If fairytales had school bus meet-cutes, Meaghan and Reagan’s story would be the blueprint. From teenage sweethearts to a decade-long love story, their journey has been filled with laughter, road trips, and dreams. Their wedding? A breathtaking pastel black tie wedding, equal parts elegant and sentimental, set against a backdrop they helped transform with their own hands. This wasn’t just a wedding – it was the celebration of years of love, DIY magic, and a vision brought to life with the help of their closest friends and family, all captured under the impeccable eye of Dani Bartlett Photography.

If you’ve ever doubted that school buses could be romantic, Meaghan and Reagan are here to prove otherwise! At just 15, they found themselves on the same bus, introduced by mutual friends, and quickly hit it off. A movie date soon followed, and before they knew it, they were navigating high school, life, and love together. Fast forward ten years, and these former teens in love are now high school sweethearts who got married with this beautiful pastel black tie wedding!

After months of driving back and forth between Adelaide and Mildura, Reagan and Meaghan decided to have a break at home for the Christmas/New Year period relaxing. “We spent the day lazing around the house and pottering about as it was a stinking hot day, so we hardly went outside. It got to about 7 pm, finally bearable enough to go outside, so we decided to sit on the grass and have a G&T. We had our dog Gnocchi and our cat Penny who was chasing dragonflies as we sat outside. I was in my dressing gown, and Reagan was in a tank top and shorts. He disappeared inside and returned a few minutes later with a shirt on his tank top; something was a little off. We sat for a bit longer. I was chatting away when I noticed he wasn’t paying attention. Reagan said he had a gift for me, and all I could say was ‘Oh my God’ over and over again. He said some beautiful things, that I’ll probably never remember, but we were over the moon. You couldn’t wipe the smile off my face; it was so personal and so casual and ultimately us to a tee.”

Reagan looked dapper in his Jenny and Gerry’s Bridal suit, opting for the classic black tux. He finished off his look with a tuxedo shirt with French cuffs, M and R cuff links and their wedding logo embroidered on the inside, keeping it close to his heart.

In his wedding party, Reagan had five of his closest friends. Tim, Ashley, John, Oisin and Alessio – each wearing a matching tux with pastel floral buttonholes.

Meaghan wore her late grandmother’s pearls, which were gifted on her 21st birthday, and a handwritten note tied to her bouquet to ensure she was right there with her on this special day. She wore a gorgeous Maggie Soterro gown also from Jenny and Gerry’s. “I took my mum and my bridesmaid’s dress shopping and tried on so many dresses; I wanted something that was simple and beautiful but still let me be the focus. My experience at Jenny and Gerry’s was great. I went to multiple bridal stores, but the service I received there was above all else, and they were so helpful in making sure I got what I wanted within my budget,” she shared.

As for her shoes, Meaghan was determined to wear pink shoes but wanted something comfortable and stylish. “I couldn’t find the right thing, so Dad came to the rescue. He helped me spray paint some white shoes pink at home. They were perfect and completed my outfit.”

Meaghan also had five members in her wedding party, wearing a collection of gorgeous pastel gowns. Jade wore green, Rachael wore blue, Zoe in purple, Raiya in pink, and her older sister Erica in yellow. “A very carefully curated palette that took a lot of online shopping, I was in a different location to all my bridesmaids, and a lot of Google Sheets contributions.”

With so many incredible shots from their black-tie wedding, it was hard for Meaghan to pick her favourites – but after some consideration, she would have to say this shot of her and Reagan seeing each other during the first look! “I can still feel the emotion I was feeling in that moment.”

The venue for this pastel wedding was an Airbnb, Minerva House, owned by their friend Ashley, who had bought the property a few years before when it was in dire need of some TLC. “I took one look at it and told him ‘I’m going to get married here’. It was a mess and needed so much work, but we both saw the vision. Once we got engaged, we confirmed it with him and his wonderful partner Alex, and they both agreed to let us do it. In the 12 months leading up to the wedding, we all (the bridal party and some extra friends) spent long weekends and any other spare time we could gardening, painting, weeding and everything else under the sun to make the property what it needed to be for the wedding,” Meaghan explained. “It was the most special thing we could have done. We got married at a place that we will get to visit again for years to come, and spending all that time building it with our friends meant it was all the more special. We used Mid North Party Hire to totally deck out the space with marquees, furniture, and lights, but the garden was really the best setting.”

Since the venue wasn’t a dedicated wedding space, Meaghan and Reagan worked hard on plenty of DIY projects to turn this gorgeous property into a function event space. “To name a few things, we made the backdrop for the ceremony (and drove it from Mildura to Saddleworth), the ceremony signs, the seating charts, the table numbers and place cards, the welcome sign, the confetti cones, and the card box. Reagan, his dad and his brother built the bar; we had a logo we designed that we used everywhere, and I printed it to stick on the front of the bar. We made our own champagne tower and of course my shoes! We DIYd the invitations, and all the stationary for the wedding. I made a whole binder to keep track of everything! It may have been easier to ask what we didn’t DIY…”

The talented team at Him & Her Music provided tunes all day long. “Chelsea was absolutely fantastic to plan with. She was so helpful, made the planning process easy and did not pressure me to choose anything in particular. We originally weren’t sure if we wanted any professional music for the day and thought we could DIY that, too. Still, after speaking with Chelsea, I felt confident in their abilities. Rachel and Lucas, our acoustic musicians, were beautiful. They set up easily, sang me down the aisle beautifully and kept the vibes high throughout cocktail hour. They were the perfect people to soundtrack our day. And then Ali, our DJ, worked so hard to make sure we were all having a blast on the dance floor. He was friendly and kept touching base with us throughout the night to ensure we heard what we wanted. I cannot recommend them enough!”

These incredible pastel florals were created by Aqeela from Tangled In Flowers, working with Meaghan and Reagan to bring their flower dreams to life! Aside from wanting dahlias and chrysanthemums, the only other brief was colour. “The flowers were done by a florist who came recommended to us by a family member, who only does a few small jobs a year. She worked with me over multiple meetings to pick everything that was the right colour palette and build the most beautiful arbour and setting for us. It really paid off; she made us the most beautiful bouquets, corsages for our mums, buttonholes for all the boys and the dads, gorgeous arbour flowers and cute bud vases to finish the tables.”

Meaghan walked down the aisle with her mum and dad on either arm as Him & Her performed an acoustic version of “Anyone” by Justin Bieber. “It was important to me that they were both there to see me to the next stage of my life, given how well they’d set me up so far.”

This was Reagan’s most memorable moment from the day, saying, “I remember the nonstop crying the most. We both cried at our first look, walking down the aisle, and throughout the ceremony. It was just a day full of happy tears.”

The wonderful Amelia the Celebrant, a friend of Reagan and Meaghan, ran their ceremony. “She was able to create a beautiful ceremony that captured our personal stories and honoured us and our families. The ceremony was very emotional, and it was important to us that it wasn’t too traditional but still had all the important parts.”

Dani Bartlett was the perfect photographer for Meaghan and Reagan’s pastel black tie wedding – and this couple couldn’t have loved her more! “Dani was spectacular. She was so friendly and helpful with our timelines and planning what we needed without overwhelming us. She made us feel so at ease, and not to mention the work she creates is just unmatched. Dani got the brief and then went above and beyond for us. She was following our every move, so she captured it all but didn’t feel like she was impeding on our day,” Meaghan gushed. “I cannot recommend Dani enough with her talent and commitment to us and our wedding. We felt so special and so valued as her clients. The worst part is having so many beautiful photos, how on earth are we supposed to choose what to display or print!!”

Another vendor Meaghan wanted to shout out was Loo La La! “This might seem strange, but it’s SO important for DIY weddings – our toilet providers. Loo La La was outstanding. They were flexible when our plans changed, made planning easy, and were prompt with their responses. They were even able to problem-solve when they got to our venue, and our original access plan wasn’t going to work. The staff are the main reason we loved them so much, but I will say I’ve never had so many compliments on a toilet in my life! Our guests were so happy to have real bathrooms with lights, porcelain toilets and mirrors to use throughout the day. Even though we were in a country town on a property with only one bathroom, we were able to make it feel like a luxury venue thanks to Loo La La.”

A piece of advice Meaghan and Reagon wanted to share for future married couples is this: “The best piece of advice I think we received was that the couple sets the vibe. If you’re carefree, having fun and loved up, it seeps into every part of the day. Your guests can feel it, and they match your energy. If you’re too wrapped up in the details or stressed out, they can tell, and it makes everything a bit more tense. So I say, focus on you as a couple, and have fun. Everyone else will too.”

The only hiccup they experienced on the day was when no one could find the information binder Meaghan had put together with all the speeches and vendor information! “All day, I had been telling anyone who was giving a speech that they must not use their phones. It was 15 minutes before we were due to enter the reception, and we couldn’t find the binder anywhere. Our whole bridal party searched everywhere they could to find it for us; John even sprinted (and I mean sprinted; he’s an athlete) back to the boys’ accommodation to check there because I did not want to have to read from our phones! They found it in the end and came to our rescue. That was the greatest hiccup of the day, and really it was quite a minor detail.”

“Hold” by Vera Blue is a song very close to Meaghan and Reagan’s hearts, having been dubbed their song, so it was no surprise to anyone that they picked it for their first dance. “We choreographed our own dance using YouTube tutorials and practised it for a few months in the lead-up to the wedding. It was late in the night, but very special.”

Congratulations Meaghan and Reagan! Your pastel black tie celebration was a treat to view – you should be incredibly proud of your work. And thanks to Dani Bartlett for sharing these beautiful shots with us.