The Special Couple: Danielle + Tom

THE FIRST SIGHT

Tom & I initially met on the bus on the way home from a night out at a bar. We chatted the entire bus trip, and he asked for my number. I didn't hear from him until two years later, when Snapchat came around. I received a funny video from this stranger I did not remember; I asked how he had my number, and he said I was on his phone as "Dani Night Rider". We started talking and realised we were both coincidentally invited to the same party the following weekend. There was only one mutual friend we discovered we had at that time. So we met again at this party, and the rest is history!

THE PROPOSAL

We were on a family holiday in Noosa. We went for a sunrise walk up a mountain to a beautiful lookout with 180-degree views of the ocean! Once we reached the top, I was a sweaty mess, and at this point was not expecting a proposal! But Tom dropped down to one knee and asked me to marry him. We then sat and watched the sunrise together, soaking up our new exciting reality. We walked home, shared the news with my family, and celebrated all day with my family and Toms's father in Noosa. It was so nice to have family around us to share our excitement while on holiday.

THE INSPIRATION & VENUE

We got married on beautiful Hamilton Island. Growing up, I had been on many holidays there, and the Chapel always stood out to me. Being an Island, I needed to explain to family and friends that as relaxing as the vibe would be, we still wanted a formal wedding - sorry, no Hawaiian shirts! My vision was to have an elegant, romantic and feminine wedding surrounded by water views and beautiful landscapes. There was a highlight of floral in my theme, not just the gorgeous florals we had for our bouquets and decorative garlands but also hints of floral in our invitations, wedding stationery, bridesmaids and my earrings, and of course, the dress!

THE BRIDAL LOOK & SAYING 'YES' TO THE DRESS

My mother and I were doing bridal dress shopping with just the two of us the day we found my wedding dress at Eternal Bridal! I had two design features I knew I preferred - a low back and the dress to be somewhat fitted around my waist. Eternal Bridal had many dress options that matched my requirements, and Ora was the third dress I tried. Once we saw that train and the detail in the lace, we could not go past it. I had to get my sisters in store to see it, so we came back another day, and when they saw it, we all knew it was the one. As mentioned, flowers were a subtle feature throughout my wedding decisions, so with the gorgeous floral patterned lace on the dress, it was perfect!

THE BEST THING ABOUT OUR DAY

The highlight of our day was seeing the pure joy in our family and friends' faces throughout the day. Everyone was in holiday mode and so happy that we made it to Hamilton Island for our wedding after a covid postponement. It felt like a miracle to have a destination wedding, but to top it off with perfect weather, a packed dance floor all night, and most of our guest list in attendance. It was such a beautiful feeling.

DANIELLE'S ADVICE

As wonderful as it would be to have every detail perfect, don't set expectations of your wedding too high because things won't always go to plan. Your happiness and measure of success come down to the number of smiles you see, the quality of conversations you have, the laughs you hear, and the dance moves you witness. Everything has a way of turning out exactly how it should, so just have fun!

Danielle wore Ora wedding gown from bridal designer Enozani. See more wedding dresses from Blue by Enzoani Collection here.

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