Ben and Brooklyn: Sunset Romance
Ben and Brooklyn's love story started many, many years ago. The two grooms met in High School, Grade 7 to be exact (how is that for a cute story), but they didn't officially start dating until they were both 19.
After getting engaged on their 10th anniversary of dating, Ben and Brooklyn decided to make their love a forever story and married on their 13th anniversary of dating, to the exact date.
Photographer Tropical Romance & Co. | Location Brisbane, AUS
“We actually went to school together from grade 7 onwards, but didn’t start dating until 2009.”
How and when did you meet?
Ben & Brooklyn: We actually went to school together from grade 7 onwards, but didn’t start dating until 2009.
Tell us a little about the earlier days of your relationship...
Ben & Brooklyn: We got together when we were so young! Only 19. We think we were lucky enough not to have any hurdles from external sources like friends or family, but you do a lot of growing up between the ages of 20 and 30, so there were definitely challenges. In the end, the shared struggles and experiences have helped to bring us closer together and make us better as both friends and as a couple.
What does Marriage mean to you?
Ben: I think marriage for me means getting to spend every part of my life with my best friend.
Brooklyn: For me, marriage is formalising the commitment we already have to each other. We already knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together, but being actually married somehow feels more permanent and real.
Who proposed and how?
Ben: I proposed to Brooklyn on our 10 year anniversary in 2018. There wasn’t much fanfare and that was really it until our 12 year anniversary in 2020 when Brooklyn said it was time we chose a date!
When did you get married?
16th October 2021 - on our 13th anniversary!
Ben and Brooklyn’s story continues below ↓
What was the main influence behind your wedding day?
Ben & Brooklyn: We wanted the overall vibe of the wedding to be more warm and intimate, so we tried to choose venues that already had the vibe we were looking for without much need for additional styling. For example, the wine barrels along the wall at City Winery provided a warm, earthy feeling that really captured the intimate vibe we were looking for. After that first decision, we tried to build off that and make decisions that complimented and amplified that vibe.
What was the most important thing to you surrounding your wedding?
Ben & Brooklyn: We’ve been together for 13 years now, so we already know that we’re committed to each other. So for us, the most important thing was to have some great food and a great night to really celebrate that commitment with our closest friends and family.
Where did you find the bulk of your inspiration?
Ben & Brooklyn: Both of us have quite particular tastes so after the initial brainstorming, we started looking online at places like Pinterest and Instagram to better help visualise and bring both of our ideas into one cohesive vision.
How did you choose your suppliers?
Ben & Brooklyn: The first supplier we picked was City Winery Brisbane. We went there for a meal right at the beginning of our wedding planning and just knew it was the venue for us. The whole ethos of the restaurant just spoke to us! For the majority of our other suppliers, we went off word of mouth from friends or other vendors.
Any standout suppliers?
Ben & Brooklyn: They were all genuinely good, but there were definitely three standouts.
Our photographer, Konrad, was spectacular. He captured our day perfectly, and was always there for the perfect photo, or even just to help keep us calm and relaxed!
Michael from City Winery also did an amazing job at bringing our vision to life, from the styling to the food, and even the scheduling of the reception.
And also Jacki, our celebrant. She really knew how to translate our own love story into the perfect ceremony. Not only did she fill the room with laughter and happiness on the day, but she was very reassuring through the whole process beforehand, making sure we knew what to expect.
How did you transform more ‘common’ traditions to represent you as a couple?
Ben: I think for me there were elements I felt stuck between ‘traditions’ and what is ‘expected’ but then we decided that we would do what we felt was right for us, so we walked down the aisle together hand in hand with our dog and we each had a wedding attendant.
Brooklyn: We did incorporate some traditions where it made sense, but being a LGBTQI+ wedding, it was kind of freeing in the sense that a lot of the traditions didn’t really apply to us anyway so we were free to make our own decisions.
What was the most difficult thing about planning your wedding?
Ben & Brooklyn: The most difficult thing for us would have to be Covid and the border closures. We originally wanted a smaller, more intimate wedding but with border closures, we had a huge chunk of guests who were stuck interstate and unable to attend.
Where did you spend your honeymoon?
Ben & Brooklyn: We haven’t officially been on our honeymoon yet, although we did spend 4 days at Palazzo Versace to relax post- wedding!
Any advice for other couples planning their day and finding it difficult to navigate the journey?
Ben: My advice would be to book your bigger/key vendors/suppliers early. It’s amazing how much knowledge they have! I also found having lists helped a lot
Brooklyn: Prioritise. Especially if you have a budget, it’s important to work out which things are the most important for you, so you can focus more on the things that are going to matter to you.
Ben and Brooklyn’s Team
Photographer Konrad at Tropical Romance & Co.
Venue Ceremony Loyal Hope (Ceremony) Reception City Winery Brisbane (Reception)
Flowers Redcliffe City Florist
Cake Vanilla Pod
Celebrant Married by Jacki
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