It was at sunset on Cable Beach that Fraser popped the question. “We often walk our dog Maisy down on Cable Beach” explains today’s bride Ruth. “This particular time was with friends, who often join us for a casual dinner on the beach cooked on the fire. He proposed at sunset and our friends were there to capture the moment. I was dressed in a daggy beach dress with my hair in a big knot on top of my head, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. We then made spaghetti toasties on the fire for dinner and had a couple of quiet drinks to celebrate.”

If that sounds like a pretty fabulous proposal to you, then wait until you dive into today’s beautiful Broome wedding, captured beautifully in all of its colourful glory by Kate Drennan. Because as we close out The Australia Issue, we honestly couldn’t think of a better way to sum it all up. Ruth and Fraser, chose a joy-filled day, a day filled with colour (that wattle wedding bouquet!) and family (Ruth’s own mother made her beautiful wedding veil).

The groom and groomsmen wanted something a little different to a classic black suit, so they headed to Institchu, remembers the bride.  “We were going for something formal but a little more bright and colourful than the usual suits. It was teal in colour and he wore a white shirt and grey bowtie with white spots. He had a yellow wattle button piece to match my bouquet.”

Bright yellow wattle, eucalyptus and billy button flowers were in abundance throughout the details of the day, created by The Broome Florist. Ruth sharing “The flowers were amazing. I wanted a bright yellow bouquet to create that bright summery feel. The bridesmaids all had yellow wattle in their bouquets as well as me. The groom and groomsmen all had yellow button pieces, and there was yellow wattle on the greenery in the middle of the tables and on the cake. I didn’t have a huge colour palette but because the colours were bright we didn’t need one, less is more sometimes.”

The beautiful garden setting of the The Billi Resort set the scene for the day.  Ruth telling “It was an easy choice with its beautiful tropical gardens. You hire the whole resort out for three days and have all your guests stay there which is a great set up.”

Ruth walked down the aisle with both of her parents to Gabrielle Aplin’s “The Power Of Love” remembering “I couldn’t choose between my parents, they both raised me so why not have both”.

Ruth and Fraser worked with Elle Saunders to create a ceremony that was as relaxed as the rest of the day, remarking “I didn’t want it to go for too long. It was about 20 minutes in total and we picked a celebrant that was good at talking. She did a great job of summarising us as people and our relationship. The ceremony was relaxed and we wrote our own vows, which we kept short and sweet!”

Even the wedding rings had a special meaning! Ruth and Fraser working with Jewels of the Kimberley on special customised pieces. Ruth explains “Jewels of the Kimberley made both of our wedding bands. They went to a lot of effort to meltdown my grandmother’s gold wedding ring and designed a wedding band for me to match my engagement ring. They also did the same for Fraser’s wedding band, they melted down his grandfather’s wedding band and shaped it into his new wedding band.”

An outdoor reception, was filled with personal details, tells the bride.  “My dad made the welcome sign, he is an artist and did a picture of Cable Beach and the camels in the background. I also had some friends that made the centrepieces of the tables with recycled timber (wood found when walking through the local bush).”

The bride chose a modern Pronovias gown from Samantha Wynne, she added a veil handmade by her mother, telling “It fit like a glove straight off the rack, with an across the shoulder neckline and small lace shoulder sleeves. It buttoned at the top of the back and had lace running down the sides of the backless section. The train was about 1.5m in length. My mum made my veil in a very fine tulle and it was the same length as the dress. I had a bouquet with a bright yellow, white and green theme. And couldn’t go past a set of Broome pearl earrings.”

Ruth and Fraser were thrilled with their choice of photographer, sharing “Kate was excellent. My friend Rihana had her as her wedding photographer and I loved what she did with the light in the photos and how they were so natural. I didn’t want heaps of posing photos. I didn’t have a videographer but when you have an excellent photographer like Kate you don’t need one, she captured the emotions and feeling of those in the photographs she takes.”

Ruth wanted to honour tradition in her way, so chose special pieces for her “Something Old, Something New”. She tells “My something old and blue was my late grandmother’s ring, it’s a beautiful bright blue stone with a yellow gold band. Something borrowed was one of the grandmother’s handkerchiefs which I just shoved down my dress. Something new, well most of my gear was new so that could have been the dress or shoes. A penny in my shoe, I had never heard of it before but my mum said it was an English tradition, and that my grandmother had given her a penny to tape into my shoe.

This was all very special as my grandmother passed away earlier this year, so the sentimental items meant a lot to me on the day.”

Making the most of Broome’s stunning landscape was a must for these two, “We had photos taken at Reddell Beach” remembers Ruth. “It’s a quiet beach which adjoins the famous Cable Beach. The blue waters, white sand and red rocks make this place visually stunning and we were so lucky to have such an amazing nearby location to have our photos taken.”

“The initial stages of wedding planning are fun as you get the big-ticket items ticked off the list (photographer, venue, invites) etc. ” remembers Ruth. “You feel so on top of everything, but as you get further down the list you realise there is endless detail you can get into – the last month or so I found rather stressful! We had to source everything for the wedding – from the food to the tables and chairs – which made it great as we could personalise the whole thing, but also meant much more to organise!”

Guests dined under fairy lights, and of course, a starlight Broome sky, one of Ruth’s favourite parts of the day. “Most of our family and friends have never been to Broome, so to be able to show everyone our adopted home town was very special – particularly because everyone fell in love with the place!”

The newlyweds took to the dance floor to a local artist, Belle Miners’ song “25 Years”, Ruth remembering “We stuffed up the start of the dance but luckily no one seemed to notice. We managed to include a few spins, a lift and a drop so I think we exceeded the low expectations people would have had of us!”

And of course, celebrations really kicked off when the bride tossed her bouquet! “One of our favourite memories of the day was the bouquet toss. Which was hotly contested between several girls very keen to be next in line. The ‘contest’ involved one girl charging through the pack, another punching the bouquet out of someone’s hands and two girls in the garden. It was all in good fun and everyone was in hysterics.”

A big congratulations Ruth and Fraser! Thank you for sharing the stories of your day with us! Thanks also to  Kate Drennan for today’s beautiful imagery.