From the Apple Isle itself, comes Ryan and Scott's sensationally beautiful apple shed wedding, a wedding that took place in the south of Tasmania on a stunning Autumn day.

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After dating for 13 (and a half) years Ryan and Scott gathered with 40 of their guests in the apple state of Tasmania to say their 'i do's' and celebrate one of life's biggest milestones.

Captured by Brisbane based photographer Peppermint Photography, Ryan and Scott's Tasmanian wedding is one that is filled with superior natural styling and an enormous amount of love. Here, Ryan and Scott share with us their story.

When and where did you meet?
We met on a night out in Brisbane through mutual friends. Ryan was a workmate of someone there who invited him out later on in the night, and when we met, we just hit it off straight away. Scott’s normally quite introverted, but after a few drinks, he was even flirting. Funnily enough, Scott was actually being set up with another guy that night, and Ryan had only ever dated girls up to that point. Despite these slight obstacles, we had an immediate connection and after seeing each other again at a friends gathering, decided to see where an official date would take us. I’d say it was a successful outcome.

Tell us a little about the proposal.
We were in the USA for a three-week road trip through the southern states. We were heading back from a day at the Grand Canyon when we saw a little sign saying “view this way”. We decided to pull over, even though there appeared to be nothing but some empty Native American stalls, but we walked along a gravel walkway for a bit until the ground opened up to reveal an almighty gorge in the Earth overlooking Little Colorado River. Ryan had been planning on proposing on the trip but hadn’t found the right moment, and this was it. Scott was in the middle of filming a snapchat when he panned across to find Ryan on one knee.

Tell us about your wedding day.
We couldn’t have asked for a happier and more special moment in time. We stayed on a beautiful homestead – we even had chickens to tend to! In the morning we shared a big breakfast with six of our close friends who were staying nearby. It was a good way to normalise the day and to keep our nerves in check. We then made our way home and started getting dressed in time for our photographer to arrive. There were no groomsmen or family with us then as we decided to keep it to the two of us; at the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.
We had about 40 guests in total coming to the wedding. The ceremony was wonderful, and the reception was incredible. The rain miraculously held off until we moved inside for speeches and dinner. Once we got up to dance, we pretty much didn’t leave the dancefloor, and neither did our guests. It was everything we hoped for.

What style of wedding were you going for?
We really crafted the wedding around the venue itself and the scenery of the Huon Valley – minimal decorations, relying heavily on the ambience and charm of the Apple Shed and the region. We figured we would keep things relaxed and uncomplicated, which suits our personalities. That being said, we wanted to look good so decided on custom three-piece suits. It was our one true indulgence and suited the chilly climate perfectly.

What is a perfect wedding in your eyes?
Less about formality, where the focus is simply on having a great time and celebrating love. After all, it’s likely the most expensive party you’ll ever have!

What was the number one thing of importance to you around your wedding?
That our guests got to enjoy the beauty of Tasmania. As pretty much everyone was travelling interstate for the wedding, we wanted to ensure people took the time to have a holiday, really explore and experience all the best Tassie has to offer, so that it would truly be a memorable time for everyone, even outside of the wedding day itself.

What was the best thing about the day?
Honestly, that everyone got up and danced the night away with smiles on their faces. We worked closely with our awesome DJ to select the songs that we thought would get people moving, our personal favourites, and ones you wouldn’t normally hear.

Now on a little more personal note…. tell us a little about your personal story of acceptance, coming out and getting married.
All in all, we were lucky to have supportive friends and family when we came out at the ages of 21. There were people who struggled with it, however, they either moved on from our lives or it just took them a little longer. Most importantly, you need to remember that you can’t carry other people’s emotions or issues as your own. It is for them to work through and process. For the longest time, we weren’t particularly interested in getting married – we saw it as more of a heterosexual institution built around religion. As we got older though, we wanted to celebrate our relationship and began to recognise the importance of equality and what this represented in society – the public recognition of our union and to one day feel comfortable walking down a street, hand-in-hand.

How did last years marriage equality postal survey affect you?
The postal survey was an upsetting time for us. Even though we had all the support of people around us, it was an emotionally trying time to see the public debates, social media commentary, and have it so visible that it was exhausting. It affected us far more than we thought it had. We didn’t entirely realise it until the day of the outcome announcement and we just burst into tears when the yes vote was announced. We even ugly cried.

Any words of advice to anyone in the LGBTQI+ community finding it difficult dealing with unsupportive family around their wedding planning journey?
People will likely put certain pressures on you around the wedding – whether that’s the usual “you need to invite this person or do this”, or even whether it’s that people don’t support your decision to get married. Our advice would be to remember why you’re doing this, and who you’re doing it for. We’ve fought hard against discrimination and for marriage equality, and anyone who isn’t supportive of your love and union probably shouldn’t be at the wedding celebrating with everyone else. We create our own families of choice and choose to surround ourselves with people who are inclusive and loving.