had to do. It was the most personal, fun-filled ceremony and I wouldn’t change a thing.

Jacs set the tone for our ceremony. She reminded everyone of our love story and gave the context to why we were all there celebrating. I’ll forever be thankful that we chose Jacs to be our celebrant.

We chose Sunlit Studios after having a skype meeting with them and seeing their brilliant work. One of the things that were so important to us was to find a business that would do both photography and videography for us. We met with Cameron and he told us all about the package that they offered. Included in our package was our engagement shoot – he made us feel totally comfortable and we knew he would be the perfect man for the job. He was always accommodating and willing to help us through the planning process and our postponement. On the day, Cameron helped to keep me calm when little things went wrong and the other Sunlit employees were all smiles and had a great vibe!

As our memories fade and our life gets busier, we will always have these incredible images and videos to look back on and relive our special day. There is a reason you invest so much in photography and videography, and that is because it’s the part you’ll show your children and your grandchildren one day. I’m obsessed with our photos.

It is almost impossible to choose a favourite photo from the day. Our first sneak peek photo will always be so special to us. We are standing and cuddling on a beautiful grassy hill, with the Brisbane skyline behind us and a cotton candy-colorred sunset giving the photo a gorgeous backdrop.

I carried a handkerchief that was my grandmother’s. We also had photos of our parents on their wedding days on display next to our cake. It was important for us to honour the beautiful couples who led to us being there on that day. We have had beautiful role models and we are so lucky.

Our reception was in the Alabaster Room at Victoria Park. It is a very versatile space, with room for our light-up letters, photo booth, dance floor, lounge area, outdoor area, and plenty of seating.

We had music custom recorded for us by musician Jax Thomas. Music was an important aspect to me and I wanted something really personal. Jax recorded a beautiful slow version of Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” and we learned our dance with Wedding Dance Diva. We had lots of spins, turns, and dips and we loved it.

After our first dance, we invited our guests to follow us outside onto the deck. We surprised them with a 7-minute fireworks display. The gasps and laughs from our family and friends were priceless. That moment will always be a stand-out for us. It was like we were all kids seeing fireworks for the first time again, totally magical.

My biggest piece of advice is to slow down and enjoy the process. Wedding planning can be stressful, but I think your mindset sets the tone. Ask your fiancé, wedding party, and family to help out if need be. Also, make sure you only invest in things that are going to spark joy in you and your guests. Sometimes you get lost in the finer details and they will often go unnoticed.

Spending the whole night with my husband was magic. We stuck close together and soaked it up together and that was so special to have all the same memories.