TELL ME ABOUT YOUR THE BEGINNING!
We met back in 2013. Nella's business partner had sourced Derek for a role at a client and both Nella and Nancy had a meeting over coffee with Derek to determine whether he was a fit for the role. Of course he was! After the coffee meeting, Nella's business partner (who is happily married) says to Nella "he's cute", Nella replies " can't mix business with pleasure." Nella later got assigned to the same client as Derek in 2014 and they developed a very strong working relationship, which led to a friendship. They both enjoyed each other's company and had a great deal of respect for one another. Late 2017, Nella sensed a change in their connection and her 'business blinkers' came off. They both attended a mutual friend's wedding in Laos in October 2017 and that is when things took a romantic turn. They both knew early on, that what they had was very real, so the pace picked up very quickly and 6 months later they were living together, with their respective pooches (Coco the cavoodle (Nella) and Gracie the Frenchie (Derek)) and have been a happy blended family since.

 
WHEN AND WHERE DID YOU GET ENGAGED?
It was Christmas Day 2021 that Derek had planned to propose, but it didn’t go to plan. So, when Nella caught Covid and they were isolating, they decided to plan a trip to Hamilton Island. This was Derek’s chance. He bought a pack of 4 rings from Kmart ready for the right time to propose on their trip.

He carried the ring in his pocket for 4 days, waiting for the right time. There were times when he thought ‘this is it’, a clear night overlooking the beach, perfect moon in the distance, here’s his chance and Nella says “I need to go to the toilet” and heads inside. On the day Derek proposed they hiked to the resort lookout. Initially a chance was missed as Nella runs off to watch a plane landing on the other side of the lookout. She was so excited calling out “It’s the smallest commercial runway in the world”. The next opportunity was a beach called Hideaway Bay. Derek suggested they head there for a swim. The sun was shining, no one there except them. This was his chance and he suggested they take a dip. As it was stinger season Nella started outlining how the dip was going to go. “We go in, a quick dip in and out. Don’t want us to get stung.” While she was distracted with the plan Derek went down on one knee and waited patiently for her to turn around. 

At first Nella thought he’d been stung but once she saw the ring, she knew it was a proposal and exclaimed “Oh My God”. Of course, she said yes.


HOW DO YOU ENVISION YOUR WEDDING DAY?
We envision our day to be a celebration of love, the room will be filled with much happiness and joy. Whilst we have 100 people, they are our closest and dearest and they are so thrilled for us, we know this will come through in the celebration. We have a number of interstate guests that will be in party mode too, so we know it will a fun day and night. We are minimising formalities and wanting it to be a relaxed environment. The venue ROR will help create the fun, classy and interactive environment we are after. It is a cocktail function, as sit down felt too formal for us.

TOP TIPS?
Do you! It's your day and it needs to reflect you as a couple. 
It's your day, not anyone else's, so don't feel you need to please anyone else. Follow your heart, not your head!
Find a reputable venue like ROR, who have great alliances with suppliers, it makes the planning so much easier.
Don't get too caught up in the bells and whistles, remember what the day is about
Don't make it a long engagement, get it done. The longer you wait, the more planning you do and when you have a shorter time, you just get on with it and make the decisions that feel right.
If you make it about you, the planning process is actually fun.