Ruby and Troy wanted to keep their wedding small to maximise the fun & minimise the stress. “We wanted to have a very intimate wedding with our nearest and dearest. Having a smaller-sized wedding of roughly 35 guests gave us the opportunity to have extras we may not have been able to achieve with a larger-sized wedding. Such as having a destination wedding!”  The couple chose the incredible Whitsundays as their location, opting to book Coral Sea Weddings & Events for everything from their accommodation, to their ceremony and the overwater reception.

“The location was very important for us as we wanted a tropical laid-back feel to our day” explains Ruby, who along with Troy researched aplenty and chose White Images to capture their day.  “The beautiful location really spoke for itself and because of this we did not feel a big need for lots of decorations or florals. As everyone says the day really does go fast! So having our wedding feel more like a holiday really enabled our guests to get to know each other before the big day. We also had the time to speak to each guest individually and spend quality time with them. The day was filled with so much love!!!”

The couple’s story began many years before they actually got together, knowing each other through friends in high school. Their formal first introduction, however, did not occur until Ruby was on a girl’s trip to Thailand in 2011 to celebrate finishing high school. It just so happened, that Troy was also there holidaying with his friends. “We shared our first kiss after I lured him out of the club looking for a lost fake designer bracelet I had bought that day” remembers Ruby. “After returning home Troy asked me on our first official date. We went to a local Thai restaurant for dinner and as they say the rest is history.”

Troy popped the question while the couple were holidaying in a waterside chateau overlooking the ocean in Tasmania. “Little did I know Troy was planning to propose at Wine Glass Bay the following day” remembers Ruby, “As we were sitting outside enjoying a bottle of champagne and oysters I went inside to grab an extra jacket. We were sharing the same bag for our luggage and whilst I was searching through our things, I came across a box. I truly believed inside were cufflinks and thought it was unusual as we were not planning on visiting anywhere overly fancy. I couldn’t be more wrong. I opened the box and let out a loud scream. Troy came running in to see what was wrong took one look at me with the open box containing the ring and in shock asked “Well will ya?”.
Although the proposal didn’t go quite to plan, I honestly think it suited as to a tee. We couldn’t have been in a more beautiful location. It was very no mess, no fuss which looking back on I believe is the exact vibe we wanted to bring to our wedding day.”

Ruby wanted her wedding dress to reflect the mood of the day finding the winning gown at Luv Bridal. She shares  “I wanted to feel comfortable on the day and not have to worry about being able to move freely or enjoy a dance. I wanted a timeless dress and that I would not look back on and feel was only trendy at the time.

I have to be honest, I did not love the dress-shopping experience. Although we were engaged pre covid we didn’t start planning our wedding until about 6 months before our wedding date. Designers and wedding dress boutiques require a lot of time for the dress to be made or ordered so it was vital that I found a dress that would make it in time. Especially with the delays that covid had caused in the wedding dress industry. I went to two wedding dress boutiques and tried on maybe six dresses in total.”

“My Nan had passed away a few months before the wedding” notes Ruby “We included a photo of her and my Pa on the wedding day.”

Troy was dressed in a slim fit black suit with a white shirt and black tie from MJ Bale.  “It was fitting to the traditional elements of the wedding and was what Troy envisioned himself wearing on his wedding day” explains Ruby. “The groomsmen wore black slim pants, white shirts and black ties to match.”

The couple were married on the lawn overlooking the beach. “We chose to get married on the lush, elevated lawn overlooking the Coral Sea. We had a plain white arch and the aisle was sprinkled with white rose petals. We didn’t want anything to take away from the natural beauty of our location.
The ceremony was one of my favourite parts of the day. I always knew I wanted the celebrant to know us as a couple. Getting married outside of our home state made it a bit more difficult to find someone we could grow a close bond and rapport with. Very early on we decided to ask Troy’s sister Paige if she would be willing to be our celebrant. Lucky for us she said yes without hesitation. We purchased a short course that helped her in her role as a celebrant. Having Paige as our celebrant brought another level of intimacy and concreted the personal vibe we wanted for our day. I remember looking around at our guests after reading our vows and seeing how emotional everyone was. It was very touching.”

Ruby walked down the aisle with her father to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love”. “Walking down the aisle I had no nerves. And I think a lot of that was to do with the small size of our wedding. There was no stress if guests were having fun and enjoying themselves as we truly knew each person there loved us and was deeply happy for us. We even had Troy’s sister as our celebrant!”

Finding the right photographer was one of the most important parts of wedding planning for Troy and Ruby, and the couple were both thrilled with their final decision. “Finding a photographer was something I spent the most time searching for. Troy was amazing in the whole process of wedding planning and honestly handled most of the liaising with the Coral Sea Resort team. I can be a very indecisive person and knew the whole wedding planning process would bring me quite a bit of anxiety.  Another reason why we chose to keep our wedding relatively small.

The photography aspect for our wedding and styling I took the lead on. When I found White Images’ Instagram, I instantly fell in love with Chloe’s photography style. I’m not a fan of anything overly posed and prefer a natural and romantic style of photography without being overly edited. I arranged a phone call with Chloe before booking her for the day. She was so warm and lovely even over the phone and I knew immediately we had to have her a part of our day. As soon as she arrived at our room on the day of our wedding she made myself and my bridesmaids feel completely at ease. She honestly felt like a friend rather than our photographer. Our guests raved about Chloe and how warm she was to everyone whilst also being extremely professional. It is not an easy feat to organise guests for group photos but she did so with such grace.

I would have to say Chloe was my favourite vendor when it came to keeping in contact with her in the lead-up to the wedding. We always felt in the loop and were important to her.”

“Don’t sweat the small things! ” advises Ruby. “The lead up to the wedding I overthought a lot. I constantly scrolled Instagram and wedding pages trying to find the “perfect” image of how I wanted to look. When it came to the wedding morning I woke up in the morning and did not have a single stress. I was so excited and embraced every single moment.

I put all my trust in the experts as we didn’t have the luxury of meeting our vendors before the big day. When our hair and make-up stylists arrived I just let them do their thing! I was told multiple times what a “chill” bride I was and I’m so happy I was able to relax and truly enjoy every moment. At the end of the day, it is about marrying the person you love.”

Guests joined the newlyweds for a sit-down dinner right on the water. “We held our reception on the gorgeous pier at the Coral Sea Resort adorned with hundreds of fairy lights. For seating, we had one long family-style table decorated with singular vases and mismatched white flowers. The sunset was magical with orange and pink hues. The ocean beneath us glistened turquoise blue with an abundance of fish swimming below.

The food was delicious! A lot of couples say that they didn’t have the time to eat and enjoy the food they had selected and paid for. I always knew that that would not be the case with myself or Troy. We indulged in all courses and drank to our heart’s content. It was also a priority for us both that we chose a premium food and alcohol option for both cocktail hour and the reception as our guests had made such a generous effort to be there for our destination wedding. There is nothing worse than being left hungry at a wedding, in our eyes anyway.”

The newlywed’s first dance was to Leon Bridges’ “Beyond”. Explains Ruby “We saw Leon perform live a couple of years prior and we both love his music. Our first dance felt so natural. I remember feeling so deeply in love at that moment.”

A big congratulations to you both Ruby and Troy! Thank you for sharing your stunning day with us and to White Images for today’s beautiful photography.