The Romance
Josh and I met in 2009 at age 17 in my small hometown of Ulverstone. Josh lived in Devonport (ten minutes from Ulverstone), but luckily we first caught eyes on each other one day as I was finishing my shift at Subway. Josh was with his mates and my girlfriends were picking me up. One of my close friends, also named Renee, happened to be Josh’s cousin and he later asked to meet me. That week my friend Renee picked me up from school to meet Josh. Upon meeting him, I remember thinking just how loud and outspoken he was! But the more we saw each other the more we talked to each other, I came to realise he was such a kind and thoughtful person. Within only a few months we made things ‘official’ – 18 June 2009. Unfortunately at this time Josh’s dad was terminally ill. I moved in to support him and his family and it made us grow closer and closer. Losing his dad was a huge loss. I did everything I could to help. A few years later, we decided we wanted a place of our own, we worked two jobs each and saved hard to purchase our first home together in 2013. We have worked hard renovating our house after work and on weekends to turn it into our forever home. Josh and I love working on projects together, eating at amazing restaurants and just spending as much time as we can together, we are best friends and soulmates.
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The Proposal
On our seven year anniversary, Josh had organised a surprise weekend away. He told me to pack warm clothes (almost a given in Tasmania!) and asked me to take the weekend off work. I finished work on a Friday and he picked me up and off we went. We drove for an hour until we go to Cradle Mountain. He found us a stunning little chalet by a lake for two nights – how romantic! I noticed he was a little quiet and not as relaxed as normal but I just thought he was getting sick or something. On the day of our anniversary he set up a beautiful picnic on our little deck under the stars and got on one knee and asked me to marry him using an ‘Upwords’ board as we had loved this board game. He spelt out “will you marry me babe” on the board. I was so shocked! I just cried. I cried so much I couldn’t answer him for a few minutes. But of course, I said YES!
The Planning
Josh and I had about 11 months to plan our wedding. We found that planning a wedding is a mixture of activities and even more feelings! It was fun, exciting, scary and stressful all wrapped into one. Josh and I did all the planning and made all the decorations ourselves. Josh is a Joiner so he made a lot of decorations from rustic timber palings. We would spend hours a day together, many late nights and early mornings working together to get things done. It was a lot of work planning for a wedding, but it really was the most rewarding experience ever. And even better, it brought us together even closer.
The Wedding Day
We got married at the stunning Elmslie estate in Tasmania on Saturday 3 March 2018. The few weeks leading up to the wedding rained every weekend! I began to stress that the weather wouldn’t hold out for our big day! But it turned out to be absolutely perfect! On the morning of the wedding, I got up at 7.30am after a restless night! I felt relatively calm at first until my sister gave me a note and gift from Josh. As soon as I read the letter, the tears and the butterflies in my stomach began! Throughout the day I got the little butterfly feelings in my tummy, and knots of excitement/nervousness continued to come and go. It’s a feeling like no other. Josh and I spent the night apart – it seems more special that way. It was well worth it! We had the most spectacular day full of love, laughter and pride.
The Ceremony
As soon as we laid eyes on Elmslie we just knew it was the perfect location. It felt homely and inviting and stunning. We had an outdoor ceremony, in a pretty garden. We had chosen separate songs for the ceremony, one for the bridesmaids and one for myself. Dad walked me down the aisle to the song ‘Feels like home’ by Chantal Kreviazuk. Walking through the entrance of the garden I thought, ‘I’ve got this!’. But as soon as I saw Josh waiting for me at the end, tears of happiness took over! Our celebrant was fabulous, it was a fun and very personalised ceremony. We can’t describe how perfect it was, almost all our guests were crying throughout. It was beautiful and thankfully seamless!
The Reception
We had our Reception at the same venue, while we were off having our photos the guests had canapes and lawn games (all made by Josh!) to enjoy. We created a rustic look for our reception, with old timber pailings as our table runners, fairy light jars, candles and large vases with blush roses and baby’s breathe flowers laid out on the tables. With stunning wine barrels throughout the room and fairy lights hanging from the ceiling, it was simply elegant! We had a three course sit down meal and an open bar for the guests. To keep it fun and interesting, we had speeches between the courses. The reception was so much fun, and it’s an amazing feeling having all your friends and family there for you and celebrating your love for one another. The whole thing went by so quickly (too quickly!).
The Honeymoon
We headed off on our honey moon two days after the wedding. This gave us time to pack up and wind down from a few big days. We spent a few days in Brisbane, relaxing, wining, dining and enjoying each other’s company. We then headed off to Fraser Island for some site seeing! We had such a wonderful time, and cannot wait to go back. From there we spent some time in Noosa, this has always been one of our favourite places to go so we enjoyed every minute here living it up. Honestly though, the best part of the honeymoon was sitting back and thinking of all the amazing memories we have started to create as newly weds! We are so happy.
Wedding Advice ...
My biggest advice to everyone is to take a moment to step back, relax and take it all in and enjoy every breath-taking minute of the day, try not to stress! At the end of the day it’s simply a day all about you and your partner and what will be will be! As long as you are both there with your rings and vows the rest of the day and night will pan out. How can it not, when you’re surrounded by those you love, celebrating our new love! Just remember to breathe, take it all in and enjoy every single minute. Just remember that all relationships have some hard times, loves not supposed to be easy! So never give up, the more hurdles you face together, the stronger you become xx
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